Faust - C'est Com...Com...Complique

Faust is one of the most mythical groups from the German Kraut-rock scene, who released four studio albums in the seventies and then disappeared off the radar. Reappearing in the mid-90s. C'est Com...Com...Complique, their newest release indicates that Faust is not only one of the most innovative and influential German ensembles, but they are still on such a good level that younger neo-kraut performers have a good reason to envy them.

Here, their trademark mind-bending brain-searing psychedelic hypnotism and dadaistic weirdness are firmly in place. This time the band sounds particularly vital, the compositions particularly inspired and the experimentation sounds natural. The result is the best sort of avant-garde rock'n'roll, that isn't merely juxtaposition of intriguing, weird tones. But also includes a special kind of transcendence.

Take the opening piece "Kundalini Tremolos". It clearly is their best hypno-psychedelic epic track since the 1973 classic "Krautrock" from their fourth album. Therefore, Faust can still up themselves. Thus their activity for the last 15 years is not merely a nostalgia trip. Even as old and vintage performers, Faust is still a vital avant-rock act.

Baikonour - Your Ear Knows Future

Baikonour is Frenchman Jean-Emmanuel Krieger residing in Brighton, England. He has been compared to Air, the most famous French indietronic act, but it's rather misleading. Contrasting the mellow-sounding naivete of Air, Baikonour refers to psychedelic kraut-rock instead. There may be slight similarities to be found with Fujiya & Miyagi (their drummer actually plays on this album too).

In terms of neo-krautrock Baikonour is definitely more masterful than many other performers in that idiom. The fusion of ambient, prog, indie and psych comes across naturally and there are several good tunes to be found, particularly on the second half. If there is something to criticize, then it is that the listener may get the feeling of oft-traversed territory. Baikonour certainly has potential, but more distinctiveness may be required to truly stand out. Who likes Your Ear Knows Future, should also check out this one man band's debut For the Lonely Hearts of Cosmos, which is even better.

Cloudland Canyon - Lie In Light

Years ago when Michael Rother (known from Krautrock group Neu!) went to see Stereolab live, he thought he was listening to himself. Then again he admitted that the group also included other stylistic elements to their Neu-influenced sound. How would the legendary Krautrock innovator judge the Cloudland Canyon duo, who is more openly aping the Krautrock legends like Neu!, Cluster, Harmonia, Popol Vuh, perhaps even pre-electronic Kraftwerk? It's understandable that one half of this American duo is also German. However, considering the strong avant-garde legacy in the German music scene (Stockhausen, the cream of the Krautrock crop, Neubauten, Mouse on Mars etc), the inescapable conclusion is that there's nothing new to be found here. Of course Lie In Light is well done and they sound very authentic as a Kraut tribute act. Teutonic feel is in its place here definitely. Particularly in the songs with vocals. A few of the numbers recall early Spiritualized. Nonetheless, Cloudland Canyon could benefit from having more uniqueness to their approach.

*This review was published in Estonian in a journal called Postimees. This is the English translation

Can - Delay 1968

When Can was formed in 1968 by Stockhausen protégés Holger Czukay (bass), Irmin Schmidt (keyboards), rock guitarist Michael Karoli and former jazz drummer Jaki Liebezeit, they were soon joined by the black American sculptor Malcolm Mooney. This lineup rendered Monster Movie in 1969 as well as parts of Soundtracks and Unlimited Edition, before Mooney left and was replaced with the legendary Damo Suzuki. However, Can (who was also known as Inner Space earlier on) recorded an even earlier session and the plan was to release it as their debut album titled Prepared To Meet Thy PNOOM. However, no record company was interested in releasing it. The session was shelved and only unleashed by the time Can had already disbanded, hence the title, Delay 1968.

