NEU! Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Debut with Box Set & Tribute LP

Not unlike grunge, punk, post-rock, or several other loosely-defined genres, “Krautrock” aka German kosmiche Musik, was an umbrella term coined by outsiders and music journalists looking to lump various music projects together based on what appeared to be similar sensibilities and/or geographical location to one another. Another comparison that aligned the organic rise of this movement with the aforementioned counterparts is that it was largely born from a reaction, rejection, and conscious diversion of the restrictive parameters and culture that surrounded those who were pushing it forward.

Existing roughly between 1968 and 1977, in its initial and most potent form, Krautrock was birthed post-summer of love, right as the 60s Haight-Ashbury scene was getting ready to nosedive into shrapnel. Although many of us westerners never bother to look too far outside of our own narrow, limited national history, the politically-minded revolts of the time were not simply restricted to the United States; German youth were out in the streets protesting their own government and being hit with fire hoses of their own. What makes the latter so fascinating is that post-WWII Germany was a country with a horrific past that was still relatively fresh and needed to be addressed, but was generally glossed over and ignored, as if it never happened. In fact, many people in power were the same figures that held those positions during Hitler’s reign; often supporters and Nazis, themselves. Meanwhile, the airwaves were dominated by vapid pop known as Schlager music, mainstream sugar spun into audio cotton candy intended to sedate and soothe the masses, as that sort of commercial schlock has always been and continues to be manufactured for. This was fertile soil for small, otherwise disconnected, groups of artists in various locations across the country to sprout up with a desire to create something entirely new that could transcend Germany’s established cultural and historical past without drawing from the Western culture of rock and blues music, in the way that the UK so famously had. To achieve this, they turned toward new inspirations from synthesizers and ambient drones to the outer reaches of the cosmos and even Germany’s high-speed autobahn motorway. In this process, they revolutionized music and no two figures were more vital in those efforts than multi-instrumentalists, Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger, collectively known as the duo NEU!

Rother and Dinger began playing together as members of an early incarnation of KRAFTWERK, before moving on to form NEU! in 1971. Their self-titled debut was released the following year and, from the moment that the opening track began, it was clear that the Düsseldorf natives had conjured up some form of wizardry unlike anything that had preceded it. “Hallogallo” builds slowly with Rother‘s effected guitar working more like a percussive instrument, setting the stage for a sonic wave to lift it off the ground like some manner of spacecraft taking flight. Laying the foundation was Dinger‘s relentless drumming, monotonous, yet always propelling forward. A pioneer of this uniquely Krautrock drumming style known as “motorik,” Dinger demonstrated the unmatched power that this approach could hold, right out of the gate. The music was energetic and aggressive, yet weightless and rejuvenating. It felt as if it was coasting on rails, yet free and unrestrained. There was no standard song structure in any rock or pop sense. NEU! abandoned all convention to create an immersive experience where it felt as if the listener was soaring; Rother‘s guitar flourishes like flashes of the aurora borealis or non-descript blips of scenery whipping by a bullet train.

Iggy Pop once referred to NEU! as “pastoral psychedelicism,” while speaking about his early impressions of the group. It’s an incredibly apt description for a track like “Hallogallo,” but less so for other segments of the release, which showcases an impressive amount of range. The subversive Bay Area sound collage/plunderphonics outfit, Negativland borrowed their name from the title of the album’s 5th track, which evolves from pulsing chaos to deep lurching psychotic grooves that peel back and screech as if a tornado was ripping the steel from a submarine. NEU! then transition from that into the feather-light glacial ambience of the album closer, “Lieber Honig.” The song begins by sounding like something that would fit perfectly on a Sigur Ros release and features the only vocals on the album. The singing remains delicate at its core, while coarse around the edges, dipping from the crooning of an angel with laryngitis subtly toward flesh-eating demon, before straightening itself out again. The evolution of this cut is like a beautiful sunrise shining through the cracked lead windows of an abandoned factory that is sinking into the Mariana trench.

