Krautrock

Last updated

Krautrock (originally known as kosmische Musik, German for "cosmic music" [12] [13] [14] ) is a broad genre of experimental rock and music scene that developed in West Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s. [13] Artists blend elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electronic music, among other eclectic sources. [15] Common elements included hypnotic rhythms, extended improvisation, musique concrète techniques, and early synthesizers, [16] [15] while the music generally moved away from the rhythm & blues roots and song structure found in traditional Anglo-American rock music. [17] Prominent groups associated with the krautrock label included Neu!, Can, Faust, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Cluster, Ash Ra Tempel, Popol Vuh, Amon Düül II and Harmonia. [5]

Contents

The term "krautrock" was popularised by British music journalists as a pejorative umbrella-label for the diverse German scene, [18] and although many such artists disliked the term, it subsequently fell into standard usage. [19] Some German and English-language authors remain critical of it. [20] The movement was partly born out of the radical student protests of 1968, [21] as German youth rebelled against their country's legacy in World War II and sought a popular music distinct from traditional German music and American pop. [13] The style led to the emergence of the electronic focused genre kosmische musik, while the period contributed to the development of ambient music and techno, [11] and influenced subsequent genres such as post-punk, new-age music, and post-rock. [5] [22]

Characteristics

Pioneering German krautrock band Can in 1972. The group combined elements of psychedelic rock improvisation, funk rhythm, and musique concrete elements. Can 1972 (Heinrich Klaffs Collection 102).jpg
Pioneering German krautrock band Can in 1972. The group combined elements of psychedelic rock improvisation, funk rhythm, and musique concrète elements.

Krautrock has been described as a broad genre encompassing varied approaches, [13] [24] but commonly drawing on psychedelia, avant-garde collage, electronic sounds, and rock music, while typically featuring "improvisation and hypnotic, minimalistic rhythms." [15] Los Angeles Magazine summarized the genre as "American psychedelica meets icy Germanic detachment." [25] Melody Maker described the style as "where the over-reaching ambition and untethered freakitude of late '60s acid rock is checked and galvanised by a proto-punk minimalism ... music of immense scale that miraculously avoided prog-rock's bombastics." [5] AllMusic described it as expanding on the territory associated with art rock and progressive rock, but diverging from the American and British groups' emphasis on jazz and classical elements in favor of "a droning, pulsating sound that owed more to the avant garde than to rock & roll." [16]

Some common musical features exhibited by krautrock artists include:

Despite a common approach and generational attitude among artists, the New Statesman argues that "in truth, no two Krautrock acts sound remotely alike. Compare the dreamy synthesiser washes of Tangerine Dream with the alien noise collages of Faust or the psychedelic funk of Can." [32] However, a common feature is the "motorik" beat: the 4/4 beat often used by drummers associated with krautrock, [31] characterised by a kick drum-heavy, pulsating groove, that created a forward-flowing feel. [31] The motorik beat was used by Can in the song "Mother Sky", by Neu! on their debut album, and by Kraftwerk in the song "Autobahn" on their album of the same name, [33] later being adopted by other krautrock bands. It has been widely used in many different styles of music beyond krautrock. [34] According to XLR8R , the term krautrock is often used by critics to signify the "mesmerizing motorik rhythms pioneered by Can and Neu!", but contested that "they represent merely a tiny fraction of the music that emerged from Germany during krautrock's Golden Age". [18]

Origins and influences

A German student protest from 1968 Ludwig Binder Haus der Geschichte Studentenrevolte 1968 2001 03 0275.4264 (16900118449).jpg
A German student protest from 1968

Krautrock emerged in West Germany during the 1960s and early 1970s. [24] The music was partially inspired by broad cultural developments such as the revolutionary 1968 German student movement, [13] [35] with many young people having both political and aesthetic concerns. [36] Youth rebelled against both dominant American influence and conservative German entertainment such as schlager music, [36] seeking to liberate themselves from Germany's Nazi legacy in World War II and create a new popular culture. [18] Dieter Moebius, of the bands Cluster and Harmonia, noted that "we were a lot of the times on the streets instead of studying. As young people we were not very proud to be German [...] we were all tired of listening to bad German music and imitations of American music. Something had to happen." [36]

We were trying to put aside everything we had heard in rock 'n' roll, the three-chord pattern, the lyrics. We had the urge of saying something completely different.

