''Neu!'' is the debut studio album by German

krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It originated among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electron ...

band

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 ...

, released in 1972 by Brain Records. It was the first album recorded by the duo of

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 educat ...

and

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 music, new wave group La Düsse ...

after leaving

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...

in 1971. They continued to work with producer Konrad "Conny" Plank, who had also worked on the Kraftwerk recording sessions. Upon release, the album was largely ignored internationally but did well in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, selling 35,000 copies. In 2001, the album was reissued by Grönland and then licensed to

Astralwerks Astralwerks (or Astralwerks Records) is an American record label primarily focused on electronic music that is now owned by Universal Music Group. Its material is distributed via Capitol Music Group in the United States. The label was founded in ...

for US distribution. In 2014, ''

Fact A fact is a truth, true data, datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to Fact-checking, check facts. Science, Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by ...

'' named it the 36th best album of the 1970s.

History

Having broken off from an early incarnation of

and

quickly began the recording sessions for what would become'' Neu!''. The pair recorded the album across four nights in December 1971 at Star Studios in Hamburg with producer and engineer

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 involv ...

. Dinger noted that Plank served as a "mediator" between the often disagreeing factions within the band. According to Dinger, the first two days were unproductive until he brought his taishōgoto ("Japanese banjo") to the sessions, a heavily treated version of which can be heard on "Negativland", the first of the album's six tracks to be recorded. It was during these sessions that Dinger first played his famous " motorik" beat, as featured on "Hallogallo" and "Negativland". Dinger claimed never to have used the term "motorik" himself, preferring either "lange gerade" ("long straight") or "endlose gerade" ("endless straight"). He later changed the beat's "name" to the "

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

beat" to coincide with his 1985 solo album '' Néondian''. The band was christened by Dinger (Rother had been against the name, preferring a more "organic" title) and a pop art style logo was created, featuring italic capitals. Dinger recalled Neu!'s logo:

Reception

''Neu!'' sold well for an underground album at the time, with approximately 35,000 copies sold in West Germany. In 2001, '' Q'' described the album's motorik beat as "

's defining relentless rhythm" and an influence on subsequent

ambient music Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes Musical tone, tone and atmosphere over traditional Musical form, musical structure or rhythm. Often "peaceful" sounding and lacking Musical composition, composition, beat, and/or structured melod ...

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 ...

. In 2008, Ben Sisario of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' described the album and its successors as "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, wit ...

." The track "Negativland" provided the name for a later group of American musical satirists. The track "Hallogallo" provided the name for Hallogallo, a Chicago magazine documenting the music scene of the same name.

Track listing

Personnel

;Neu! *

– electric guitar, bass guitar, bowed bass *

– drums, electric guitar, taishōgoto, vocals ;Additional personnel * Konrad "Conny" Plank – production, engineering

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1972 debut albums Neu! albums Brain Records albums Albums produced by Conny Plank