Album: Neu!
Artist: Neu!
Born: Düsseldorf, Germany
Released: March 1972
Genre: Krautrock
Influenced: David Bowie, Joy Division, Wire, Boards of Canada, LCD Soundsystem
Neu! That's not pronouned noo, but more like the second syllable in annoy. I just love saying it, over and over again in a robotic, ironic pop art fashion. Sadly though, this is where language and genre labels like krautrock really fall down. Neu! (and parent group, Kraftwerk) had a different approach to the rich psychedelic wanderings of Amon Düül II and Can, preferring a more focused industrial sound powered by that famous motorik beat. There are also minimalist soundscapes, underpinned by Klaus Dinger's looser European freeform style of drumming, creating a revolutionary form of music that allows the mind to wander and connect with a cosmic form of energy. The bedrock of electronic music. Beyond that, the album's influence has extended into so many other musical genres, whether that's the ambient sound of Im Glueck (In Luck) or the gothic, industrial atmosphere of Negativland. I also detect a little of Sigur Ros in the made-up language and emotive singing of Lieber Honig (Dear Honey). Much of the album's influence though didn't take hold on Anglo-American pop until two decades later.
After the blistering wild party atmosphere of opener Hallogallo, Sonderangebot takes a slower, more sinister turn and was a big put-off for me the first time I listened to the record. The word means special offer or bargain and I see its main purpose on the record as a low-budget counterpoint to the high-quality fare that follows, from the blissful pastoral mood of Weissensee (White Lake) to the marine adventure of Im Glueck and the dark masterpiece that is Negativland. Commencing with a mix of synth drones and what sounds like crowd noise and a pneumatic drill, the track is then ignited by Michael Rother's mesmerising funk bass line and broken up by bursts of angry punk syncopation. For me, this trio of songs is one of the highlights of pop music and completely fundamental to its later evolution. Neu!'s follow-up albums had some great moments, like Fuer Immer and E-Musik, but their eponymous first album remains their most powerful statement.
Neu! That's not pronouned noo, but more like the second syllable in annoy. I just love saying it, over and over again in a robotic, ironic pop art fashion. Sadly though, this is where language and genre labels like krautrock really fall down. Neu! (and parent group, Kraftwerk) had a different approach to the rich psychedelic wanderings of Amon Düül II and Can, preferring a more focused industrial sound powered by that famous motorik beat. There are also minimalist soundscapes, underpinned by Klaus Dinger's looser European freeform style of drumming, creating a revolutionary form of music that allows the mind to wander and connect with a cosmic form of energy. The bedrock of electronic music. Beyond that, the album's influence has extended into so many other musical genres, whether that's the ambient sound of Im Glueck (In Luck) or the gothic, industrial atmosphere of Negativland. I also detect a little of Sigur Ros in the made-up language and emotive singing of Lieber Honig (Dear Honey). Much of the album's influence though didn't take hold on Anglo-American pop until two decades later.
After the blistering wild party atmosphere of opener Hallogallo, Sonderangebot takes a slower, more sinister turn and was a big put-off for me the first time I listened to the record. The word means special offer or bargain and I see its main purpose on the record as a low-budget counterpoint to the high-quality fare that follows, from the blissful pastoral mood of Weissensee (White Lake) to the marine adventure of Im Glueck and the dark masterpiece that is Negativland. Commencing with a mix of synth drones and what sounds like crowd noise and a pneumatic drill, the track is then ignited by Michael Rother's mesmerising funk bass line and broken up by bursts of angry punk syncopation. For me, this trio of songs is one of the highlights of pop music and completely fundamental to its later evolution. Neu!'s follow-up albums had some great moments, like Fuer Immer and E-Musik, but their eponymous first album remains their most powerful statement.
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