Tag: Harmonia (Page 2 of 2)

A Beginner’s Guide To CONNY PLANK

6 August 2016 /

It was at Conny’s Studio near Cologne that a number of landmark recordings were completed, notably KRAFTWERK’s ‘Autobahn’ and ULTRAVOX’s ‘Vienna’. 

The studio was the operational centre of engineer and producer Konrad Plank whose innovative portfolio covered a wide spectrum of music. Using a customised mixing desk, Plank favoured a dynamic production ethos that went against the grain of the compressed rock recording of the times. An advocate in the possibilities of electronics, he said: “I like synthesizers when they sound like synthesizers and not like instruments. Using a drum machine for electronic music is okay, but not if you try to make it sound like a real drummer”.

Conny Plank’s work with pioneering German experimental acts such as KRAFTWERK, CLUSTER and NEU! had a strong influence on David Bowie and Brian Eno, and thus ultimately every act that emerged from Synth Britannia; John Foxx considers Plank to be the most important record producer since George Martin.

His influence was quite evident when ULTRAVOX worked with George Martin on the ‘Quartet’ album in 1982; compared to their Plank produced Cologne Trilogy of ‘Systems Of Romance’, ‘Vienna’ and ‘Rage In Eden’, ‘Quartet’ sounded thin and lacked density. But as history has shown, a producer can only achieve so much when the artists themselves are not delivering and even Plank’s involvement in ULTRAVOX’s lamentable ‘U-Vox’ album could not save it.

Plank’s key to getting the best out of his work was to enjoy the company of the acts he worked with. This was a particularly important requisite when trapped inside a countryside complex away from the social distractions of a city.

When Plank was booked by Daniel Miller for a four day session to record DAF’s first full-length album ‘Die Kleinen Und Die Bösen’, only the final day involved any actual recording as he had spent the first three days getting to know them; the relationship with DAF continued for a further three albums.

However, legend has it that after being introduced to U2 by Brian Eno with the view to producing ‘The Joshua Tree’, Plank turned down the job declaring: “I cannot work with this singer!”

As well as studio work, Plank was also an active musician. It was while touring South America with CLUSTER’s Dieter Moebius that Plank fell ill; he sadly passed away in December 1987 at the age of 46. Conny Plank leaves an important musical legacy, so here is a look back at twenty of his works, with a restriction of one track per album project…

ASH RA TEMPEL Traummaschine (1971)

ASH RA TEMPEL were a highly important Kosmiche band; it was the platform from which future electronic exponents Manuel Göttsching and Klaus Schulze emerged; they later found acclaim with their respective progressive opuses ‘E2-E4’ and ‘Mirage’. Plank engineered their very different debut album, seeded from sessions of free-form improvising. With just one track per side, the building eerie atmospheres of ‘Traummaschine’ contrasted with the noisier rock of ‘Amboss’.

Available on the ASH RA TEMPEL album ‘Ash Ra Tempel’ via SMGO Art

http://www.ashra.com/

KRAFTWERK Tanzmusik (1973)

Having engineered KRAFTWERK’s first two albums and the earlier ORGANISATION ‘Tone Float’ long player, Plank helped Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider’s shift towards synthesizers on their third long player. A Minimoog and an EMS AKS appeared, but a Farfisa electric piano and a preset rhythm unit were the dominant textures of ‘Tanzmusik’. Things were more structured and with the abstract use of vocals, ‘Ralf & Florian’ were heading closer to the sound that would change pop music.

Originally on the KRAFTWERK album ‘Ralf & Florian’ via Philips Records, currently unavailable

http://www.electriccafe.info/

NEU! Für Immer (1973)

Plank acted as mediator between the NEU! nucleus of Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger who each had quite different personalities and aspirations. Over a classic Motorik beat, ‘Für Immer’ featured carefully layered mini-cacophonies of sound. Indeed, so much studio time was spent on the track, the duo ran out of budget. In a fit of madness or genius, Dinger came up with the idea to fill the second half of the album with speeded up and slowed down versions of their single ‘Super’!

Available on the NEU! album ‘Neu! 2’ via Grönland Records

http://www.neu2010.com/

KRAFTWERK Autobahn (1974)

Under Plank’s stewardship, ‘Autobahn’ was KRAFTWERK’s breakthrough release as their transition into electronic pop. Ralf Hütter’s octave shifting Minimoog formed the rhythm backbone alongside a futuristic electronic snap, while Florian Schneider’s ARP Odyssey took the melodic lead over a 22 minute car journey. But with Hütter and Schneider growing increasingly confident, the parent album was to be their last recording with Plank. The rest is history…

Available on the KRAFTWERK album ‘Autobahn’ via EMI Music

http://www.kraftwerk.com/

HARMONIA Deluxe (1975)

Unable to recreate NEU! live as a duo, Rother headed to Forst to meet with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius of CLUSTER to discuss the augmenting their sound. While their debut ‘Musik Von Harmonia’ was recorded as a trio, for the follow-up ‘Deluxe’, they added vocals, a drummer in Mani Neumeier of GURU GURU and Plank to assist with production. The wonderful synth work on the title track signalled a melodic sensibility that was equal to that of KRAFTWERK.

Available on the album ‘Deluxe’ via Grönland Records

http://www.harmonia1973.com/

CLUSTER Sowiesoso (1976)

Plank’s long association with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius began in 1969 when he engineered their debut ‘Klopfzeichen’ as KLUSTER. Their fourth album ‘Sowiesoso’ was CLUSTER’s first fully realised exploration into ambient electronics. With gentle melodic phrasing and unimposing rhythmical patterns, the title track was a wonderfully hypnotic adventure that welcomed the listener into the soothing world of the long player’s remaining aural delights.