—Jean-Hervé Peron of Faust. [17]

The movement saw artists merge elements of varied genres such as psychedelic rock, avant-garde forms of electronic music, funk rhythm, jazz improvisation and "ethnic" music styles, [5] typically reflecting a "genuine sense of awe and wonder". [24] A core influence on these German artists were rock acts such as Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, the Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd, [13] Captain Beefheart [37] and the Beatles. [38] Hapshash and the Coloured Coat's debut album Featuring the Human Host and the Heavy Metal Kids (1967) was later regarded as being influential on the early works of Amon Düül, [39] the student commune Kommune 1, and other pioneers of German krautrock. [40] [41] [42] The influence of Jimi Hendrix and James Brown on krautrock musicians was also notable. [29]

Another significant influence was the work of avant-garde composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Terry Riley, Tony Conrad, and La Monte Young, as well as the late '60s albums of jazz musician Miles Davis, [43] particularly his jazz fusion work on In a Silent Way (1969). [36] Some artists drew on ideas from 20th century classical music and musique concrète, [36] particularly composer Stockhausen (with whom, for example, Irmin Schmidt and Holger Czukay of Can had previously studied), and from the new experimental directions that emerged in jazz during the 1960s and 1970s (mainly the free jazz pieces by Ornette Coleman or Albert Ayler). [22] Moving away from the patterns of song structure and melody of much rock music in America and Britain, some in the movement were drawn to a more mechanical and electronic sound. [22]

Precursors

The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows" has been noted for its "proto-krautrock groove". [44] [45] American groups Silver Apples and the Monks were both described by the Guardian as precursors to krautrock, with the former being compared to Can [46] and latter making early use of a "motorik" beat. [47] The Godz's "Soon the Moon" and "Permanent Green Light" were also noted as precursors. [48]

Etymology

Until around 1973, the word Deutsch-Rock ("German Rock") was used to refer to the new groups from West Germany. [49] Other names thrown around by the British and American music press were "Teutonic rock", "Überrock" [50] and "Götterdämmer rock". [51] West Germany's[ dubious – discuss ] music press initially used Krautrock as a pejorative, but the term lost its stigma after the music gained success in Britain. [51] The term derives from the ethnic slur "kraut". "Kraut" in German can refer to herbs, weeds, and drugs. [51]

The term was originally used by Virgin records in 1972. [52] Various sources[ who? ] claim that "krautrock" was originally a humorous term coined in the early 1970s, either by British disc jockey John Peel [53] or by the UK music newspaper Melody Maker , in which experimental German bands found an early and enthusiastic following. [54] The first use[ failed verification ] of the term however, was found in a full-page advertisement from Popo Music Management and Bacillus Records promoting German Rock in the UK, in April 1971. [55] The music emerging in Germany was first[ failed verification ] covered extensively in three concurrent issues of the UK music paper New Musical Express in the month of December 1972, by journalist Ian MacDonald. [56] [ independent source needed ]

Its musicians tended to reject the name "krautrock". [57] [51] This was also the case for "kosmische Musik". [51] Musicologist Julian Cope, in his book Krautrocksampler , says "krautrock is a subjective British phenomenon", based on the way the music was received in the UK rather than on the actual West German music scene out of which it grew. [58] For instance, while one of the main groups originally tagged as krautrock, Faust, recorded a seminal 12-minute track they titled "Krautrock", they would later distance themselves from the term, saying: "When the English people started talking about krautrock, we thought they were just taking the piss... and when you hear the so-called 'krautrock renaissance', it makes me think everything we did was for nothing." [17]

