Krautrock Bit Me In The Ass

nomos

Administrator
So, any Krautrock book recommendations, especially things that go beyond biography/hagiography?

Thinking of this for a start but something broader would be good...

I re-watched the BBC's Krautrock doc the other night and I want more on the social side (post-war reinvention, fighting Nazi amnesia, building collectives) and maybe the overlaps with other arts (e.g. with Herzong, Fassbinder, etc.).
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
So, any Krautrock book recommendations

not a book, but this is a great, in-depth article on rolf-ulrich kaiser. it is biographical about him + gille lettmann aka sternenmadchen, and a lot of (still interesting) things about label politics, but it also goes into serious detail about the context of the entire late 60s/early 70s, especially the parts RUK was involved.

I'd guess a lot the of writing you're looking for may be in never translated German books? dunno that for a fact but I get the feeling. also probably in books about those actual topics (RAF/June 2nd, New German Cinema, etc) that mention music tangentially vs. the other way around. besides the original Amon Duul coming out of the Berlin commune scene I think a couple of the more agit-prop type bands (Ton Steine Scherben, Floh de Cologne etc) had connections in that direction

clip (mentioned in the linked article) of RUK and Ton Steine Scherben's manager arguing about capitalism in the music industry in 1971
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/H3AxGp5k-Qo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
(I love how calm everyone is once he's done with the axe, just sitting back down nonchalantly. also how sturdy the table is. those germans, they make a sturdy table)
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
actually I've been on a massive krautrock kick lately, and I knew there'd be a killer thread on the topic from the glory days of dissensus. a couple bands not mentioned back then that I've been into: Brainticket, which starts off as weird (even by krautrock standards) spacy acid rock and then goes off into significantly weirder and mostly awesome free jazz, musique concrete, acid guitar hybrid areas. later Xhol Caravan, Essen 1970 live album especially. A.R. + Machines - Echo, which is basically a blueprint for all Manuel Gottsching's later guitar looping business (feel like dude must have really been listening to Achim Reichel in the early 70s), there's also another Achim Reichel track, off Erholung I think, which sounds, I swear to god, like ambient krauty Fela Kuti. oh yeah and Sand, which is like 10 years earlier, LSD Young Marble Giants from a German forest instead of the Welsh coast

also, this record, which is totally fucking mental and combines a few different kraut strands, namely private release lo-fi psychedelic folk weirdness with totally screaming acid guitar Ash Ra Tempel freakouts
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hIQ8YfxWhqU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 

oblioblioblio

Wild Horses
I re-watched the BBC's Krautrock doc the other night and I want more on the social side (post-war reinvention, fighting Nazi amnesia, building collectives) and maybe the overlaps with other arts (e.g. with Herzong, Fassbinder, etc.).

I watched 'The Baader-Menihof Complex' on BBC Iplayer last weekend, it might still be on there. I remember the first generation members were mentioned by the singer from Amon Duul and decided to investigate.

I've been utterly fascinated and inspired by their resistance, and shocked at the power used by the state to squash them. The film was factually accurate, though is always going to provide a slightly abridged and biased version by it's nature, and some events lay in unknown territory and one can only interpret the accounts of opposing sources. The autobiography of Margrit Schiller was a gripping and beautiful read.
 
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padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
also, German Oak.

also, this. that crazy instrument at the beginning is I guess called a santoor, the guy playing is an Iranian musician who did this one super obscure, awesome record with a guy named Ingo Werner who was in obscure, not so great krautrock band My Solid Ground. the B side as is not as good as this mindboggling track but still pretty good.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZJPFjl_bBGg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

also, Wolfgang Riechmann's one really great LP he made shortly before being stabbed to death in a random bar fight, really sad but what a last testament at least!
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ASTcB8apEEQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

