Krautrock
Krautrock | |
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Etymology | Kraut |
Other names |
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Stylistic origins | |
Cultural origins | Late 1960s, West Germany |
Derivative forms | |
Other topics | |
Krautrock (also called kosmische Musik, German for "cosmic music"
The term "krautrock" was popularized by British music journalists as a humorous umbrella-label for the diverse German scene,
Characteristics
Krautrock has been described as a broad genre encompassing varied approaches,
Some common musical features exhibited by krautrock artists include:
- A blend of elements from psychedelic rock with electronic music or avant-garde sources[12][22]
- Hypnotic or minimalistic rhythms, including the common 4/4 "motorik" beat pattern[13][21][23]
- Emphasis on long-form repetition, texture, and drone elements rather than song structure[13][24][25]
- Use of synthesizers and musique concrète techniques[13][26]
- A movement away from rock's traditional rhythm & blues roots[14]
- Extended
Despite a common approach and generational attitude among artists, the
Origins and influences
Krautrock emerged in West Germany during the 1960s and early 1970s.
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.
Core influences on these German artists included avant-garde composers Karlheinz Stockhausen and Terry Riley, and bands such as the Mothers of Invention, the Velvet Underground, the Beatles,[33] and Pink Floyd.[10] A significant influence was the work of American minimalists such as Riley, Tony Conrad, and La Monte Young, as well as the late '60s albums of jazz musician Miles Davis,[34] particularly his jazz fusion work on In a Silent Way (1969).[32] The influence of Jimi Hendrix and James Brown on krautrock musicians was also notable.[24] Some artists drew on ideas from 20th century classical music and musique concrète,[32] 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).[19] 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.[19]
Etymology
Until around 1973, the word Deutsch-Rock ("German Rock") was used to refer to the new groups from West Germany.[35] Other names thrown around by the British and American music press were "Teutonic rock", "Überrock"[36] and "Götterdämmer rock".[37] West Germany's[dubious ] music press initially used Krautrock as a pejorative, but the term lost its stigma after the music gained success in Britain.[37] The term derives from the ethnic slur "kraut". "Kraut" in German can refer to herbs, weeds, and drugs.[37]
The term was originally used by Virgin records in 1972.
Its musicians tended to reject the name "krautrock".[43][37] This was also the case for "kosmische Musik".[37] 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.[44] 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."[14]
Kosmische Musik
Kosmische Musik | |
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Stylistic origins |
|
Cultural origins | Early 1970s, West Germany |
Derivative forms |
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Other topics | |
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Kosmische Musik ("cosmic music") is a term which came into regular use before "krautrock" and was preferred by some German artists who disliked the English label;
The term "kosmische Musik" was coined by
Several of these artists would later distance themselves from the term.
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.[49] 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. 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'.[50][51]
Ash Ra Tempel's first album, released in 1971, informed later krautrock music.[52]
Kosmischer Läufer, a Scottish-German music project with its first installment launched in 2013, presents itself as a music collection supposedly used by East German athletes in their training. The music bears excessive inspiration and techniques of the Krautrock genre.
Modern bands, such as Osees, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard and Minami Deutsch have been described as krautrock, or have noted krautrock as influential on their styles.[53]
See also
- Space music
- Ambient music
- Electronic art music
- Electronic music
- Experimental music
- Krautrocksampler
- German rock
- Kosmische Kuriere
- Romantic Warriors IV: Krautrock
- Space rock
References
Citations
- ^ "Ambient Pop". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- ^ Wilson 2006.
- ^ Manning 2004.
- ^ "Indie Electronic – Significant Albums, Artists and Songs – AllMusic". AllMusic.
- ^ a b c d e f Reynolds, Simon (July 1996). "Krautrock". Melody Maker.
- ^ Hegarty & Halliwell 2011, p. 224.
- ^ "Post-Rock". AllMusic. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ^ a b Battaglia, Andy (26 March 2009). "Where to start with the vast, influential krautrock". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-8264-1615-5.
- ^ a b c d e f Savage, Jon (30 March 2010). "Elektronische musik: a guide to krautrock". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
- ^ Unterberger 1998, p. 174.