Available on the CLUSTER album ‘Sowiesoso’ via Bureau B

http://www.bureau-b.com/cluster.php

LA DÜSSELDORF Time (1976)

The third NEU! album saw a frustrated Klaus Dinger looking to seek the limelight. He got what he wanted in LA DÜSSELDORF. With his brother Thomas and Hans Lampe as percussionists, he headed down a more aggressive direction on their debut self-titled LP produced by Plank. There was a lot of Düsseldorf as the frantic tracks ‘Düsseldorf ’and ‘La Düsseldorf’ proved, but ‘Time’ was the epic closer that built to a brooding climax.

Available LA DÜSSELDORF album ‘La Düsseldorf’ via WEA

http://www.la-duesseldorf.de

MICHAEL ROTHER Flammende Herzen (1977)

Rother’s first three solo albums ‘Flammende Herzen’, ‘Sterntaler’ and ‘Katzenmusik’ were produced by Plank and featured CAN’s Jaki Liebezeit on drums. “It would be unfair really to have a favourite album” said Rother when asked if he had a preference, “Of course, I try to highlight Conny Plank’s contribution, he was so valuable… we wouldn’t have been able to record NEU! or the second HARMONIA album or my solo albums without Conny, so he’s all over the place in my music… thank you Conny”.

Available on the MICHAEL ROTHER album ‘Flammende Herzen’ via Random Records

http://www.michaelrother.de/en/

BRIAN ENO By This River (1977)

Originating from his sessions with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius in Forst for HARMONIA 76, Eno produced this beautiful piano and synth ballad at Conny’s Studio with Plank at the engineering controls for inclusion on his fourth pop solo album ‘Before & After Science’. The warmth extracted from the Yamaha CS80 used was one of the key stand-out elements of ‘By This River’, which was later covered by Martin Gore for his ‘Counterfeit 2’ solo album.

Available on the BRIAN ENO album ‘Before & After Science’ via Virgin Records

http://brian-eno.net/

ENO MOEBIUS ROEDELIUS Broken Head (1978)

With the success of their earlier ‘Eno & Cluster’ ambient opus, the artful threesome gathered together again, but added voices and more experimentation for its follow-up ‘After The Heat’. With Plank again behind the desk, the textures on the unorthodox ‘Broken Head’ recalled some of Eno’s work with Bowie on ‘Heroes’ in particular, while the deep monotone vocals were a offset by some oddly noted piano accompaniment and an unorthodox rhythmic template.

Available on the ENO MOEBIUS ROEDELIUS album ‘After The Heat’ via Bureau B

http://www.roedelius.com/

ULTRAVOX! Slow Motion (1978)

The first phase of ULTRAVOX! was dominated by the songwriting of John Foxx, but ‘Slow Motion’ was a group effort. Decamping to Conny’s Studio, the intro and theme were composed by bassist Chris Cross on his newly acquired EMS AKS. The quintet locked together as never before, with Billy Currie’s ARP Odyssey playing off Robin Simon’s treated guitars almost as one behind Warren Cann’s powerful, syncopating drums. Sadly, this breakthrough was not to last…

Available on the ULTRAVOX! album ‘Systems Of Romance’ via Island Records

http://www.metamatic.com/

MOEBIUS & PLANK Tollkühn (1981)

Dieter Moebius and Conny Plank released their first collaborative effort, the reggae influenced ‘Rastakraut Pasta’ in 1979. For the second album ‘Material’, a more rigid beat was applied, as well as driving synthesizer rhythms. ‘Tollkühn’ was a mightily pulsing electronic workout that more than suited the title’s English translation of ‘Daredevil’. Full of phasing effects with the odd cymbal interjection, it now stands out as ahead of its time in the context of 1981.

Available on the MOEBIUS & PLANK album ‘Material’ via Bureau B

http://www.bureau-b.com/moebius.php

HOLGER CZUKAY Witches’ Multiplication Table (1981)

By 1981, Holger Czukay was at the zenith of his Dali-inspired surrealist sound painting, having released ‘Movies’ in 1979. Following their LES VAMPYRETTES collaboration, Plank contributed ‘Witches’ Multiplication Table’ to ‘On the Way To The Peak of Normal’, the second album by the CAN bassist. With Czukay providing an oddball monologue over a dub backbone, Plank added cemetry synthesizer violin alongside bursts of French horn; “Craziness is something holy” he later said.

Available on the album ‘On The Way To The Peak of Normal’ via Grönland Records ‎

http://www.czukay.com/

PHEW! Signal (1981)

PHEW! was formally a member of psychedelic rock combo AUNT SALLY and her first solo single ‘Shukyoku’ was produced Ryuichi Sakamoto in 1980. Produced by Plank, Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit, ‘Signal’ was the experimental Japanese singer’s take on Neue Deutsche Welle with distant echoes of Berlin noise merchants MALARIA! looming. Driven by hypnotic bass synths and punky guitar, it was unsurprisingly tense and darkly rhythmic.

Available on the PHEW! album ‘Phew!’ via Pass Records

http://www.japanimprov.com/phew/

EURYTHMICS Never Gonna Cry Again (1981)

With hits like ‘Would I Lie To You?’, ‘Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves’ and ‘Thorn In My Side’, it’s unusual in hindsight to understand that Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart were interested in rhythmic electronic music from Europe, hence their name. When the pair left THE TOURISTS, one of the first to lend support for their new aspirations was Conny Plank. ‘Never Gonna Cry Again’ with its doubled synth and flute solo was the first song released from their production partnership.

