Neu! (;
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
for "New!"; styled in
block capitals
Block letters (known as printscript, manuscript, print writing or ball and stick in academics) are a sans-serif (or "gothic") style of writing Latin script in which the letters are individual glyphs, with no joining.
Elementary education in Eng ...
) were a
West German
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
krautrock
Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock
Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...
band formed in
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
in 1971 by
Klaus Dinger
Klaus Dinger (24 March 1946 – 21 March 2008) was a German musician and songwriter most famous for his contributions to the seminal krautrock band Neu!. He was also the guitarist and chief songwriter of new wave group La Düsseldorf and brief ...
and
Michael Rother
Michael Rother (born 2 September 1950) is a German experimental musician, best known for being a founding member of the influential bands Neu! and Harmonia (band), Harmonia, and an early member of the band Kraftwerk.
Early life and educatio ...
following their departure from
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...
.
The group's albums were produced by
Conny Plank
Konrad "Conny" Plank (3 May 1940 – 5 December 1987) was a German record producer and musician. He is known for his innovative work as a sound engineer and producer in Germany's krautrock and kosmische music scene in the 1970s. Plank was invo ...
, who has been regarded as the group's "hidden member". They released three albums in their initial incarnation—''
Neu!
Neu! (; German for "New!"; styled in block capitals) were a West German krautrock band formed in Düsseldorf in 1971 by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother following their departure from Kraftwerk. The group's albums were produced by Conny Plank, w ...
'' (1972), ''
Neu! 2
''Neu! 2'' is the second studio album by the krautrock band Neu!. It was recorded in January 1973 and mixed in February 1973, both at Windrose-Dumont-Time Studios in Hamburg, Germany, and released in 1973 by Brain Records. It was officially re ...
'' (1973), and ''
Neu! 75
''Neu! 75'' is the third studio album by the krautrock band Neu!. It was recorded and mixed at Conny Plank's studio between December 1974 and January 1975. It was released in 1975 by Brain Records, and officially reissued on CD on 29 May 2001 by ...
'' (1975)—before disbanding in 1975. They briefly reunited in the mid-1980s.
Though Neu! had minimal commercial success during their existence, the band are retrospectively considered a central act of West Germany's
1970s krautrock
Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock
Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...
movement.
They are known for pioneering the "
motorik
Motorik is the 4/4 beat often used by, and heavily associated with, krautrock bands. Coined by music journalists, the term is German for "motor skill". The motorik beat was pioneered by Jaki Liebezeit, drummer with German experimental rock band ...
" beat, a minimalist
4/4 rhythm associated with krautrock artists.
Their work has exerted a widespread influence on genres such as
electronica
Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...
and
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
.
History
1970–1971: Pre-formation
Neu! was formed in 1971 in
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
as an offshoot from an early line-up of another seminal krautrock band,
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...
, whose early works were also produced by
Conny Plank
Konrad "Conny" Plank (3 May 1940 – 5 December 1987) was a German record producer and musician. He is known for his innovative work as a sound engineer and producer in Germany's krautrock and kosmische music scene in the 1970s. Plank was invo ...
.
Drummer
Klaus Dinger
Klaus Dinger (24 March 1946 – 21 March 2008) was a German musician and songwriter most famous for his contributions to the seminal krautrock band Neu!. He was also the guitarist and chief songwriter of new wave group La Düsseldorf and brief ...
had joined Kraftwerk midway through sessions for their
eponymous debut album. Guitarist
Michael Rother
Michael Rother (born 2 September 1950) is a German experimental musician, best known for being a founding member of the influential bands Neu! and Harmonia (band), Harmonia, and an early member of the band Kraftwerk.
Early life and educatio ...
was then recruited to the Kraftwerk line-up on completion of the album.
(Rother had been playing in a local band called ''The Spirits of Sound'', the line-up of which also included drummer
Wolfgang Flür
Wolfgang Flür (born 17 July 1947) is a German musician, best known for playing percussion in the electronic group Kraftwerk from 1973 to 1987. Flür claims that he invented the electric drums the group used throughout the 1970s. However, pa ...