also, one last thing, not krautrock but I listened to Aphrodite's Child (Vangelis' original band) - 666 the other day and that is a crazy record, a 1 1/2 hr double LP concept album about the Book of Revelations. a lot of it sucks/is gratuitous but there are also some really great acid rock passages combined with Greek folk melodies and/or instruments and some cool Berlin School type early electronic passages. also, it has one song that is just 5 minutes of a woman shrieking extremely orgasmically over a clattering mess of drums, no other instruments. absolutely terrible, but something everyone must hear once b/c words really can't do it justice. here
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
I've been utterly fascinated and inspired by their resistance, and shocked at the power used by the state to squash them

no offense but are you serious with that dude? not really the space to get into it, but the RAF was bullshit. its violence was counterproductive and accomplished nothing, and even worse it gave the state the perfect excuse to exercise harsh, widespread repression, mostly against things have nothing to do w/RAF. it also drove away many otherwise sympathetic people. honestly RAF hardliners bare a large chunk of the blame for the post-60s decline of the German radical left (this situation isn't unique to Germany. Italy especially had a lot of parallels). seriously, read anything about the autonomen of the 80s and how determined German radicals were not to make the same mistakes of falling into the same trap and giving authorities a great excuse to quash a mass movement. I saw that movie too and it nailed some things, like the tremendous alienation post-WWII German youth felt from their Nazi era parents, how charged the atmosphere was, but it was also romanticized bullshit.

seriously tho, fuck the RAF, fuck all secretive vanguardist violence and self-serving hardline militants. so many better things to be inspired by.
 

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
So, any Krautrock book recommendations, especially things that go beyond biography/hagiography?

Thinking of this for a start but something broader would be good...

I re-watched the BBC's Krautrock doc the other night and I want more on the social side (post-war reinvention, fighting Nazi amnesia, building collectives) and maybe the overlaps with other arts (e.g. with Herzong, Fassbinder, etc.).

Julian Cope's Krautrocksampler is excellent if you havent already : http://dangerousminds.net/comments/julian_copes_krautrocksampler_in_pdf_form
 

oblioblioblio

Wild Horses
no offense but are you serious with that dude? not really the space to get into it, but the RAF was bullshit. its violence was counterproductive and accomplished nothing, and even worse it gave the state the perfect excuse to exercise harsh, widespread repression, mostly against things have nothing to do w/RAF. it also drove away many otherwise sympathetic people. honestly RAF hardliners bare a large chunk of the blame for the post-60s decline of the German radical left (this situation isn't unique to Germany. Italy especially had a lot of parallels). seriously, read anything about the autonomen of the 80s and how determined German radicals were not to make the same mistakes of falling into the same trap and giving authorities a great excuse to quash a mass movement. I saw that movie too and it nailed some things, like the tremendous alienation post-WWII German youth felt from their Nazi era parents, how charged the atmosphere was, but it was also romanticized bullshit.

seriously tho, fuck the RAF, fuck all secretive vanguardist violence and self-serving hardline militants. so many better things to be inspired by.

I am serious that I found elements of their resistance inspiring. I don't plan to picking up a machine gun, but I think to have a group challenge the fundamental structure of a corrupt nation is an important thing, whatever mistakes were made.

I mean for sure, I did the moral maths, and I believe many of the original members did too. And yes, I think it's true that ultimately they achieved nothing concrete, certainly not their original aims, although I think that many truths were revealed through their actions.

And I see some of the original members as valuable human beings. Especially when I think about the power of the state, the ability for sick and violent behaviour to be enacted through official channels, and the apathy and powerlessness of many individuals. I don't agree with violence of any kind, but to some extent the RAF were bringing violence that was being implemented by the state behind closed doors or in foreign countries onto domestic soil, rather than being solely responsible for bringing it into being.
 