Available on the EURYTHMICS album ‘In The Garden’ via Sony BMG

http://eurythmics.com/

ULTRAVOX The Thin Wall (1981)

So happy was Plank with working with Warren Cann, Chris Cross and Billy Currie on ‘Systems On Romance’ that when Midge Ure joined, he offered to finance the recording of a new ULTRAVOX album. The reconfigured quartet signed to Chrysalis and delivered the hit album ‘Vienna’. Produced in Conny’s Studio for the follow-up ‘Rage In Eden’, ‘The Thin Wall’ densely merged synthesizers, guitar, piano, violin and Linn Drum for a formidable yet under rated hit single.

Available on the ULTRAVOX album ‘Rage In Eden’ via EMI Records

http://www.ultravox.org.uk/

DAF Kebab Träume (1982)

Gabi Delgado-López and Robert Görl had worked with Plank since 1979 and with his assistance, DAF had reduced to a minimal electro body core of Görl’s tight drumming and synth programming driven by a Korg SQ-10 analogue sequencer to accompany Delgado-López’s shouty, aggressive vocals. As with a previous Plank production ‘Der Mussolini’, DAF courted controversy on ‘Kebab Träume’ with the provocative line “Deutschland! Deutschland! Alles ist vorbei!”

Available on the DAF album ‘Für Immer’ via Mute Records

http://www.robert-goerl.de

MOEBIUS PLANK NEUMEIER Speed Display (1983)

Mani Neumeier is best known as the percussionist and singer of GURU GURU, the psychedelic jazz combo from Heidelberg who recorded three albums with Plank. Joining him and Moebius for a one-off long player ‘Zero Set’, Neumeier’s presence was felt heavily on ‘Speed Display’, a mad hyperactive collage of drums, bubbling electronics and treated robotic vocals that did what it said on the tin! The drumming was so tight that some have highlighted it as an example of proto-techno!

Available on the MOEBIUS PLANK NEUMEIER album ‘Zero Set’ via Bureau B

http://mani-neumeier.de/guruguru/index.htm

LES RITA MITSOUKO Marcia Baïla (1985)

‘Marcia Baïla’ was LES RITA MITSOUKO’s tribute to their late friend, Argentinian dancer Marcia Moretto. With Plank at the production helm, a squelchy backing track with enough space for Catherine Ringer’s strident theatrics was honed for a wonderful celebration of life. It was subsequently covered by Ricky Martin in 1998. LES RITA MITSOUKO went on to become very popular in France, collaborating with SPARKS in 1990. Fred Chichin, the other half of the duo, sadly passed away in 2007.

Available on the LES RITA MITSOUKO album ‘Rita Mitsouko’ via Sony Music

http://www.ritamitsouko.org/

GIANNA NANNINI Bello E Impossibile (1986)

The Italian singer / songwriter had something in common with NITZER EBB’s Douglas J McCarthy in that she too had a relative who was a F1 driver; in her case it was her brother, one-time Grand Prix winner Alessandro. Plank started working with Nannini in 1982 at a time when he was still regarded as a more artistically minded producer, rather than one who delivered pop hits. ‘Bello E Impossibile’ was a huge hit all over Europe.

Available on the GIANNA NANNINI album ‘Profumo’ via Dischi Ricordi

http://www.giannanannini.com/en/

Dedicated to the memory of Conny Plank 1940 –1987

The 4CD box set ‘Who’s That Man: A Tribute To Conny Plank’ is available via Grönland Records ‎

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063520122298

http://groenland.com/en/artist/conny-plank-2/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
6th August 2016

ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE 2015

8 November 2015 /

Dance To The Future…

Düsseldorf paid homage to its electronic music history with a three day event of lectures, discussions and live music.

The ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE celebrated the work of pioneers like KRAFTWERK, DAF, RIECHMANN, NEU! and LA DÜSSELDORF, as well as reflecting the city’s worldwide influence on bands such as NEW ORDER, THE HUMAN LEAGUE, DEPECHE MODE, CABARET VOLTAIRE, VISAGE and OMD.

A year in the planning, organisers Rudi Esch and Carsten Siewert assembled an impressive line-up of artists, musicians and academics which read like a ‘Who’s Who?’ of electronic music.

It included names such as Benge, Gabi Delgado, Ralf Dörper, Rusty Egan, Harald Grosskopf, Peter Hook, Stephen Mallinder, Andy McCluskey, Daniel Miller, Mark Reeder, Michael Rother and Martyn Ware.

Also present was Dr Uwe Schütte, whose academic conference ‘Industrielle Volksmusik for the Twenty First Century – Kraftwerk & the Birth of Electronic Music in Germany’ at Aston University helped inspire the seeting up of the event.

While there have been numerous books about Germany and in particular KRAFTWERK, few have been written by people who were actually there at the time. Esch’s own book ‘Electri_City: Elektronische Musik aus Düsseldorf’ was published in 2014 and provided a much needed eyewitness account.

It fully related the Cold War tensions within Der Bundesrepublik that inspired many young Germans into pursuing adventures in art, music and cinema as a matter of self-expression and cultural identity.

The book’s success in Germany provided much of the impetus and momentum to curate this lavish gathering of kindred spirits. The first of the special guests taking part was Peter Hook who talked to Rob Keane about German influences on the UK’s post-punk scene and in particular, JOY DIVISION.

It was Ian Curtis who first introduced the others to KRAFTWERK. After the charismatic vocalist’s passing, the surviving band members became NEW ORDER and as they became more electronic, they acquired five Prophet 5s costing £2000 each.