, who would himself go on to join Kraftwerk two years later.)
Kraftwerk founder
Ralf Hütter
Ralf Hütter (born 20 August 1946) is a German musician and composer best known as the lead singer and keyboardist of Kraftwerk, which he founded with Florian Schneider in 1969. On May 12, 2021, Kraftwerk was announced as one of the inductees of ...
left the band at this point to complete his studies and, for six months, Kraftwerk consisted of a trio of Rother, Dinger and
Florian Schneider
Florian Schneider-Esleben (7 April 194721 April 2020) was a German musician. He is best known as one of the founding members and leaders of the electronic band Kraftwerk, performing his role with the band until his departure in 2008.
Early li ...
. This line-up played sporadic gigs and made a live appearance on German TV programme
Beat Club
''Beat-Club'' is a West Germany, West German music programme that ran from September 1965 to December 1972. It was broadcast from Bremen (city), Bremen, West Germany on Das Erste, ''Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen'', the national public TV channel of ...
. Recording sessions at
Conny Plank
Konrad "Conny" Plank (3 May 1940 – 5 December 1987) was a German record producer and musician. He is known for his innovative work as a sound engineer and producer in Germany's krautrock and kosmische music scene in the 1970s. Plank was invo ...
's Windrose studio were unsuccessful (Rother later attributed the failure to "a difference of temperament"). Dinger and Rother parted company from Schneider and began Neu! with Plank. Hütter rejoined Schneider and the pair continued recording
the second Kraftwerk album with Plank.
1971–1975: Main career
The band name NEU! ("new!") was inspired by the prevalence of the advertising business in Düsseldorf at the time, according to Dinger, who described it as "the strongest word in advertising" and even owned a pro forma advertising agency himself for the purpose of booking studios.
The band's
eponymous first album sold just 30,000 records, yet is today considered a masterpiece by many, including influential artists such as
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
,
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...
,
Iggy Pop
James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...
and
Thom Yorke
Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been descri ...
of
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
. It included the
Motorik
Motorik is the 4/4 beat often used by, and heavily associated with, krautrock bands. Coined by music journalists, the term is German for "motor skill". The motorik beat was pioneered by Jaki Liebezeit, drummer with German experimental rock band ...
benchmark tracks "Hallogallo" and "Negativland" (the band
Negativland
Negativland is an American experimental music band which originated in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s. They took their name from a Neu! track, while their record label (Seeland Records) is named after another Neu! track. The co ...
took their name from this track), and bizarre "songs" like "Sonderangebot".
Their second album, ''
Neu! 2
''Neu! 2'' is the second studio album by the krautrock band Neu!. It was recorded in January 1973 and mixed in February 1973, both at Windrose-Dumont-Time Studios in Hamburg, Germany, and released in 1973 by Brain Records. It was officially re ...
'', features some of the earliest examples of musical
remix
A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...
es. The duo, excited about recording another album, decided to expand their horizons by purchasing several new instruments. With the money they had left as an advance from the record company, they could only record half an album's worth of material. The company would not increase their advance because the first album did not sell well enough and the label did not see a reason to further finance what was most likely to become a flop. To rectify the lack of material, the band filled the second side with manipulated versions of their already-released single "Neuschnee"/"Super", playing back each song at different speeds and sometimes warbling the music by messing with the tape machine or placing the record off center on the
turntable
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
. The songs "Super 16" and "Super 78" (slowed down and sped up versions of the
proto-punk song "Super," respectively) unwittingly became the theme songs to the 1976 martial arts cult classic ''
Master of the Flying Guillotine
''Master of the Flying Guillotine'' is a 1976 Hong Kong ''wuxia'' film starring Jimmy Wang Yu, who also wrote and directed the film. It is a sequel to Wang's 1971 film ''One-Armed Boxer'', and thus the film is also known as ''One-Armed Boxer 2' ...
'' by
Jimmy Wang Yu
Jimmy Wang Yu (; born Wang Zheng Quan; 28 March 1943 – 5 April 2022) was a Hong Kong-Taiwanese martial artist, actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. Initially a contract player for Shaw Brothers, he rose to fame for his starring r ...
