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$14.99 CD
$14.99 CD
$14.99 CD
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NEU!
Neu!
(Gronland)
"Hallogallo"
NEU
Neu! 2
(Gronland)
"Lila Engel"
NEU!
Neu! 75
(Gronland)
"Isi"
Let me begin by saying this: If you are indeed new to these records, you're in for a treat.
Perhaps the most influential German "Krautrock" band in existence whose followers and antecedents spread throughout countless genres of music, the three albums Neu! (pronounced "noy" and always spelled with the exclamation point -- it's the German word for new, and was intended to be an almost pop-art styled brand name) created in the 1970s remarkably still sound exhilarating and fresh. After leaving an early version of another seminal German band, Kraftwerk, guitarist Michael Rother and drummer Klaus Dinger formed Neu! in 1971, stripping rock music to its most minimal skeleton, defined by chugging, chiming guitars and one of the most propulsive, simple 4/4 backbeats.
The debut album Neu! features some of the group's most championed and influential pieces of music, namely "Hallogallo," which is perhaps the most concentrated definition of the group's sound -- as Dinger thumps incessantly on his kit (playing a beat which he termed "Apache" but which would go on to be dubbed by many as "motorik"), layers of Rother's guitars chop, scratch, and soar above below and around Dinger's backbone. The result is still, after 37 years, completely hypnotizing. Interestingly, most of the rest of the album is of a much more ambient, weightless nature, with tracks like "Sonderangebot" and "Im Gluck" featuring soundscapes of electronic processing and effects-warped cymbals, along with some field recordings of Dinger in a rowboat. The second half picks up pace again with "Negativland," a more dissonant, slowed down groover that marries a low-end bump with squeals of dissonance, clouds of effects, and some of Rother's gnarliest guitar playing during these early days.
Neu! 2 is perhaps the group's most underappreciated and misunderstood release, but is also the one album in their canon which proved a true milestone in the rock world, as it is perhaps the first rock record to extensively feature "remixes" and radically altered versions of its music, particularly that of a single which the band released as a stopgap in between albums. It is also on this album that the huge dichotomy between Rother and Dinger's sounds began to show their true colors -- Rother's compositions tended to be of a more melodic, ambient, weightless nature (a direction he'd explore to its fullest potentials when he'd join Harmonia a few years later); Dinger's music, on the other hand, was raw, unchecked adrenalin and more energetic, so much so that it has often been termed "proto-punk" partly due to the addition of Dinger's somewhat cavemanesque vocal delivery. In most groups, such polarization would be disastrous, and while it did prove to be a deciding factor in Neu!'s demise, for the next two albums it brings out the band's most incredible music. Neu! 2 begins with "Fur Immer," an even more crystalline version of the "Hallogallo" mindset which stretches out for 11-plus minutes and could indeed go on forever (this is a good thing). Dinger gets his rock on with the stomping "Lila Angel" and "Spitzenqualitat," and they provide a brief interlude for what lies ahead with the ambience of "Gedenkminute (fur A + K)." Then comes side 2, an assemblage of "versions" (including the originals) of Neu!'s single "Super" b/w "Neuschnee" played at varying speeds and even by a cassette recorder which goes on to eat and mangle a copy of the tape it's playing. Though at the time this "stunt" was done in desperation due to a shrinking budget that had already been blown, and though this music was met with harsh criticism at the time as a crass, "up yours" gesture (which in some ways it was -- to their record label in particular), these deconstructions now stand up as very listenable and endlessly influential pieces of work, filled with humor, ingenuity, and most importantly, great music.
Neu! 75 is perhaps the most championed of their albums, and with good reason. The group's personality is split entirely down the middle, essentially; side 1 is Rother's, filled with absolutely gorgeous keyboard and guitar textures for some of Neu!'s most aesthetically beautiful duo music, while side 2 is all Dinger, with three songs of Apache stomp (this time by two drummers instead of one!), single chords and snarled vocals. Every tune on this record is a winner -- propulsive, immersive, and insanely catchy. If you're only going to buy one of these records, Neu! 75 is probably the best one to get (though if you do enjoy this one, chances are you'll end up coming back for the other two, trust me). All killer, no filler, this is hands down one of the greatest albums ever recorded. Period.
Anyone interested in the foundations of not only indie rock music by the likes of Stereolab, Radiohead, and pretty much anything with an experimental/punk slant, anyone interested in what would go on to hugely influence Bowie and Eno's Berlin period, any fan of remix/dance culture, any... oh, who am I kidding. Just buy these already. This band was as important as the Beatles and the Velvet Underground, and that's about as much praise as I can pile on. Absolutely essential. [IQ] |
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