This had only been made possible by the posthumous success of JOY DIVISION.“God bless him, Ian… without him, we wouldn’t have been able to afford these machines to make electronic music…” Hooky said, “what happened in NEW ORDER was as the technology developed, it enabled you to buy the machines that KRAFTWERK were using. I’d love to watch them do something, I really would. Because for all the coverage you get of KRAFTWERK, you never actually know HOW they did it!”

But despite KRAFTWERK being the pioneers of electronic music, Ralf and Florian had been so impressed by ‘Blue Monday’, they arranged to meet its engineer Michael Johnson at Britannia Row Studios where it was recorded. “They wanted to book into the studio we used…” remembered Hooky, “and they wanted to use our engineer, because they wanted their next record to sound like ‘Blue Monday’, which is most ironic because we spent years trying to sound like them!”

KRAFTWERK had a look round Britannia Row but unimpressed with the old fashioned, faded grandeur of the studio, they cancelled the session. “I took that as quite a compliment” quipped the Salford Bass Viking playfully.

Hooky also reminisced about how he was very impressed by fellow Mancunian Mark Reeder’s mastery of speaking German while on JOY DIVISION’s only visit to Berlin in 1980.

But when he asked how Reeder had become fluent so quickly, the then Factory Records representative in Germany answered: “you can learn any language when you’re starving!”

Mark Reeder himself formed part of panel discussion on the German impact of the Düsseldorf Schule to give his ‘Englishman in Berlin’ point of view. As the man often credited with introducing Italo disco to NEW ORDER, Reeder’s recent film ‘B-Movie – Lust & Sound In West Berlin 1979-1989’ captured the spirit of the divided city and highlighted how a similar document about Düsseldorf would now be quite timely.

The ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE was not just about lectures and talks, but about live music too. Cologne’s EMOTIKON opened proceedings with some incongruous generic pop funk, so it was a welcome relief when HEAVEN 17 took to the stage at Zakk for the sold-out show.

Headlining their first ever concert in the German art capital, HEAVEN 17 gave one of their now famous electronically focussed sets which also featured material that had spawned from THE HUMAN LEAGUE Mk1 when Martyn Ware was a member.

Inviting him to join the band, Phil Oakey remembered how Ware turned up at his house with ‘Trans-Europe Express’ under his arm and told him “Look, we can do this!”. The song that best summed up the occasion was ‘I’m Your Money’, a synthetic train ride with multi-lingual business phrases that captured the essence of a European Union.

To follow a fine performance from HEAVEN 17, Daniel Miller’s aftershow DJ set reflected his influences and subsequent signings for Mute Records to conclude an excellent first day.

With a packed second day, Friday’s numerous academic and theoretical proceedings were concluded with a Krautrock discussion in German by a panel of veteran musicians that included one-time ASHRA member Harald Grosskopf, Michael Rother from NEU! and WALLENSTEIN’s Jürgen Dollase.

Whereas Germany has usually been associated with purer forms of electronic music, its kosmische outlook has influenced many rock and alternative bands too. However, Dollase’s continual ranting about the joys of LSD proved tiresome and was exemplary evidence to children as to why they shouldn’t do drugs!

The panel was later opened up to questions from the audience so ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK took the opportunity to ask Michael Rother about his first three solo albums.

‘Flammende Herzen’ , ‘Sterntaler’ and ‘Katzenmusik’ were produced by the late Conny Plank and featured CAN’s Jaki Liebezeit on drums. Did he have a favourite?: “I don’t really have favourites, there are individual tracks I enjoy more, it depends on mood and circumstances. It would be unfair really to have a favourite album” Herr Rother replied, “Of course, I try to highlight Conny Plank’s contribution, he was so valuable… we wouldn’t have been able to record NEU! or the second HARMONIA album or my solo albums without Conny, so he’s all over the place in my music… thank you Conny”

Opening the second evening’s musical line-up, Dublin’s TINY MAGNETIC PETS have been championed by Rusty Egan and their appearance in Düsseldorf was their first in Europe.

The trio’s main strength was their engaging lead singer Paula Gilmer, while Sean Quinn’s synth soloing was also enjoyable. But the occasional rattle of an acoustic drum kit was a distraction and the trio sounded much better when Eugene Somers took to exclusively electronic percussion.

WRANGLER, fronted by Stephen Mallinder who had lectured earlier in the day, delivered a screeching set of dystopian vibes and cold wave mechanics, demonstrating how the Düsseldorf gene has mutated into marvellous pieces such as ‘Lava Land’. Mallinder’s drowning gargoyle vocal was particularly striking within the venue’s effective stereo panning capability.

Incidentally, the trio’s incumbent synth collector extraordinaire Benge has recently relocated his MemeTune studio to rural South West of England, in an echo of Conny Plank’s legendary countryside complex which KRAFTWERK, NEU! and LA DÜSSELDORF all recorded in.

Michael Rother delivered a career spanning set of his works including NEU! evergreens like ‘Hallogallo’, ‘Neuschnee’ and ‘Seeland’. There was also the welcome airing of material from his HARMONIA days too. Accompanied by Hans Lampe, formally of LA DÜSSELDORF, the drummer was unbelievably metronomic throughout, providing the hypnotic heartbeat to these much loved numbers. With assistance on bass and synth from a computer, the glorious symphony of ‘Karussell’ from ‘Flammende Herzen’ was a joy to behold. Watching enthusiastically in the crowd was OMD’s Andy McCluskey who remarked in passing to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK that ‘Flammende Herzen’ was the most played album on his iPod!

With another fine evening of live music over, proceedings then moved over to the famous club Dr Thompsons for the aftershow party featuring Rusty Egan.