The sound is very lo-fi, even for Can who did all of their recordings up to 1974 on the two-track stereo recorder. Captured with minimal miking, this is Can at their rawest. Rawness is evident in the music as well. Compared to the latter Can albums, the sound is heavily influenced by psychedelic rock and rhythm&blues, meaning that this album, along with Monster Movie, is Can at their most rock-oriented. While tracks like "Nineteenth Century Man", "A Man Named Joe" and "Little Star of Bethlehem" align closer with the American acid rock Michael Karoli was influenced by, tracks like "Butterfly" and "Uphill" already indicate the band's interest in repetitive trance-like jams and grooves, influenced heavily by Velvet Underground's brain-searing mantra-rock. Similar direction would be pursued on Monster Movie and subsequent albums would take the repetitive trance-rock direction to an entirely new level. Then there is "Thief", early Can at their most melancholic and emotional, this song was later covered by Radiohead as part of their live repertoire. An interesting early document, but not up to the standard of Can's later classics.

Kraftwerk - Autobahn

Autobahn was Kraftwerk's breakthrough album, and also the revolutionary one. Although arguably Neu or even Can could be the first pioneers in the field of hypnotic motorik minimalist drive, Kraftwerk converted the style they had established to a more electronic and exclusively synthesizer-based robotic pulse. With this, the transition from rock and modern electronic pop was complete. Its infamous title track "Autobahn", lasting nearly 23 minutes, also differs from other classic 10-20 minute Krautrock epics that are very mantra-like in nature and run with repetition, by being very multi-sectioned but the sections are very similar in their mesmerizing quality. Two-part "Kometenmelodie", first part being slow and dark, the second one being more uptempo, is also an impeccable showcase for their classic sound.

All the same, Autobahn is still a transitional effort - from that point on their music became robotic and synthesizer-based, but a few spots still feature guitar, flute or even a little spooky dissonant violin freak-out on the sinister "Mitternacht". And the album closer, the serene "Morgenspaziergang" sounds surprisingly acoustic and human. It is also the closest thing to Kraftwerk's pre-Autobahn material, it would've fit perfectly on Ralf and Florian. Part of this record's appeal is that while their classic robotic style has reared its head here full blown, there are occasional elements and non-electronic instrumentation still harking back to Kraftwerk's initial art-rock phase. Autobahn is groundbreaking and innovative without being a demanding listen as was the case with 1970-73 albums, as well as presenting their trademark Teutonic android futurism that isn't as overtly cold or detached as on subsequent Kraftwerk discography.

Can - Tago Mago

One of the strangest and most ambitious releases from the German Kraut-rock scene, Can's Tago Mago was originally released as a double album in 1971. Original first LP (first four tracks on CD) features the most timeless kind of great German psychedelic/Kosmische music ever. "Paperhouse" evolves from a minor key melancholic psych/blues number to a menacing poly-rhythmic workout with some insane Damo Suzuki vocals on top. "Mushroom" takes the quiet-loud aesthetic to a whole new bizarre level, alternating between mellow low key eerieness and loud heaviness (highlighted by Damo's alienated screams) that thankfully doesn't get too obnoxious. This is an example of restrained anger, and Jaki Liebezeit shines on drums too, providing captivating Meters-style groove. Jaki and Damo are the true stars on this album. "Oh Yeah" is pure psychedelic drone heaven that rests on Jaki's fast paced drum pattern and Damo singing backward, then in English and finally Japanese. 18-minute "Halleluhwah" is an epic acidic mantra which is an endless exploration of funk rhythms.

Original LP two is where the things got very very strange, if also a bit self-indulgent. "Augmn" is all about psychedelic effects, bizarre drones, acidic vocal hums and whatnot. Whether you like it or not, this is one of the Can's most abstract pieces, sounds a lot like Stockhausen on acid. "Peking O" gets even quirkier, utilizing eerie organ drones, primitive drum machines, which get faster and faster as the composition progresses, free-jazz piano playing and on top of that, Damo's insane paranoid babblings that might either annoy the hell out of you or just make you laugh your ass off and last but not least, the noisy Zappa-esque ending with deranged feedback effects, clanging percussion work and more screams from Damo. I tend to prefer "Peking O" to "Augmn". "Bring Me Coffee and Tea" returns to the rock-oriented territory as it's yet another pleasant slow lethargic improvisational psych-drone number that builds and builds but never reaches to obnoxiously and extroverted rock climaxes as one may expect, there's some pretty acoustic guitar picking though. A true exercise in subtlety. And that's Tago Mago for you.