. This film was later referenced by
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...
in
Kill Bill Volume 1
''Kill Bill: Volume 1'' is a 2003 American martial arts film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Uma Thurman as the Bride, who swears revenge on a team of assassins (Lucy Liu, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, and Vivica A. Fox) an ...
by also featuring the track "Super 16".
Dinger and Rother were both very different when left to their own devices, and this led to their final album of the 1970s, ''
Neu! '75
''Neu! 75'' is the third studio album by the krautrock band Neu!. It was recorded and mixed at Conny Plank's studio between December 1974 and January 1975. It was released in 1975 by Brain Records, and officially reissued on CD on 29 May 2001 by A ...
'' being two solo half-albums. Side One was Rother's more ambient productions which were similar to the first album, albeit more keyboard-driven. Side Two (particularly the song "Hero") was acknowledged as important influence by many later involved in the UK's
punk rock scene, with Dinger's sneering, barely intelligible vocals searing across a distorted
Motorik
Motorik is the 4/4 beat often used by, and heavily associated with, krautrock bands. Coined by music journalists, the term is German for "motor skill". The motorik beat was pioneered by Jaki Liebezeit, drummer with German experimental rock band ...
beat with aggressive single chord guitar pounding.
To aid with performing on the album (and more importantly, live), Hans Lampe and brother Thomas Dinger were enlisted to help execute more music than was possible by two men. Upon its release, and arguably to this day, ''Neu! '75'' is the most diverse record available from the krautrock scene. While this can be seen as a positive point, the differences in musical direction (as well as personal issues) not only isolated the Dinger/Rother duo, it isolated their already small fan base. Neu! broke up after the release of ''Neu! '75''.
Neu! are highly praised in
Julian Cope
Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side proj ...
's ''
Krautrocksampler
''Krautrocksampler: One Head's Guide to the Great Kosmische Musik - 1968 Onwards'', written by the musician and writer Julian Cope, is a book describing the underground music scene in Germany from 1968 through the 1970s. The book was first publis ...
'', along with other
krautrock
Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock
Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...
artists such as
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...
and
Can, and Cope has also written a song called "Michael Rother" which appears on CD2 of the Deluxe edition of the album ''
Jehovahkill
''Jehovahkill'' is the eighth album by Julian Cope, released in 1992. After the critical success of ''Peggy Suicide'' (1991), Cope's idea for ''Jehovakill'' was to incorporate a krautrock attitude into his music. He began recording the album wit ...
''.
1975–1986: Band inactivity and reunion
In 1974, Rother had already collaborated with German electronic duo
Cluster
may refer to:
Science and technology Astronomy
* Cluster (spacecraft), constellation of four European Space Agency spacecraft
* Asteroid cluster, a small asteroid family
* Cluster II (spacecraft), a European Space Agency mission to study t ...
, recording as
Harmonia
In Greek mythology, Harmonia (; grc, Ἁρμονία /Ancient Greek phonology, harmoˈnia/, "harmony", "agreement") is the immortal goddess of harmony and concord. Her Rome, Roman counterpart is Concordia (mythology), Concordia. Her Greek op ...
an album titled ''
Musik Von Harmonia
''Musik von Harmonia'' is the debut album from the influential German krautrock group Harmonia, released in January 1974 by Brain Records. Formed by the addition of Neu! guitarist Michael Rother to Cluster (the duo of Hans-Joachim Roedelius and ...
''. In 1975, he recorded a second
Harmonia
In Greek mythology, Harmonia (; grc, Ἁρμονία /Ancient Greek phonology, harmoˈnia/, "harmony", "agreement") is the immortal goddess of harmony and concord. Her Rome, Roman counterpart is Concordia (mythology), Concordia. Her Greek op ...
album, ''
Deluxe'', and further sessions followed with
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...
, which were not released until 1997 as ''
Tracks and Traces
''Tracks and Traces'' is a collaborative album by German kosmische supergroup Harmonia (featuring Neu! guitarist Michael Rother and Cluster members Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius) and British musician Brian Eno, initially credited to H ...
