Sehr Kosmisch!

Gratified by finally finding a copy of Julian Cope's epic meditation Krautrocksampler
that was not in German, I was inspired to download...ermmm I mean purchase a fist full of music most Kosmisch....



Here are a few of my favourite tracks from my recent investigation and some familiar classics I have cherished for a while.

Faust - The Sad Skinhead




From Wumme but sounding like The Specials! A whole new sub genre like Egyptian Reggae, it's Kraut Ska..




Ash Ra Tempel - Light And Darkness: Darkness - Flowers Must Die



Worth it for the title alone...phazed and flanged to the max, it's hard to imagine their guitarist, Manuel Göttsching, later made the sedate proto trance classic E2-E4.







Popol Vuh - Aguirre I



Something a little more solemn from the mysterious Popol Vuh, named after a manuscript containing the mythology of the Quiché Maya people of highland Guatemala...Hey far out! This is from the brilliant soundtrack to Werner Hezog's deranged exploration of Conquistador greed, Aguirre: The Wrath of God.






Can - Mother Sky



Perennial family favourites Can kick out the jams with this dense rocker. Great timpani!




Cluster - Sowiesoso



Friends of Brian Eno, but don't let that put you off. A beautiful ambient classic, good for a day of Pims and boating..




Harmonia - Deluxe



My all time classic Krautrock track, a collaboration between Cluster and Neu, this positively shimmers like the gorgeous sun on the album cover.




Neu - Hero



The afore mentioned Neu invent punk two years before the fact. All their songs sounded the same but all their songs were good.




La Düsseldorf - Silver Cloud




As you may have noticed all these bands seem to share members and these guys are no exception being Neu's drummer's side project. Neu's guitarist was also in Kraftwerk briefly ...confused? Well just enjoy the monster synths and glam guitars of this strange Euro hit. Also a big inspiration for David Bowie who declared them "the sound of the future".





Tangerine Dream - Zeit



Before they started churning out Hollywood soundtracks the Tang's were space rock in excelsis. This brooding collaboration with Popol Vuh's Florian Fricke (see what I mean about incestuous relationships?) could soundtrack either 2001 or Dark Star. From the heady days when there were no instruction manuals..




The Cosmic Jokers - Galactic Joke



This "band" came about when Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser had the bright idea of rounding up a load of German rockers, sticking them in a studio and feeding them loads of acid. All well and good but he then took the sessions away with him, edited it all into three albums worth of aimless riffing and released under a made up name of his invention. The first guitarist Manuel Göttsching (from Ash Ra Temple) knew about it was when he heard some intriguing music playing in a record shop, inquired who it was only to be shown the album cover with his face staring out of it.




Amon Duul II - Archangel Thunderbird



Sounds like a deranged mix of Queens of the Stone Age with Geddy Lee on vox..Big foot stomping music when out of your mind on beer and speed.




Moebius & Plank - Tollkühn




Proto techno or wot?? Moebius from Cluster and Conny Plank, legendary producer of Kraftwerk, Can and Neu, join together for summit meeting of years-before-their-time electronic pioneers.





maningrey