Originally a location for a factory making floor wax, Egan’s DJ set reflected electronic music’s past and present, much to the approval of both TINY MAGNETIC PETS and METROLAND whose tunes got an airing on the dancefloor.

Day three featured SØLYST aka Thomas Klein who warmed up early attendees with an ambient percussive soundtrack that suited the time of day perfectly. Meanwhile, the Rusty Egan vs ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK discussion about the influence of Düsseldorf, Berlin and Bowie on the New Romantics brought up some amusing anecdotes from his Blitz Club and VISAGE days. “KRAFTWERK was all in time!” he retorted in a fascinating and at times, hilarious chat. On DAFT PUNK, he said “The reason why DAFT PUNK wear robot helmets is cos they can’t show their faces… cos THEY STOLE EVERYTHING! But they did it brilliantly!”

The conversation even turned to THIN LIZZY’s Phil Lynott who frequented the scene and recorded the synth friendly single ‘Yellow Pearl’ co-written with Midge Ure that featured Egan on drums. Also featuring Billy Currie, Egan confirmed that it was a VISAGE song in all but name. ‘Yellow Pearl’ was heavily influenced by LA DÜSSELDORF and was to later gain iconic status as the theme music to ‘Top of the Pops’ from 1981 to 1986, showing just how far reaching the influence of German electronic music had become.

Wolfgang Flür’s now famous video messages on the world wide web have been a delight to many in electronic music circles and in his absence, a special broadcast was prepared by the former KRAFTWERK percussionist for the conference.

Following on, Andy McCluskey and Rudi Esch presented some light hearted but music fan friendly banter in what was billed as The Electri_City Show. Discussing a variety of records Esch had brought along from his own personal collection, the OMD frontman mentioned how he was a big fan of LA DÜSSELDORF: “Thinking about LA DÜSSELDORF and NEU! – the biggest loss to the scene is Klaus Dinger”. Following his death in 2008, Klaus Dinger was hailed as a legendary drummer, having popularised the Motorik beat.

But as Michael Rother once pointed out, before 2004 nobody cared about NEU! “It’s great that people are thinking about NEU! and LA DÜSSELDORF” said McCluskey, “they should be up there with KRAFTWERK”. However as documented in Esch’s ’Electri_City_Musik_Aus_Düsseldorf’ book, Dinger was known to be a difficult character and that didn’t help his reputation. “It’s the Van Gogh thing” added McCluskey, “you have to bloody die before people think you’re a genius”

Of course, OMD combined various influences to achieve their distinctive template. But what is not often realised is that it is closer to LA DÜSSELDORF than it is to KRAFTWERK, especially on ‘Architecture & Morality’: “It is great that the city of Dusseldorf has woken up to the fact that KRAFTWERK and other musicians changed the world. Whilst KRAFTWERK cement their position in the pantheon of the museums and the books, LA DÜSSELDORF and NEU! were very important. They also did something that was beautiful and different. And OMD unconsciously were combining the two, the electronic sound with the organic…”

The Techno / Industrial panel in Deutsch fittingly included DAF’s Gabi Delgado and DIE KRUPPS’ Ralf Dörper as well as Ramon Zenker, the man behind FRAGMA. It would be fair to say that neither sub-genre could have had its roots in any country other than Germany. Delgado caused some amusement when he casually lit up a cigarette in the middle of the discussion, reinforcing the rebellious and confrontational aura of DAF.

During the interlude, many went to take a look at the Monster Formant modular synthesizer, owned by local enthusiast Siegfried Brückner, which was being demonstrated in the foyer. Six years in the making and featuring a gobsmacking sixteen VCOs plus many other features too numerous to mention, it was an impressive sight that looked like one of those vintage telephone exchanges.

To begin Saturday night’s live music proceedings were Zurich based combo LEN SANDER; their languid style of trip hop has become a favourite of Rusty Egan who also lists LONDON GRAMMAR among his current favourites. They provided a cerebral build before the appearance of two of the most impressive synthesizer duos in Europe at the moment.

With the amount of equipment VILE ELECTRODES possess, they could fill Klingklang itself. Using their more streamlined European touring set-up, the Home Counties couple are now effectively adopted Germans having impressed enough during their tour of Germany supporting OMD in 2013 to land two Schallwelle Awards. Splendid new songs like ‘Pulsar Timing Array’ and ‘Stark White’ from the just released EP were evidence of their continuing progression.

With a more minimalist set-up, METROLAND were the perfect act for the weekend to honour the artistic legacy of Düsseldorf. Their second long player ‘Triadic Ballet’ was a conceptual audio installation themed around das Staatliche Bauhaus. The perfect realisation of Walter Gropius’ theory of uniting art with technology, with a combination of crisp electronics and art school visuals, the Belgian duo gave a wonderful presentation that was appreciated by all those present including Andy McCluskey and Rusty Egan.

Closing the event, escapist trio DELTA turned out to be the most disappointing of all the bands participating, their landfill indie totally at odds with the weekend’s ethos. Meanwhile Düsseldorf duo BAR fared much better, their synth laden dreampop augmented on occasion by singer Christina Irrgang’s use of a recorder. However, these two acts highlighted the lack of a clear headliner to finish the weekend on a true high.

Overall though, the ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE was fabulous weekend with representation from both sorcerers and apprentices of the Düsseldorf scene. With the English translation of the ’Electri_City_Musik_Aus_Düsseldorf’ book due in 2016, the story of what the city has contributed to the world can only spread further.