Legacy and influence

Krautrock has proved to be highly influential on a succession of other musical styles and developments. Early contemporary enthusiasts outside Germany included Hawkwind and in particular Dave Brock who supposedly penned the sleeve notes for the British edition of Neu!'s first album. [59] Faust's budget release The Faust Tapes has been cited as a formative teenage influence by several musicians growing up in the early 1970s such as Julian Cope, who has always cited krautrock as an influence, and wrote the book Krautrocksampler on the subject. Krautrock was a significant influence on Simple Minds albums Real To Real Cacophony (1979) and Empires and Dance (1980), as well as on artists such as Brian Eno, Gary Numan and Ultravox. [60] The genre also had a strong influence on David Bowie's Station to Station (1976) and the experimentation it inspired led to his Berlin Trilogy. [61] [62]

Krautrock has been cited as an influence by post-punk artists such as Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, [63] Pere Ubu, [64] the Fall, [65] Public Image Ltd, [66] Wire, [67] Gang of Four, [68] the Pop Group, [69] Cabaret Voltaire, [70] Killing Joke, [71] Swell Maps, [72] This Heat, the Feelies, [73] Chrome, [74] Blurt, [75] Six Finger Satellite [76] as well as post-rock artists Stereolab [77] and Mogwai. [78] [79]