Tangerine Dream - Zeit

Zeit was the first album of full-blown ambient music without any recognizable rock elements from the German space music pioneers Tangerine Dream. The band's fan base is divided on this one. The most favorable reviews for this album declare that this sounds nothing like the watered-down new-age infused synthetic muzak TD apparently degenerated into at the eighties and instead is an uncompromising, trippy headphone experience. While i agree with them to an extent, the album also is a bit overblown in its 4 sidelong tracks on 2 LPs (Soft Machine pulled off a better result in this format with their third record). As such, it is clearly demanding on the listener. The detractors write Zeit off as a total snorefest. While this is short-sighted, it would've been a masterpiece if some of the cuts would've been reduced in length. This album has plenty of interesting sonorities and effects, but it is hard to listen to the 75 minutes of it in one sitting. Moreover, the album is so sinister that it sounds very frightening. The compositions are not only slow, but completely dirge-like. Listening to this one many times might induce feelings of fear in the dark or even make one have nightmares, worse still.

The most remarkable piece is "Birth of Liquid Plejades" which is a three-part epic of quintessential proto-illbient music. Here TD utilizes the A-minor key in a nightmarish way, beginning with sinister cellos droning, creating a dreary, yet intense soundscape, segueing into a calmer section where Popol Vuh's Florian Fricke (who was one of the first Krautrock musicians to own a big Moog at that time) plays his plaintive solo on Moog, and the final section consists mainly of Pink Floyd-like pulsating organ played by ex-member Steve Shroyder. Other pieces have their moments, but one gets the feeling they messed around with all sorts of weird spacious sounds mainly because they could, the title track being the most blatant example.

Whether this is psychedelic head trip gone wrong; or self-indulgent doodling, one thing is clear. TD was yet to find their unique sound. But they were half-way there. They had got rid of their rock trappings, at this point it was a matter of time and a couple of albums before the vision of TD would materialize into something more identifiable and cohesive.

Holger Czukay - Movies

German Kraut-rock legend Holger Czukay's first solo album after leaving Can, Movies, does sound a bit in the post-Damo Suzuki Can vein, especially in that all of the core Can members play on this album, the main contributor being the drummer Jaki Liebezeit with his ever-reliable hypnotic grooves. While the compositions on this record occasionally drift towards incoherence (the fifteen minute "Hollywood Symphony" does seem a tad overlong), this is overall quite a bizarre and enjoyable record which manages to successfully avoid most of embarrassing pitfalls that late period Can fell into, even if it does sound just as polished in terms of production as, say Saw Delight and stylistically the music sounds proggier than the classic Can. This album does match the classic Can albums in terms of inventiveness, as the solid musicianship is combined with the employment of proto-sampling techniques, by integrating various sound bits from shortwave radio and television into the compositions. These techniques show a clear Karlheinz Stockhausen (who passed away very recently, may he rest in peace) influence, as Stockhausen was Czukay's mentor. We get everything from film dialogue to brass melodies to Middle-Eastern singing (the latter being heard on the beautiful piece called "Persian Love"). An outstanding "Cool In The Pool" combines fine pop sensibility with experimentalist tactics to an great, infectious effect. Movies is a truly unique work from the Kraut-rock master.

Neu - Neu 2

Neu with lots of quirks and weirdness, that's how to describe the second album by this legendary krautrock duo from 1973 in a nutshell. The story on how the guys ran out of money and manipulated some of their material in a manner predating the remix practice in electronica, is well known. Aside that, the "normal" first half of the album already indicates the more intense and deranged dimensions in the band's music. "Für Immer" may sound like a rework of "Hallogallo", but it sounds more muscular and louder. In "Spitzenqualität" Klaus Dinger bangs his Apache beat with vengeance and lets his robotic drum loop gradually fall apart, which is very weird and easily beats "Sonderangebot"'s ambient noise at its own game. "Lila Engel" is the first time Neu! plays a concise rock song, albeit with mad energy and loopy voice from Dinger. This one is definitely one of the harshest and most nightmarish moments in Neu! canon, even rivaling "Negativland".