French icon Jean-Michel Jarre said recently: “Electronic music has a family, a legacy and a future…” and there was nothing more truer than over these three days by der Rhein.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Rudi Esch and Carsten Siewert

Additional thanks to Tom Steinseifer, Roger Kamp and Tapio Normall for the use of their photos

‘Electri_City: The Dusseldorf School of Electronic Music’ is due to be published in English by Omnibus Press sometime in 2016

The ‘Electri_City – Elektronische_Musik_Aus_Düsseldorf’ compilation is released by Grönland Records.

http://www.electricity-conference.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ELECTRICITY.Conference

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Chi Ming Lai except where credited
8th November 2015

A Beginner’s Guide To NEU!

18 June 2015 /

Photo by Anton Corbijn

NEU! founder members Michael Rother and the late Klaus Dinger are two of the most highly renowned exponents of Kosmische Musik, a distinctly Germanic form that was unfortunately termed by the UK music press later as krautrock.

Along with acts such as KRAFTWERK, CAN and TANGERINE DREAM, NEU! had helped restore a sense of German artistic identity, in reaction to the Americanisation of European post-war culture.

But Dinger in particular was keen to disassociate NEU! from the krautrock scene, especially in relation to bands such as FAUST and AMON DÜÜL who he considered overrated and unmemorable.

Rother had been a member of SPIRITS OF SOUND with Wolfgang Flür and the late Wolfgang Reichmann while Dinger was in THE NO and THE SMASH. The pair met after being recruited as members of KRAFTWERK in 1971. They even appeared on West German TV with Florian Schneider in a short-lived line-up minus Ralf Hütter, who at this point had temporarily left the band! On Hütter’s return to KRAFTWERK, Rother and Dinger left to form NEU! The name had been chosen by Dinger as “a protest against the consumer society”.

Working with Conny Plank, the legendary producer acted as mediator between the pair’s quite different personalities and artistic aspirations. Dinger and Rother were never easy bedfellows even at the start; Dinger was a manic and confrontational character who wanted to be more than just the drummer, despite becoming synonymous with the motorik beat. Rother though was laid back and more conventional, texturing his guitars and later electronics to produce mini-cacophonies of sound that suited a more esoteric backdrop.

Inevitably, the pair had a creative tension that produced great music which was experimental, yet accessible. However, by the time of their third album ‘Neu! 75’, relations between Rother and Dinger had got so bad that they agreed to conceive a side each, with minimal input from the other!

But David Bowie had been listening and was particularly taken with the track ‘Hero’. Rother was subsequently asked to play on the album sessions for ‘Heroes’ in Berlin, but the collaboration never materialised… legend has it that this was due to interference from Bowie’s then-management.

After NEU! disbanded, Rother’s more ambient nuances led to him eventually becoming Germany’s answer to Mike Oldfield, while Dinger continued with the magnificently spiky LA DÜSSELDORF and never really mellowed. A NEU! reunion in 1986 was aborted but Dinger released the recordings in 1995 without Rother’s knowledge. Rother later described this experience as “a rather painful disaster between Klaus Dinger and myself”. As if relations couldn’t get any worse, Dinger then toured and recorded for several years as LA! NÊU?

The project had a particularly loyal cult following in Japan where local label Captain Trip regularly released LA! NÊU? studio and live material, but Rother felt that his former bandmate was trading off their pioneering legacy. As a result, Rother and Dinger took several years to agree on how to reissue their long out-of-print NEU! albums which were now only available on CD as vinyl sourced bootlegs.

A deal was eventually brokered in 2000 with Grönland Records, the imprint of German singer / songwriter Herbert Grönemeyer who had compiled an eight CD box set entitled ‘Pop 2000’ tracing the history of German music. The reissues were a great success and finally gave the duo some much deserved recognition.

The influence of NEU! can be heard in artists as diverse as U2, SONIC YOUTH, STEREOLAB, OMD, SIMPLE MINDS, VISAGE and ULTRAVOX. An attempted reconciliation between Rother and Dinger around this time came to nought, with the pair barely being able to tolerate each other’s company during interviews to promote the reissues. The photos taken by Anton Corbijn notably captured the tension…

Dinger had been recording updated versions of tracks from LA DÜSSELDORF’s ‘Viva’ and some new compositions with Japanese musicians, but he sadly died in March 2008. In 2013, Grönland released ‘Japandorf’, a collection of the material Dinger had been working on prior to his passing.

Since then, Rother has paid tribute to his friend and foe with the belated formal release of the 1986 NEU! sessions as ‘Neu! 86’, while also playing the music of NEU! live as HALLOGALLO 2010 with SONIC YOUTH’s Steve Shelley and TALL FIRS’ Aaron Mullan. More recently, Rother has been playing concerts comprising of work from throughout his career and has a new project MICHANIKA with singer / songwriter Annika Henderson.

So the music lives on, but what twenty tracks would make up an imaginary compilation to serve as an introduction for electronic music fans new to NEU! and its various offshoots? With a restriction of one track per album project, this is ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s Beginner’s Guide to the NEU! axis…

NEU! Hallogallo (1972)

The debut album on Brain Records outlined the musical manifesto of NEU! Produced by the Conny Plank, their aim was to develop a musical form that was distinctly original and not under the influence of the Trans-Atlantic culture now prevalent in West Germany. The almost trancey combination of a repetitive Apache drum mantra and a drifting layers of guitar interplay over a lengthy time space on ‘Hallogallo’ hit the spot and announced that Germany was indeed calling.

Available on the NEU! album ‘Neu!’ via Grönland Records

NEU! Neuschee (1973)

The pressure was on NEU! to produce a worthy follow-up to their acclaimed debut and problems surfaced when they ran out of budget. In a fit of madness or genius, Dinger came up with the idea to fill the second half of the album with speeded up and slowed down versions of their single ‘Neuschnee’ and its B-side ‘Super’, complete with needle drops! Other experiments included drilling an off-centre hole into the vinyl and using a faulty cassette player!