Modern bands, such as Osees, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Guerilla Toss, [80] DIIV, [81] and Minami Deutsch have been described as krautrock, or have noted krautrock as influential on their styles. [82]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ↑ "Ambient Pop". AllMusic . Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  2. ↑ Wilson 2006.
  3. ↑ Manning 2004.
  4. ↑ "Indie Electronic – Significant Albums, Artists and Songs – AllMusic". AllMusic.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Reynolds, Simon (July 1996). "Krautrock". Melody Maker.
  6. ↑ Haddon 2020, p. 44.
  7. ↑ Stubbs 2014, p. 170.
  8. ↑ Stubbs 2014, p. 221.
  9. ↑ Hegarty & Halliwell 2011, p. 224.
  10. ↑ "Post-Rock". AllMusic . Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  11. 1 2 Battaglia, Andy (26 March 2009). "Where to start with the vast, influential krautrock". The A.V. Club . Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  12. ↑ Cox, Christoph; Warner, Daniel, eds. (2004). Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music. A&C Black. p. 412. ISBN   978-0-8264-1615-5.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Savage, Jon (30 March 2010). "Elektronische musik: a guide to krautrock". The Guardian . Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  14. ↑ Unterberger 1998, p. 174.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 Harrison, Imogen (28 February 2016). "'Electricity' – The Influence of Krautrock on the UK's Next Generation". Shindig! . Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 Anon (n.d.). "Kraut Rock". AllMusic . Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Stubbs, David (January 2007). "Invisible Jukebox: Faust". The Wire . No. 275. p. 18.
  18. 1 2 3 Segal, David (3 September 2007). "What is it? Krautrock". XLR8R . Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  19. ↑ Seabrook, Thomas Jerome (2008). Bowie in Berlin: A New Career in a New Town. Jawbone Press. p. 85. ISBN   978-1-906002-08-4 . Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  20. ↑ Hodkinson, James; Schofield, Benedict (2020). German in the World: The Transnational and Global Contexts of German Studies. Boydell & Brewer. p. 257. ISBN   978-1-64014-033-2.
  21. ↑ Preston, John (April 2013). "Krautrock". Encyclopedia of Contemporary German Culture. Routledge Press. p. 353. ISBN   978-1-136-81603-1. [...] its origins in the 1960s student movement gave it a political hue expressed in the communal social organization of some of the bands, and sometimes in their music.
  22. 1 2 3 Reinholdt Nielsen, Per (2011). Rebel & Remix – Rockens historie. Denmark: Systime. ISBN   978-87-616-2662-2.
  23. ↑ Can at AllMusic
  24. 1 2 3 Bolton, Matt (9 May 2008). "Matt Bolton meets the original Krautrockers". The Guardian . Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  25. 1 2 Tewksbury, Drew (13 February 2013). "The Merciless Circularity of Beak". Los Angeles Magazine . Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  26. ↑ Segal, Dave. "German Guitar God Michael Rother Talks Kraftwerk, Neu!, and the Dubious Term "Krautrock"". The Stranger. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  27. ↑ Patrin, Nate (13 November 2019). "Krautrock Playlist: 20 Essential Songs". Stereogum. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  28. ↑ Horton, Ross. "Manchester's W. H. Lung pay a beautiful tribute to krautrock on "Simpatico People"". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  29. 1 2 Smith, Stewart (10 August 2014). "No Stars in Krautrock: David Stubbs' Future Days Reviewed". The Quietus . Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  30. ↑ Richardson, Mark (11 December 2015). "Harmonia – Complete Works". Pitchfork . Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  31. 1 2 3 "Neu! – Neu! | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  32. ↑ Maconie, Stuart (22 August 2014). "Krautrock: Germany's coolest export that no one can quite define". New Statesman . Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  33. ↑ "Top ten songs with the Motorik beat | Sick Mouthy". 6 August 2013. Archived from the original on 6 August 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  34. ↑ "The Quietus | Opinion | The Quietus Essay | How Motorik Infected The Mainstream, By Future Days Author David Stubbs". The Quietus. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  35. ↑ Buckley 2003, p. 566.
  36. 1 2 3 4 5 Stubbs, Dusty (2015). Future Days: Krautrock and the Birth of a Revolutionary New Music. Melville. ISBN   978-1-61219-474-5 . Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  37. ↑ Rogers, Jon. "Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica". www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  38. ↑ Savage, Jon. "The in Sound From Way Kraut: A Kosmische Countdown". Red Bull Music Academy . Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  39. ↑ Breznikar, Klemen (4 July 2023). "Amon Düül | Interview | Ulrich Leopold". It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  40. ↑ Freeman, Steve; Freeman, Alan (1996). Crack in the Cosmic Egg: Encyclopedia of Krautrock, Kosmische Musik and Other Progressive, Experimental and Electronic Musics from Germany Audion Publications ISBN   978-0-9529506-0-8
  41. ↑ Raggett, Ned "Featuring the Human Host and the Heavy Metal Kids" allmusic Retrieved 2010-10-24