Then Neu manipulates with their songs, using speed alterations, broken tape recorders and the needle dropping technique to create quirky versions of their tunes which sound either insanely manic (when "Neuschnee" and "Super" are sped up) or apocalyptically gloomy (slowed down "Super" and "Hallo Excentrico"). The untreated "Neuschnee" and "Super" themselves formed an excellent, despite flopping at the time, single. "Neuschnee" is a driving dreamy upbeat tune with Rother´s trademark dreamlike guitars on the fore, whereas "Super" is almost punk, and even for punk rock, sounds rather deranged. One might argue that if Neu had enough money to complete the album in the usual manner, then this record may have not sounded as weird altogether. Judging by the non-"remix" material, it's apparent that there was already loads of madness lurking in their creative ways.

Neu - Neu '75

Neu's last album (1975) sounds as if it had been recorded by two different bands. Guitarist Michael Rother dominates the first side with his ambient leanings and the side 2 is a vehicle for drummer Klaus Dinger's punkish sensibilities. On his songs Dinger plays guitars and has his brother Thomas Dinger as well as Hans Lampe taking over drum duties. Neu '75 is also one of their most accessible albums. Gone are the beatless noise excursions of the first album and the variable speed experimentation of their second. The opener "Isi" sounds like a Kraftwerk single except with drums and real piano, but definitely more synth-oriented than earlier Motorik mantras a la "Für Immer", with less of the Velvet Underground influence than before. "Seeland" is an evocative Pink Floyd-ish tune with trademark Rother's milky guitar playing and "Leb Wohl" is almost like a secular version of Popol Vuh tunes with its repetitive tranquil piano chords creating a dreamlike mood for 9 minutes with some odd subdued vocals.

Then the mood changes completely in favor for some raw and gritty proto-punk, as "Hero" kicks in with loud and assertive guitar chords and Dinger's snarling voice. The formula is pretty much repeated in "After Eight". In between these two numbers is "E-Musik" which is the closest to recapture the feel of "Hallogallo" and "Für Immer", but the coda of this includes backwards sounds taken from "Seeland" and "Leb Wohl".

It was obvious, from this listen, that Neu was falling apart and the band didn't function as a real band anymore. Sides one and two indicate a serious compositional schism, as well as personal(ity) differences between Dinger and Rother, who could barely tolerate each other. Somehow they did manage to pull off yet another krautrock classic before dissolving.



"Hero" live clip:

Neu - Neu

The debut album by influential kraut-rock duo Neu sounds a lot like an introverted rock album. The faster songs with Klaus Dinger's driving motorik beat have the drive, but they are also restraint, almost subtle with the minimal keyboard drones and sweet phased guitar lines. And only a half of the songs have drums, the rest of the material ranges from proto-industrial noise of "Sonderangebot" (basically a lot of cymbal noise sounds, until the ugly feedback at the end) to the harmonic drone in D major of "Im Glück" and a lethargic attempt at a vocal track (tentatively sung by Dinger) on "Lieber Honig" which mid-way becomes another ambient drone number, almost sounding like Neu's own "Moonchild", but inferior. As for the rest of the tracks, "Negativland" which takes cues from the first Kraftwerk album and predates Joy Division, is the sole track filled with gloomy and unrelenting brutality, featuring a lot of white noise, atonal guitar scrapings and hard-hitting rhythms. "Hallogallo" is essentially based on rock&roll pulse and drive that is stripped from all its extroverted excesses and instead is something that in a much more refined form. This would be the path for Kraftwerk (Dinger and Rother were members of that band before they formed Neu on their own) to explore on the albums like Autobahn, mechanical, timeless, driving and futuristic. "Weissensee" is a lot slower track in the pastoral psychedelic vein of Pink Floyd, but more mesmerizing.

It has been said about this album that the music on it might as well have been recorded even yesterday, as opposed to at the end of 1971, and that describes the quality of this music well. This was recorded in just four days which makes it remarkable how this album sounds so magical, even more than any other album which takes months to record! Some ambient moments might have benefited from more sense of direction though; otherwise this is essential release for those interested in German kraut-rock.