''. In 1977, Rother started recording as a solo artist. His first three albums; ''
Flammende Herzen
''Flammende Herzen'' (“Blazing Heart” in English) is the first studio album by the German solo artist Michael Rother. It was released in 1977 and includes the single "Flammende Herzen" b/w "Karussell". The music was used the following year to ...
'' (1977), ''
Sterntaler
''Sterntaler'' is the second studio album by the German solo artist Michael Rother. It was released in 1978 and includes the single "Sterntaler" b/w "Sonnenrad".
The album was recorded between September and November 1977 in Germany at Rother's own ...
'' (1978), and ''
Katzenmusik
''Katzenmusik'' is the third studio album by the German solo artist Michael Rother. It was released in 1979 and includes the single "Katzenmusik 9" b/w "Katzenmusik 2".
The album was recorded between March and July 1979 in Germany at Rother's ow ...
'' (1979) were recorded with Neu! producer
Conny Plank
Konrad "Conny" Plank (3 May 1940 – 5 December 1987) was a German record producer and musician. He is known for his innovative work as a sound engineer and producer in Germany's krautrock and kosmische music scene in the 1970s. Plank was invo ...
.
Klaus Dinger, his brother Thomas and Hans Lampe formed
La Düsseldorf
La Düsseldorf was a German band, consisting of onetime Kraftwerk drummer and Neu! multi-instrumentalist Klaus Dinger and occasional Neu! collaborators Thomas Dinger and Hans Lampe. La Düsseldorf was formed after Neu! disbanded following the rel ...
, cited by
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
as "the soundtrack of the eighties". The band released three successful albums; ''
La Düsseldorf
La Düsseldorf was a German band, consisting of onetime Kraftwerk drummer and Neu! multi-instrumentalist Klaus Dinger and occasional Neu! collaborators Thomas Dinger and Hans Lampe. La Düsseldorf was formed after Neu! disbanded following the rel ...
'' (1976), ''
Viva
Viva may refer to:
Companies and organisations
* Viva (network operator), a Dominican mobile network operator
* Viva Air, a Spanish airline taken over by flag carrier Iberia
* Viva Air Dominicana
* VIVA Bahrain, a telecommunication company
* ...
'' (1978) and ''
Individuellos
''Individuellos'' is the third album by the German band La Düsseldorf. It was shortly before the time ''Individuellos'' was released that La Düsseldorf's piano player Andreas Schell committed suicide. This is marked by a cross next to his cred ...
'' (1981).
Between October 1985 and April 1986, Dinger and Rother tried to rekindle the flame that was Neu!: by adding more synthesizers and a slightly more commercial aspect to some compositions, the band sounded like a cross between their old selves and the recent new wave groups. Then they were torn apart again by personal and musical issues.
An example of the sharp contrast between Dinger and Rother was evidenced by such tracks as "Crazy", Rother's attempt at pop, and "'86 Commercial Trash", a Dingerian collage of dialogue and sound effects from
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
's television commercials of that year. The work that took place in these sessions would later resurface as ''
Neu! 4
''Neu! 4'' is the fourth and final studio album by krautrock band Neu!, released in October 1995. It was revised and re-released as ''Neu '86'' in 2010.
Recording
''Neu! 4'' was recorded and mixed between October 1985 and April 1986 at ...
'' in late 1995.
1987–2009: Acrimony, CD reissues, Dinger's death
Dinger and Rother did not work together during the 1990s, and indeed some degree of bitterness existed between them, not least because Dinger had released a couple of old substandard Neu! recordings on the Japanese
Captain Trip label without Rother's knowledge or consent. In late 1995, this label released the previously mentioned ''
Neu! 4
''Neu! 4'' is the fourth and final studio album by krautrock band Neu!, released in October 1995. It was revised and re-released as ''Neu '86'' in 2010.
Recording
''Neu! 4'' was recorded and mixed between October 1985 and April 1986 at ...
'' recordings from the 1985–1986 sessions. It also released ''
Neu! '72 Live in Düsseldorf
''Neu! '72 Live! in Düsseldorf'' is the final entirely new album released to date by krautrock band Neu!.