  42. ↑ Shirley, Ian (2007) Can Rock and Roll Save the World?: An Illustrated History of Music and Comics (pp.45–46) Wembley: SAF ISBN   978-0-946719-80-8
  43. ↑ Morris, Chris. "How '70s Krautrock Changed The Shape of Modern Music". Music Aficionado. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  44. ↑ Sheffield, Rob (5 November 2022). "Why the Beatles' 'Revolver' Sounds More Gloriously Weird Than Ever". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  45. ↑ "John Lennon: Top 6 most influential songs". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN   0882-7729 . Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  46. ↑ Wray, Daniel Dylan (9 April 2019). "The great 60s electro-pop plane crash: how pioneers Silver Apples fell out of the sky". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  47. ↑ Petridis, Alexis (7 May 2009). "Music to scare bullies by". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  48. ↑ Godz Two - The Godz | Album | AllMusic , retrieved 8 December 2024
  49. ↑ Adelt 2016, p. 10.
  50. ↑ Christgau, Robert (7 April 1975). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice . New York. ISSN   0042-6180 . Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  51. 1 2 3 4 5 Adelt 2016, p. 12.
  52. ↑ Barnes, Mike (12 October 2021). Storia del progressive rock: Origini e leggenda della musica inglese anni Settanta (in Italian). ODOYA. p. 692. ISBN   978-88-6288-726-7.
  53. ↑ Adelt 2016, p. 11.
  54. ↑ 'Krautrock – Cosmic Rock and its Legacy' by David Stubbs, Erik Davis, Michel Faber and various contributing authors. Published 2009 by Black Dog Publishing Limited, London ISBN   978-1-906155-66-7
  55. ↑ Bartsch, Paul (30 April 2022). LiveRillen No. 4: Konzerte aus sechs Jahrzehnten Rockmusikgeschichte (in German). BoD – Books on Demand. p. 52. ISBN   978-3-7543-5424-7.
  56. ↑ Macdonald, I. (December 1972). Krautrock: Germany calling #1, #2 and #3. London, UK: New Musical Express.
  57. ↑ Blühdorn, Annette (2003). Pop and Poetry – Pleasure and Protest: Udo Lindenberg, Konstantin Wecker and the Tradition of German Cabaret. New York: Peter Lang Publishing. p. 141. ISBN   978-0-8204-6879-2.
  58. ↑ Cope, Julian (1995). Krautrocksampler: One Head's Guide to the Great Kosmische Musik – 1968 Onwards . Yatesbury: Head Heritage. p.  64. ISBN   0-9526719-1-3.
  59. ↑ Starfarer. "Hawkwind Quotations". Archived from the original on 14 March 2012.
  60. ↑ Sean Albiez, David Pattie Kraftwerk: Music Non-Stop 2011, page 146-157
  61. ↑ Buckley (2000): pp. 275–277.
  62. ↑ Pegg (2004): pp. 205–206.
  63. ↑ Ohanesian, Liz (7 December 2018). "The Guide to Getting Into Siouxsie and The Banshees, Dark Pop Outsiders". VICE. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  64. ↑ media (28 October 2016). "PERE UBU –Post Punk before Punk?". Underground. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  65. ↑ Dazed (3 May 2018). "Can's Irmin Schmidt interviews Mark E Smith". Dazed. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  66. ↑ Berman, Stuart. "Public Image Ltd: First Issue". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  67. ↑ Gallucci, Michael GallucciMichael (25 September 2019). "Gang of Four Take Punk in New Direction on 'Entertainment!'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  68. ↑ "Farewell to the revolution: Gang of Four to embark on final North American tour". Stairway to 11. 29 October 2024. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  69. ↑ "The Pop Group - For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder? (Freaks R Us)". The Big Takeover. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  70. ↑ Quietus, The (9 December 2013). "Justified Fascination: Richard H Kirk Of Cabaret Voltaire Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  71. ↑ "Perfect Sound Forever: Killing Joke retrospective". www.furious.com. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  72. ↑ Quietus, The (24 May 2021). "Organised Chaos: Swell Maps Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  73. ↑ "BOMB Magazine | Glenn Mercer & The Feelies". BOMB Magazine. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  74. ↑ Breznikar, Klemen (29 December 2021). "Chrome | Helios Creed | Interview | "Let's create acid punk"". It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  75. ↑ "Cafe OTO → BLURT - 40th anniversary show + Leverton Fox, Thursday 12 December 2019, 7.30pm". www.cafeoto.co.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  76. ↑ Crock, Jason. "Six Finger Satellite: A Good Year for Hardness". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  77. ↑ Klein, Joshua (29 August 2001). "What the Bleep? Stereolab Does Some Actual Tunes". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  78. ↑ "A Brief History of Post-Rock". The Thin Air. 14 August 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  79. ↑ "NEU! 50th Anniversary Tribute Album Features The National, Mogwai, Guerilla Toss". Stereogum. 8 June 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  80. ↑ "Guerilla Toss – "Zum Herz"". Stereogum. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  81. ↑ "Jeff Tweedy, Dan Deacon, DIIV's Zachary Cole Smith Discuss Krautrock in New Documentary". Pitchfork. 23 May 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  82. ↑ Reed, Ryan (23 December 2021). "Exit Interview: King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard on Butterfly 3000, 'Jammy' New Music". Spin. Retrieved 18 August 2023.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.