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IdleRich

IdleRich
"also, one last thing, not krautrock but I listened to Aphrodite's Child (Vangelis' original band) - 666 the other day and that is a crazy record, a 1 1/2 hr double LP concept album about the Book of Revelations. a lot of it sucks/is gratuitous but there are also some really great acid rock passages combined with Greek folk melodies and/or instruments and some cool Berlin School type early electronic passages. also, it has one song that is just 5 minutes of a woman shrieking extremely orgasmically over a clattering mess of drums, no other instruments. absolutely terrible, but something everyone must hear once b/c words really can't do it justice. here"
666 is a classic. My favourite AC track though (ok except for 4 Horsemen maybe) is Funky Mary the backwards b-side to, er, I can't remember but one of their singles. Crazy music.


Also, to bring it back to krautrock (kinda) in a circular way I really like Krisma's motorik stuff, allegedly with some Vangelis (or maybe his brother depending on what you read) involvement

 

Woebot

Well-known member
I'm increasingly coming to the conclusion that with Krautrock the 'canon' is actually quite accurate. Although your Krautrock piece at Woebot hinted at some interesting avenues. But once you get past Faust, NEU!, Can, Amon Duul, bits of Ash Ra, K/Cluster, Harmonia, Popol Vuh, there lies a fair bit of tedium. (And I know this is hypocritical after my Prog post last year, but I listened back to some of that stuff recently and just thought "my God what was I thinking? This is just boring hairies banging on drums!"
i keep reading modern folk going on about Jane, the Scorpions and Birth Control - like, wtf. 😳 as though somehow they don't get it - or that the message has got lost.
 

william_kent

Well-known member
i keep reading modern folk going on about Jane, the Scorpions and Birth Control - like, wtf. 😳 as though somehow they don't get it - or that the message has got lost.

Marketing ploy for unscrupulous record dealers to offload duff stock? Those bands shared labels ( Brain, Ohr ) with those from the 'canon', but being from Germany and playing rock doesn't make them any good..

The Scorpions were originally on Brain ( same label as Neu!, Cluster, Harmonia, etc ) and were produced by Conny Plank, but even in their "psychedelic phase" were a bit "Spinal Tap":


Scorpions - I'm Goin' Mad
 

polystyle

Well-known member
Outside of the KrautRock canon things becomes more bluesyrock, proggyrock, hardyrock, jazzyfusiononandrocky or simple messyrock (alas we don't have a personal sound but we want to record a gatefold lp on Brain, let's get also a little weird to confuse the water), so is a dangerous (fan)zone. Strangely, in opposite of krauting, you find some interesting things outside the canon of ProgRock (Genesis, EL&P, etc.) but this has been discussed before, and crap abound even (here) there (and everywhere).

Tangerine Dream first LP is a rite of mindfuck passage, like first Amon Duul I or first Ash Ra Tempel, and all theyr records until Rubycon are more of less fine to me, even if sometimes sounds no more than a PinkFloyd saucerfullagumma ripoffreelaborations. I read somewere in the internet (so probably is babble) that Bjork favorite record is Peter Bauman "romance '78". Anyone here ever listened to it? Schulze other than Irrlicht the second Cyborg is good. Deuter is meh second choice, only the first lp "D" has something of interest to the terminal kraut fans. Better to check "Rot" and "Blau" by ex tangerine/kluster Schnitzer. Guru guru i love "Kanguru", their best for me (also for the cover). Now we can just make a citation of Gandalf just for a laugh. Mellow Candle weren't on a major, Deram/Decca? To go on private pressing inferno is something you do if you are only interested in few genres of music, a friend of mine who only listen to seventies rock have tons of this stuff (that i have never listened for ages (seem to recall the "magical emporium" and "bobby brown somethin enlightment somethin axonda were interesting, someone can confirm this before i throw away my money?)). Cosmic Jocker are nothing great except a track i love: on the "SCI FI PARTY" mess the first track is taken from a section of the first album and is processed with echo and others studio tricks so is the only KrautDub i have ever listen. The album then is a collage of the other KK album so more than a good introduction is simply all you want to have, maybe you can also add the silly Starmaiden record who is done in the same way.

Back to work :(
Rot and Blau ( Red and Blue ) by Conrad Schnitzer def ! still sounds good,
last heard @ a club on West side
 
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