It was recorded on 6 May 1972 at the congregation hall of St. Maria Unter Dem Kreuz. Despite the title, it is not a live album in any co ...
'' (recorded on 6 May 1972), which comprised poorly recorded rehearsals for some abortive live shows, but notable for the inclusion of Eberhard Kranemann, who had briefly been in Kraftwerk with Dinger.
A 1999 tribute album, entitled ''A Homage to Neu!'' (
Cleopatra Records
Cleopatra Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1992 by Brian Perera. The record label has since grown into a family of labels, including Hypnotic Records, Purple Pyramid Records, Dea ...
), features covers from artists including the
Legendary Pink Dots
The Legendary Pink Dots (LPD) are an Anglo-Dutch experimental rock band formed in London in August 1980. In 1984, the band moved to Amsterdam, playing with rotating musicians and having, as core members, singer/songwriter/keyboardist Edward Ka- ...
,
Download
In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...
,
Autechre
Autechre () is an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Au ...
,
Dead Voices on Air
Dead Voices on Air is Mark Spybey's experimental and industrial project formed after his departure from Zoviet France.Lengel, Kerry (December 2, 1999). "Dead Voices' Music Comes Alive", ''The Arizona Republic'', p. 47. Dead Voices on Air has col ...
,
Khan,
System 7
System 7, codenamed "Big Bang", and also known as Mac OS 7, is a graphical user interface-based operating system for Macintosh computers and is part of the classic Mac OS series of operating systems. It was introduced on May 13, 1991, by Apple C ...
, and
James Plotkin
James Plotkin is an American guitarist and producer known for his role in bands such as Khanate (band), Khanate and OLD (band), OLD but with an extensive catalogue outside these bands. He has played guitar for Phantomsmasher and Scorn (band), Sco ...
, as well as an original track from Rother entitled "Neutronics 98 (A Tribute to Conny Plank)". Plank had died in 1987.
For many years the acrimony and legal wrangling between Rother and Dinger prevented their reaching agreement over licensing arrangements to make Neu!'s music available on CD. In the ensuing vacuum, illegal and inferior-quality bootleg CDs (
mastered
Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...
from old vinyl records) were distributed by an outfit called Germanofon.
This situation was finally resolved in 2001, when Rother and Dinger put aside their differences and entered a studio to transfer the three Neu! albums to CD, from the original master tapes (reportedly mastering each album three times). These were produced and released by
Grönland Records
Grönland Records is a British–German independent record label founded in London, England, which relocated to Berlin in 2009. "Grönland" (German for Greenland) refers both to the country, the label's founder, Herbert Grönemeyer and the epo ...
(licensed to the
Astralwerks label in the US), packaged with stickers featuring rave reviews by notable artists, including
Thom Yorke
Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been descri ...
. Following the release of the first three albums, Dinger and Rother tried but failed to agree on a legal release of ''Neu! 4''. Rother called the failure of those negotiations "unfortunate".
Rother has said that he and Dinger had been considering recording a fifth Neu album, but the idea was aborted after personal disagreements resurfaced between them. Dinger died of heart failure on 21 March 2008. Rother said that he was unaware of Dinger's illness until just before he died.
Rother writes and produces solo albums. Before his death, Dinger was a member of the band
La! Neu? - whose name also irritated Rother - as well as collaborating with Miki Yui and band sub-tle. in a project that is unreleased to this date.
2009–present: ''Brand Neu!'', ''Neu! '86'', Hallogallo 2010
On 25 May 2009, the new record label Feraltone released a compilation CD called ''Brand Neu!'' containing tracks by many modern artists who credit Neu! as an influence. Most notably, it featured a track from Michael Rother from the previous Neu! homage album (''A Homage to Neu!'') and a new track by La Duesseldorf.de, one of Klaus Dinger's final recordings before he died. The compilation features both new and established artists from all around the world including
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.”
The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
,
Primal Scream
Primal Scream are a Scottish rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie. The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simone Butler (bass), and Darrin Mooney (drums) ...
