We were pretty sure that we weren’t raised in Liverpool. Our generation had to come up with a counterpoint to that… Kraftwerk was willing to relate to the past of German identity. Karl Bartos (Kraftwerk, 1975-91) If you ever plan to fly to Cologne and its neighbor-city Düsseldorf for its electronic music & ‘Krautrock’ heritage …
Amon Düül was originally a collective that emerged from a far-left commune in Germany, the more musically talented members of this group formed the band Amon Düül II, arguably the most psychedelic band of the Krautrock scene, led by Chris Karrer on guitar, violin, and vocals and featuring John Weinzierl on guitar and vocals, Renate …
Best listened to on a CD in your car stereo while driving down a desert highway, the psychedelic rock band Agitation Free had returned from an eye-opening and mind-expanding two week trip through Egypt, Lebanon, Cyprus, Greece, the band’s contact with other cultures captured on tapes that they interspersed throughout the seven tracks of Malesch …
June – the longest daylight of the year, the summer solstice. Brainticket’s Psychonaut was released 50 years ago (June 1972). The back cover of the record contains cumulus clouds drifting across blue skies – a portrait of summertime. The front cover of the record (my vinyl copy is the most recent picture disc reissue by …
After flirtations with the plastic soul-funk of a surprising Young Americans (1975) and a phenomenal Station To Station (1976), David Bowie decided to move from Los Angeles to Europe. He finally settled down in West Berlin, sharing an apartment with his friend Iggy Pop. Both thought that the German city would be a good place …
We live in a computer world, so we made a song about it. Ralf Hütter In 1981, Edward Snowden‘s revelations on how Imperial America mass-surveilled its own citizens and the citizens of the world were still 32 years away. Yet, the seeds for today’s surveillance capitalism and globalization as 21st century version of colonialization were …
In Germany circa 1969, the new generation was radically changing German music away from the bland pop Schlager songs of the past towards a psychedelic rock partially influenced by the American and British counterculture, especially Pink Floyd’s first two records Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Saucerful of Secrets. Conrad Schnitzler (a musique concrete …
I have about a hundred thousand favorite records. But because you’re based in Germany, I’ll pick a German band this time. The album was released on the legendary Ohr label, like so many albums of those pioneers that are gathered under the term “Krautrock”. In their prime, Guru Guru were the wildest of all these …
We have all read the stories of the band’s expansive greatness. Or supposed greatness… Maybe I should be more respectful? Certainly Mr. Julian Cope will clear my head of any misconceptions I may have in his next, soon-to-be-out-of-print book on Krautrock. So let’s not argue the matter here. By 1976, Ash Ra Tempel was less a …
Immediately I’m filled with nervous tension and excitement. The harsh electronic beat stirs something deep. The back of my head burns slightly. By the time the cool and detached vocal starts, I’m both hooked and convinced that I am hearing some renegade military message. It’s as if this harsh but always feminine voice is speaking, …