NEU! did alright in Germany, but not so much outside of their homeland, nor was it so widely recognized as the groundbreaking and endlessly influential masterpiece that it is today, 50 years later. NEU! 2 would arrive in 1973 to continue their sonic explorations and further solidify their greatness. Oddly enough, two songs from this release would go on to be featured prominently in one of my all-time favorite martial arts films: Master Of The Flying Guillotine (1976). The driving electro-industrial Suicide-esque “Super” would become the movie’s opening theme, while the slowed-down dramamine-spiked mutating sludge of “Super 16” – a track which sounds like a kaiju DJ Screw stomping through the blistering depths of hell – operated as the theme for the film’s blind, white-bearded antagonist, Master Fung, as he traveled around decapitating people. The third and final album for the pair, before they parted ways, would be NEU! 75, which includes the song “Seeland” that Negativland would go on to name their label after. This one would also feature a more straight-ahead rocker titled, “Hero,” which, according to Rother, David Bowie expressed his affection for, only to later record his Heroes album and its now-classic title track.

The impact of Rother and Dinger — whether directly, or indirectly — truly cannot be overstated. Prior to their split, Rother had begun collaborating with Krautrock peers, Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius of the band Cluster, releasing albums as the project, Harmonia. Brian Eno would, eventually, come out to play music with the trio, recording the sessions to tapes that he then took home with him. This was in 1976, right as he was about to start work on Bowie‘s Berlin trilogy, of which Heroes is included. That same year, Dinger released the self-titled debut with his band La Düsseldorf, a project which Bowie has been quoted as referring to as “the soundtrack of the 80s,” and an album that he drew heavily from for the creation of Low, his first installment in the trilogy. Bowie even approached Conny Plank, who recorded all 3 of the NEU! albums, along with La Düsseldorf and the second Harmonia release, but the legendary Krautrock producer turned the Thin White Duke away, due to his all-consuming addiction to stardust, at the time.

Today, a brand new NEU! box set from Grönland records is being announced, and it looks pretty amazing. Slated for a September 23rd release date, NEU! 50 was put together in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the band’s debut, but this collection goes well beyond that. Aside from the self-titled LP, this box includes NEU! 2 and NEU! 75, along with a stencil and booklet. It will also include a NEU! tribute album featuring remixes and reworkings of various NEU! songs by artists like The National, Idles, Man Man, Mogwai, Guerilla Toss, and Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip). The CD version of the box set will also include the arguably less essential, NEU! 86, recorded when the duo reunited a decade after their split to test what magic they had left together while attempting to update their sound with elements of the time.

For those that aren’t interested in picking up this deluxe package, or simply can’t swing it, a new orange vinyl limited edition reissue of the self-titled is available on its own, along with a reissue of the band’s first-ever 7-inch single, “Super” b/w “Neuschnee.” There is also mention of the box being available digitally, as well as a picture disc and cassette, although the links for those don’t seem to be available yet. Everything else can be pre-ordered now, via the Grönland webstore.

Our first preview of the upcoming tribute album arrives in the form of a “Hallogallo” remix put together by Stephen Morris (New Order, Joy Division) in collaboration with Gabe Gurnsey (Factory Floor).

Morris offers some insight into his own personal history and connection with the music of NEU!:

 “I first heard NEU! sometime late in 1972, not long after the first album came out. I think I got it as a birthday present. I was 15 and obsessed with music that was a bit weird and unusual and NEU! in 1972 certainly fit the bill. I’d never heard anything like it. It was absolutely brilliant. From the first few hypnotic seconds of ‘Hallogallo’ I was hooked. I had no idea who Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger were. There were no interviews in the music papers, but the two tiny photos on the back of the bright red sleeve said all I needed to know. The sound they made was very REAL – alive and emotional. Ambient and driving – it was like they were there in my bedroom with me. Needless to say I played the album endlessly on repeat and bored all my friends to death with how brilliant NEU! were. This was the sort of music I wanted to make. 50 years later you can hear their influence everywhere.”

Check out Morris and Gurnsey‘s “Hallogallo” remix below.