,
Kasabian
Kasabian ( ) are an English rock band formed in Leicester in 1997 by lead vocalist Tom Meighan, guitarist and occasional vocalist Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist Chris Karloff, and bassist Chris Edwards. Drummer Ian Matthews joined in 2004. Karlof ...
,
School of Seven Bells
School of Seven Bells (often stylized as SVIIB) was an American indie rock band from New York City, formed in 2007. It originally consisted of Alejandra Deheza (vocals, guitar), her sister Claudia Deheza (keyboards, vocals) and Benjamin Curtis ...
,
Ciccone Youth
Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...
(Sonic Youth),
Holy Fuck
Holy Fuck is a Canadian electronica band from Toronto. They were a part of Dependent Music, a music label and artist collective that began in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia in 2004 until its closing. They were then a part of the Young Turks label and in ...
and the young band Pets With Pets from Australia. This was to outline the enormous influence of Neu! which spans multiple decades and countries.
The rights to the Neu! back catalogue are jointly owned by Rother, Dinger's estate and Plank's widow, Christa Fast. Rother worked with them to produce a box set that included all of Neu!'s recordings including material that appeared on the ''
Neu! 4
''Neu! 4'' is the fourth and final studio album by krautrock band Neu!, released in October 1995. It was revised and re-released as ''Neu '86'' in 2010.
Recording
''Neu! 4'' was recorded and mixed between October 1985 and April 1986 at ...
'' album (now officially released as ''
Neu! '86''). ''
Neu! Vinyl Box
''Neu! Vinyl Box'' is a compilation box set by the German band Neu!, formed by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother. Released in 2010 on vinyl, digital download and promotional CD; it consists of the group's three 1970s studio albums (''Neu!'', '' Neu! ...
'' was released in May 2010 and ''
Neu! '86'' followed as a standalone release later that year. The box set included some of the 'live' recordings from 1972 on a maxi single.
In 2010 Rother teamed up with Steve Shelley (of
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...
) and Aaron Mullan (of
Tall Firs
Tall Firs are an American, New York City based underground electric folk rock band, originally formed in 1990 by teenagers Dave Mies and Aaron Mullan in Annapolis, Maryland. Their album, ''Tall Firs'', was completed and released sixteen ye ...
) for Hallogallo 2010, a live project to present Neu! music and some new pieces. He has since toured sporadically with the German trio Camera, performing the work of Neu!, Harmonia and his own solo music, occasionally with
Dieter Möbius of Cluster. Since 2014 he has toured with Hans Lampe and former Camera guitarist Franz Bargmann.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Neu! debut album, Rother will play two concerts, Michael Rother & Friends: Celebrate 50 years NEU!. The first in Berlin, on 26 October 2022, and a second concert in London on 3 November 2022.
Musical style and influence
Neu!'s rhythms and sparse atmospherics have been widely influential on genres such as
electronica
Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...
and
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
.
Their sound was described as "a droning, hypnotic style made up of Mr. Dinger’s simple, perpetual-motion rhythms and Mr. Rother’s fluid guitar effects" by ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' critic Ben Sisario.
Sisario called their first three albums "landmarks of German
experimental rock
Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...
, a genre that was quickly labeled
Krautrock
Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock
Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...
by journalists and fans."
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
noted their penchant for "minimalist melodies and lock-groove rhythms."
The band pioneered the "
motorik
Motorik is the 4/4 beat often used by, and heavily associated with, krautrock bands. Coined by music journalists, the term is German for "motor skill". The motorik beat was pioneered by Jaki Liebezeit, drummer with German experimental rock band ...
" beat, a minimalist 4/4 beat often used by drummers associated with krautrock.
It is characterised by a
kick drum
The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. Th ...
-heavy, pulsating groove, that created a forward-flowing feel.
It was probably first used by the group on their
debut album and was later adopted by other krautrock bands. Dinger himself later referred to it as the "Apache beat".
Artists such as
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
,
the Sex Pistols
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
,
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...
,
Stereolab
Stereolab are an Anglo- French avant-pop band formed in London in 1990. Led by the songwriting team of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier, the group's music combines influences from krautrock, lounge and 1960s pop music, often incorporating a repetit ...
