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I'm sooooo green: The Beginner's Guide to Krautrock
'We’re not musicians, we are universal dilettantes'
Leading lights live on
Although many Krautrock greats are with us no more and many others appear to be in cold storage, it seemed in order to do some digging and take a look at what new releases and re-issues were around and find out where the active Krautrock artists were at in 2014. As you’ll see, most releases are limited editions on middling to miniscule labels.
Krautrock encompasses a vast volume of work so the artist selections below are inevitably succinct. Later, there are some personal favourites from the classic era from yours truly and El Reg’s own in-house Krautrocker Andrew Orlowski.
Can
Mute Records has re-released the entire Can oeuvre on vinyl in the last year including the decidedly dodgy Out of Reach. If you’ve never heard Can, their 1973 opus: Future Days is probably the best place to start – don’t bother with stuff after 1977.
Oh, and to all the Tago Mago fans out there, undoubtedly side one is inspired but when did you last get through all of Aumgn and Peking O without serious drugs? Can solo projects of late are rather an unessential listen. For a taste of earlier times, here's a recently unearthed piece of classic black and white footage of Can live with Damo Suzuki from 1970.
More info Spoon Records
Cluster
Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius are still active separately and occasionally together. A collection of Roedelius early solo works: Tape Archive 1973–1978 has just been released on Bureau B, there is also Kollektion 02, a compilation chosen by Lloyd Cole to celebrate H-JRs 80th year. Dieter Moebius’s latest release is Snowghost Pieces, a collaboration with Tim Story and Jon Leidecker, a beautiful piece of chilled ambient dub also available on Bureau B that will be releasing a couple of re-edited and remastered Cluster live CDs early this year. Cluster’s first album was described in a rare, Copesque frenzied turn of phrase as “a cranial enema” by David Stubbs.
Conrad Schnitzler
The central role which Conrad Schnitzler played in the Krautrock phenomenon has always been cited. But the importance of his ideas and the quality of his massive oeuvre is only starting to become apparent in the three years since his death.
Conrad Schnitzler gets wired in the 1970s
For a man who didn’t start making records until his thirties, Schnitzler was insanely prolific, accelerating production throughout his life, eventually recording more than 1,000 CDs worth of material. Bureau B has just re-released the 1970s classics: Gelb and Grün, both are a great introduction to his early work. My son and I buried Conrad in Sefton Park, Liverpool, in 2009 more than two years before he died!
More info CON-tribute
Faust
Formed in 1971, Faust's eponymous first album on Polydor was initially a commercial failure but is recognised as a landmark recording with its ambient, electronic and industrial elements. Faust was among the first bands to sign with Virgin Records. Disbanded in 1975, the reformed Faust have been active since the 1990s and now consists of just two of their original members: Jean-Herve Peron and Werner “Zappi” Diermaier. The band have just released their new album Just Us on Bureau B.
More info Faust