Krautrock: Cosmic Rock and Its Legacy

Coming in October, published by Black Dog Publishing - Nikolaos Kotsopoulos' 192 page book "Krautrock: Cosmic Rock and Its Legacy". And the foreword seems to be written by none other than Steven Stapleton from Nurse With Wound. And David Tibet/Current 93 is also in it. Interesting.

Here's the sales pitch:

Krautrock charts the history of this influential music genre, from its roots in free jazz, psychedelia and the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen, to the groundbreaking experiments of Faust, Kraftwerk and Can.

The late 1960s in West Germany was a period of profound breakthroughs, upheavals and reversals. Communes were spreading, protests organised throughout the entire country, the desire to begin everything anew permeating the young. Out of this climate, a music scene exploded that would forever change the face of Western rock; at times anarchic, at others mystical, and utopian, it pushed rock beyond any known limits.

From the relentless drum beating of Amon Duul I, to the eastern tinged mysticism of Popol Vuh and the sonic assaults of Conrad Schnitzler, Krautrock: Cosmic Rock and Its Legacy traces the history of this complex and eschewing definition phenomenon.

Illustrated with concert photos, posters, record cover art and other rare and previously unseen visual material, this book is the ultimate tour-de-force of a movement whose influence and impact is still being felt today. With essays by Michel Faber, David Keenan, Erik Davis, Ken Hollings, a foreword by Steven Stapleton of Nurse with Wound, and testimonials from Gavin Russom (Delia and Gavin), Ann Shenton (Add N to (x)) and David Tibet (Current 93) this is the first ever comprehensive survey of its kind.

That's it. I'm ordering a copy right away.

Krautrock Kompendium - now online

Just a quick note to let you know that the excellent, UK based music magazine The Sound Projector recently published their entire "Krautrock Kompendium" online.

Krautrock Kompendium in Kolour (2007)

Get your own at Scribd or explore others: Culture History music sound

And, for your own sake, buy the spanking new issue of The Sound Projector. Issue 17, that is.

Popol Vuh remixed

Editions Mego has released two remixed Popol Vuh tracks, well worth the effort of purchasing, on a gloriously transparent red vinyl 12”.

Starting things off, Pan Sonic’s Mika Vainio has re-interpreted "Nacht: Schnee", a song from the soundtrack Popol Vuh recorded to the Werner Herzog film "Cobra Verde". It’s an ambient composition with just a few stabbing stereo effects to keep you from drifting away. Almost like a time-stretched dubstep backing track, but not quite.

On the flip side we find Haswell & Hecker’s version of "Aguirre 1", also a soundtrack piece lifted from a Herzog movie – "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" (Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes) from 1972. Haswell & Hecker can be quite harsh, but this is more dark than aggressive, and it has some amazing electronic effect work on top. It's choral music in the most disturbing sense of the word. Top notch!

Give it a try via Boomkat.

Kraftwerk history revisited (sooner or later)

I read this one short sentence on a Kraftwerk mailing list just now, and felt it was the more interesting sentences I've read in a looong time. It might not look as much, but it is:

Mr. Hütter promised that the 3(!) pre Autobahn albums will be released as remastered cd's after the Catalogue.

Pretty good news, if you ask me. And judging from the source of the quote, it might very well be true.

The Conny Plank

Konrad “Conny” Plank , producer to the stars, died of cancer in 1987 as one of the worlds most important music producers. His technological savvy and his sensitive ear helped creating krautrock, and cast the foundation for the modern electronic scene.

When Plank is mentioned these days, it is most often in connection to the early Kraftwerk albums. But plenty of other german prog/kraut/psych celebrities has visited his studio to record: Neu!, Cluster, Guru Guru. And we definitely can't forget his work with Dieter Moebius or Brian Eno (or Devo, Ultravox, Eurythmics, …), and we absolutely must not forget DAF and their Plank produced albums “Gold und liebe” and “Alles ist gut”.

During the seventies, Conny built his own studio in Cologne. The studio has up until recently been run by Conny's widow, Krista. Recent rumors tell us that the studio is now beind closed down, and that the entire thing might be for sale. If this is true: buy it!

And by the way, if you for some reason would stumble upon the 1981 album "Biomutanten" by Les Vampyrettes, a collaboration between Plank and Holger Czukay of Can, but that as well.