, and
Tortoise
Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, ...
have drawn on the work of Neu! in their music.
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. ''Q'' magazine in ...
cited the band in their influences. Japanese experimental group
Boredoms cite Neu! as a prominent influence on their later sound, evident in their unique application of tape manipulation remix techniques and driving 4/4 rhythms pioneered by Rother and Dinger.
Personnel
*
Klaus Dinger
Klaus Dinger (24 March 1946 – 21 March 2008) was a German musician and songwriter most famous for his contributions to the seminal krautrock band Neu!. He was also the guitarist and chief songwriter of new wave group La Düsseldorf and brief ...
– vocals, drums, guitars, keyboards, koto, percussion
(1971–1975, 1985–1986; died 2008)
*
Michael Rother
Michael Rother (born 2 September 1950) is a German experimental musician, best known for being a founding member of the influential bands Neu! and Harmonia (band), Harmonia, and an early member of the band Kraftwerk.
Early life and educatio ...
– guitars, bass guitar, keyboards
(1971–1975, 1985–1986)
* Eberhard Kranemann – bass guitar, slide guitar
(1972)
*
Uli Trepte
Uli Trepte (born 27 September 1941, Konstanz, Germany — died 21 May 2009, Berlin) was a German musician best known for his collaborations with various influential Krautrock bands in the early 1970s.
Early career
Uli Trepte began his musica ...
– bass guitar
(1972; died 2009)
*
Thomas Dinger
Thomas Dinger (28 October 1952 — 9 April 2002) was a German drummer, singer and songwriter who was active in solo pursuits in addition to having been a member of Neu! and La Düsseldorf, both with his brother Klaus Dinger, and 1-A Düsseldo ...
– drums
(1975; died 2002)
* Hans Lampe – drums
(1975)
*
Konrad Mathieu
Neu! (; German for "New!"; styled in block capitals) were a West German krautrock band formed in Düsseldorf in 1971 by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother following their departure from Kraftwerk. The group's albums were produced by Conny Plank, ...
– bass guitar
(1985–1986)
* Georg Sessenhausen – drums
(1985–1986)
Discography
All Neu! albums on
Brain Records
Brain was a Hamburg-based record label prominent in the 1970s releasing several important Krautrock records by bands such as Neu!, Cluster and Guru Guru. Many of its more prominent records are currently being reissued on CD by Repertoire Recor ...
were reissued in 2001 by
Astralwerks and
Grönland Records
Grönland Records is a British–German independent record label founded in London, England, which relocated to Berlin in 2009. "Grönland" (German for Greenland) refers both to the country, the label's founder, Herbert Grönemeyer and the epo ...
. All Neu! albums on
Captain Trip Records have at least in part been re-released as part of the 2010 Grönland Records ''Vinyl Box''.
Studio albums
Compilation, out-take and live albums
Singles
* 1972 –
"Super"/"Neuschnee" (Brain Records)
* 1975 –
"Isi"/"After Eight" (
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B.
History Genres
In 1959, ...
)
* 2010 –
"Crazy"/"Euphoria" (Grönland Records)
* 2022 - "Hallogallo (
Stephen Morris and Gabe Gurnsey Remix)" (Grönland Records)
Tribute albums
* 2001 – ''A Homage to Neu!'' (
Cleopatra Records
Cleopatra Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1992 by Brian Perera. The record label has since grown into a family of labels, including Hypnotic Records, Purple Pyramid Records, Dea ...
)
* 2009 – ''Brand Neu!: Tribute to Neu!'' (Feraltone)
Videography
*''
Romantic Warriors IV: Krautrock'' (2019)
References
External links
Neu2010.com(official website)
La-Duesseldorf.de(official Klaus Dinger website)
Dingerland.de(previous Klaus Dinger website)
MichaelRother.de(Michael Rother's official website)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neu
Astralwerks artists
Musical groups established in 1971
Musical groups disestablished in 1975
1971 establishments in Germany
Musical groups disestablished in 1986
German rock music groups
Krautrock musical groups
Protopunk groups
Musical groups from Düsseldorf
Grönland Records artists
Brain Records artists
United Artists Records artists