- ^ a b c d e Harrison, Imogen (28 February 2016). "'Electricity' – The Influence of Krautrock on the UK's Next Generation". Shindig!. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Anon (n.d.). "Kraut Rock". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ a b c d Stubbs, David (January 2007). "Invisible Jukebox: Faust". The Wire. No. 275. p. 18.
- ^ a b c Segal, David (3 September 2007). "What is it? Krautrock". XLR8R. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-906002-08-4. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-64014-033-2.
- 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.
- ^ a b c
Reinholdt Nielsen, Per (2011). Rebel & Remix – Rockens historie. Denmark: Systime. ISBN 978-87-616-2662-2.
- ^ a b c Bolton, Matt (9 May 2008). "Matt Bolton meets the original Krautrockers". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ Segal, Dave. "German Guitar God Michael Rother Talks Kraftwerk, Neu!, and the Dubious Term "Krautrock"". The Stranger. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Smith, Stewart. "No Stars in Krautrock: David Stubbs' Future Days Reviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ a b c "Neu! – Neu! | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
- ^ Patrin, Nate (13 November 2019). "Krautrock Playlist: 20 Essential Songs". Stereogum. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
- ^ Maconie, Stuart (22 August 2014). "Krautrock: Germany's coolest export that no one can quite define". New Statesman. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ "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) - ^ "The Quietus | Opinion | The Quietus Essay | How Motorik Infected The Mainstream, By Future Days Author David Stubbs". The Quietus. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
- ^ Buckley 2003, p. 566.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-61219-474-5. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- ^ Savage, Jon. "The in Sound From Way Kraut: A Kosmische Countdown". Red Bull Music Academy. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- ^ Morris, Chris. "How '70s Krautrock Changed The Shape of Modern Music". Music Aficionado. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ^ Adelt 2016, p. 10.
- ISSN 0042-6180. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f Adelt 2016, p. 12.
- ISBN 978-88-6288-726-7.
- ^ Adelt 2016, p. 11.
- ISBN 978-1-906155-66-7
- ISBN 978-3-7543-5424-7.
- New Musical Express.
- ISBN 978-0-8204-6879-2.
- ISBN 0-9526719-1-3.
- ^ . Retrieved 18 August 2017.
- ^ a b c d Adelt 2016.
- ^ a b c Horn, David; Shepherd, John, eds. (2017). Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume 11. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 177.
- ^ "Berlin School Music & Artists | Bandcamp".
- ^ Starfarer. "Hawkwind Quotations". Archived from the original on 14 March 2012.
- ^ Buckley (2000): pp. 275–277.
- ^ Pegg (2004): pp. 205–206.
- ^ "Ash Ra Tempel – Ash Ra Tempel – Songs, Reviews, Credits – AllMusic". AllMusic.
- ^ Reed, Ryan (23 December 2021). "Exit Interview: King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard on Butterfly 3000, 'Jammy' New Music". Spin. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
Bibliography
- Adelt, Ulrich (2016). Krautrock: German Music in the Seventies. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-05319-3.
- Buckley, David (2000) [1999]. Strange Fascination – David Bowie: The Definitive Story. London: Virgin. ISBN 0-7535-0457-X.
- Buckley, Peter (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-84353-105-0.
- ISBN 978-0-8264-2332-0
- Manning, Peter (2004). Electronic and Computer Music. Oxford University Press. pp. 175. ISBN 0-19-517085-7.
- Mera, Miguel and David Burnand (2006). European Film Music. ISBN 0-7546-3659-3.
- ISBN 978-1-4464-8627-6.
- ISBN 1-903111-73-0.
- ISBN 978-1-61774-469-3.
- Wilson, Andy (2006). Faust: Stretch Out Time, 1970-1975. Andy Wilson. p. 2. ISBN 0-9550664-5-X.
- Freeman, Steven; Freeman, Alan (1996). The Crack in the Cosmic Egg: Encyclopedia of Krautrock, Kosmische Musik & Other Progressive, Experimental & Electronic Musics from Germany. Audion. ISBN 978-0-9529506-0-8.
External links
- Krautrock @ pHinnWeb
- krautrock website
- Krautrocksite – online magazine from Germany