Available on the NEU! album ‘Neu! 2’ via Grönland Records

HARMONIA Dino (1974)

Unable to recreate their template live as a duo, Dinger and Rother sounded out possible willing conspirators to augment the sound. While Dinger turned to his brother Thomas and friend Hans Lampe, Rother headed to the Forst countryside to meet with Dieter Moebius and Achim Roedelius of CLUSTER. The trio’s resultant jams became HARMONIA. Based around simplistic rhythm unit patterns, the restrictions allowed them to experiment on tracks such as ‘Watussi’ and ‘Dino’.

Available on the HARMONIA album ‘Musik Von Harmonia’ via Motor / Universal Records

NEU! Leb Wohl (1975)

NEU! finally reconvened and resolved their artistic differences by supervising a side of ‘Neu! 75’ each, with Rother showcasing his thoughtful ambience alongside Dinger’s angry proto-punk; it was a bizarre but enjoyable listen. Rother’s haunting ‘Leb Wohl’ (translated as ‘Farewell’) with its plaintive piano was the stand-out on side one. This contemplative number was a combined effort as Dinger provided a slow, tapping rhythm and a mournful lead vocal.

Available on the NEU! album ‘Neu! 75’ via Grönland Records

LA DÜSSELDORF Silver Cloud (1976)

Dinger had recruited his brother Thomas and Hans Lampe as percussionists and took NEU! in a more rocky direction than the ambient-inclined Rother cared for. When they split, the trio became LA DÜSSELDORF and recorded their debut self-titled LP with Conny Plank. While the title track and its sister ‘Düsseldorf’ were fun thrash-outs, the instrumental ‘Silver Cloud’ was a meditative masterpiece with a shrill pipey overlay. It showed that Dinger could do melody and atmosphere like Rother.

Available on the LA DÜSSELDORF boxed set ‘Triple Album Collection’ via WEA Records

HARMONIA & ENO ‘76 Vamos Companeros (Recorded 1976 – officially released 1997)

HARMONIA played several gigs including one in the presence of Brian Eno who later collaborated with them on what became the HARMONIA & ENO ‘76 ‘Tracks & Traces’ collection. Recorded after Rother had finished his first solo album, the ambient rock of ‘Vamos Companeros’, with its choppy synth rhythm and improvised basslines. However, the recordings were unreleased until 1997.

Available on the HARMONIA & ENO ‘76 album ‘Tracks & Traces’ via Grönland Records

MICHAEL ROTHER Karussell (1977)

Relocating to build his own Random Studio in Forst, Rother’s first solo album ‘Flammenden Herzen’ was recorded in the summer of 1976 with Conny Plank, with Jaki Liebezeit from CAN providing the percolating percussion. Although Rother had utilised synthesizers to great effect on ‘Isi’ from Neu! 75’, they took a greater role in his solo work. ‘Karussell’ had a distinctly European flavour and with its strong symphonic melodies, today sounds like a one-man ULTRAVOX.

Available on the MICHAEL ROTHER album ‘Flammende Herzen’ via Grönland Records

LA DÜSSELDORF Rheinita (1978)

LA DÜSSELDORF’s second long player ‘Viva’ was their most successful album. There was the 20 minute madness of ‘Cha Cha 2000’, but the album also yielded the beautifully epic ‘Rheinita’. With big blocks of taped choir, synth strings and a simple pounding rhythm, this glorious instrumental became the seed of OMD’s ‘Architecture & Morality’ album. The name incidentally was an amalgam of Dinger’s two great loves, der Rhein and Anita, his former long-time girlfriend.

Available on the LA DÜSSELDORF album ‘Viva’ via WEA Records

MICHAEL ROTHER Sonnenrad (1978)

Rother’s second album ‘Sterntaler’ was a brilliant follow-up to ‘Flammende Herzen’. There was greater use of synths for melody lines. The moody textures of ‘Sonnenrad’ were the inspiration for ULTRAVOX’s ‘Dancing With Tears In My Eyes’. While recording ‘Systems Of Romance’, Billy Currie was given the album by Conny Plank and a few years later, he became inspired by its muted guitar line, steady rhythm and melancholic resonance.

Available on the MICHAEL ROTHER album ‘Sterntaler’ via Grönland Records

MICHAEL ROTHER Katzenmusik #2 (1979)

For his third solo album, Rother celebrated his love of cats and composed a two-part guitar symphony entitled ‘Katzenmusik’. The twelve numbered segments were each layered around variations of four different five-note melodies that recurred throughout the album. Within a pared down musical structure, Rother’s distinctive six string purr found its ideal setting. Beautifully melodic, it was to be Michael Rother’s final work with Conny Plank.

Available on the MICHAEL ROTHER album ‘Katzenmusik’ via Grönland Records

LA DÜSSELDORF Menschen 1 (1980)

‘Individuellos’ was the third and final official album from LA DÜSSELDORF. However, the band were thrown into turmoil when guest keyboardist  Andreas Schell committed suicide. The album was abandoned but eventually released with what was in the can. A grand statement with layers of synths and piano that was simultaneously mad and melodic, the percussive ‘Menschen 1’ comes over like the blueprint for Phil Lynott and Midge Ure’s ‘Yellow Pearl’!

Available on the LA DÜSSELDORF boxed set ‘Triple Album Collection’ via WEA Records

LA DÜSSELDORF Ich Liebe Dich (1983)

The final LA DÜSSELDORF release was a maxi-single featuring two tracks ‘Ich Liebe Dich’ and ‘Köksnödel’ that were intended for the fourth album. By this time, Hans Lampe had left so the Dinger brothers continued as a duo. While the Thomas Dinger co-write ‘Köksnödel’ was the most crisply electronic track LA DÜSSELDORF ever recorded, ‘Ich Liebe Dich’ was a sub-six minute brooding gothic drama that could have come from ‘Organisation’ period OMD.

Available on the LA DÜSSELDORF.DE album ‘Mon Amour’ via WEA Records

MICHAEL ROTHER Palmengarten (1983)

Rother’s fourth long player ‘Fernwärme’ was his first without Conny Plank. But by his fifth album ‘Lust’, Jaki Liebezeit had gone too. Having acquired a Fairlight CMI to fully realise his own solo vision, ‘Lust’ was recorded without any assistance, with drum machines and electronics taking a more significant role. ‘Palmengarten’ successfully merged modern digital synthesis and sampling with organic guitar textures in a rich, glossy setting.

Available on the MICHAEL ROTHER album ‘Lust’ via Random Records

KLAUS DINGER & RHEINITA BELLA DÜSSELDORF Mon Amour (1985)

Various legal disputes with Hans Lampe stopped Dinger releasing material as LA DÜSSELDORF. So his next album ‘Néondian’ was effectively a solo project and released under the elongated moniker of KLAUS DINGER & RHEINITA BELLA DÜSSELDORF with the subtitle of ‘La Düsseldorf 4’. Conny Plank partly returned to the studio fold and although patchy, the collection featured several worthy highlights such as the tremendously anthemic ‘Mon Amour’.

Available on the LA DÜSSELDORF.DE album ‘Mon Amour’ via WEA Records

NEU! Quick Wave Machinelle (Recorded 1986 – officially released 1995)

The brief NEU! reunion saw digital drum computers and a Fairlight CMI brought into the mix by Rother, but continuing tensions with Dinger meant that the album was abandoned. However in 1995, the recordings were issued by Dinger as ‘Neu! 4’ in Japan without Rother’s consent. Despite this, there were several standout tracks, one of which was ‘Quick Wave Machinelle’ which sounded like a lost OMD demo. It was revised in 2010 as ‘Euphoria’ for the Rother sanctioned ‘Neu! 86’.

Available as ‘Euphoria’ on the NEU! album ‘Neu! 86’ via Grönland Records

MICHAEL ROTHER Lucky Stars (1987)

After the aborted NEU! reunion sessions, Rother returned to Forst with his Fairlight to record his seventh solo long player. With the new CD era dawning, ‘Traumreisen’ saw his work become increasing more ambient and sedate in a far cry from his NEU! roots. But ‘Lucky Stars’ was slightly more uptempo, verging occasionally on Jean-Michel Jarre territory with symphonic synths over a lighter motorik backbone. It even had several sonic similarities to Dinger’s ‘Mon Amour’.

Available on the MICHAEL ROTHER album ‘Traumreisen’ via Random Records

MICHAEL ROTHER Patogonia Horizont (1993)

A Rother compilation entitled ‘Radio’ featured “6 Neue Stücke”; these were unreleased recordings made between 1988 and 1993. With more material than could be included, these various pieces were spread over his subsequent album reissues as bonus tracks. Whether these recordings sonically fitted onto albums from 1977 or 1978 was debatable, but the beautiful ambience of ‘Patagonia Horizont’ was a wonderful, if incongruous jewel tagged onto the end of ‘Sterntaler’.

Available on the MICHAEL ROTHER album ‘Sterntaler (mit Neue Stücke)’ via Random Records

LA! NÊU? Dank Je Sanne (1997)

Dinger had difficulty releasing records in Germany due to his ongoing legal disputes. But the Japanese label Captain Trip threw him a lifeline. Using LA! NÊU? as an umbrella name for a loose collective of musicians including his mother Renate, Dinger recorded nine albums from varying sources. The 15 minute ‘Dank Je Sanne’ featured the voice of Victoria Wehrmeister and by Dinger’s more freeform standards, quite structured and peaceful…

Available on the LA! NÊU? album ‘Zeeland’ via Captain Trip

MICHAEL ROTHER He Said (2004)

Rother’s 1996 album ‘Esperanza’ was verging on total new age and a comparative disappointment. After a recorded break of eight years came a return to form in the shape of ‘Remember…The Great Adventure’. The album forced a conceptual rethink and included vocals on several tracks by Herbert Grönemeyer. Featuring the dreamy tones of Sophie Williams, ‘He Said’ had a serene Nordic flavour with an emotive chord progression and a gentle but lively pace.

Available on the MICHAEL ROTHER album ‘Remember… The Great Adventure’via Random Records

KLAUS DINGER & JAPANDORF Sketch No 1_b (2013)

Dinger’s posthumous album ‘Japandorf’ was started in 2007 with several Japanese musicians including his partner Miki Yui and Kazuyuki Onouchi. ‘Sketch No1_b’ was the result of a rocky jam between Onouchi and Dinger, with windy HAWKWIND sweeps added in for good measure. An early version had featured on the 2009 compilation ‘Brand NEU!’; ‘Japandorf’ was a best selling record on Grönland, an indication of the regard with which Dinger was still held.

Available on the KLAUS DINGER & JAPANDORF album ‘Japandorf’ via Grönland Records

Dedicated to the memory of Klaus Dinger 1946- 2008

http://www.neu2010.com/

http://www.michaelrother.de/en/

http://www.dingerland.de

http://klausdinger.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
18th June 2015

Newer posts »

© 2017 ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK | Email: [email protected]
Privacy Policy

Up ↑