Krautrock

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Krautrock (also called Template:Not a typo, German for Template:Noitalic<ref name="CoxWarner2004">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Guardian">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Sfn) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s.<ref name="Guardian"/> It originated among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electronic music, among other eclectic sources.<ref name="shindig"/> Common elements included hypnotic rhythms, extended improvisation, musique concrète techniques, and early synthesizers,<ref name="AllMusic"/><ref name="shindig"/> while the music generally moved away from the rhythm & blues roots and song structure found in traditional rock music.<ref name=wire /> 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.<ref name="Reynolds1996"/>

The term "krautrock" was popularised by British music journalists as a humorous umbrella-label for the diverse German scene,<ref name=xlr8r/> and although many such artists disliked the term,<ref name=seabrook/> it is no longer considered controversial by German artists in the 21st century. Despite this, English-language authors remain critical of it.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The movement was partly born out of the radical student protests of 1968,<ref name = Sanford>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref name="Guardian"/> The period contributed to the development of ambient music and techno,<ref name="av">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and influenced subsequent genres such as post-punk, new-age music, and post-rock.<ref name="Reynolds1996"/><ref name=":0"> Template:Cite book </ref>

Characteristics

Krautrock has been described as a broad genre encompassing varied approaches,<ref name="Guardian"/><ref name="mattbolton">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but commonly drawing on psychedelia, avant-garde collage, electronic sounds, and rock music, while typically featuring "improvisation and hypnotic, minimalistic rhythms."<ref name="shindig">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Los Angeles Magazine summarized the genre as "American psychedelica meets icy Germanic detachment."<ref name="The Merciless Circularity of Beak">Template:Cite news</ref> 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.”<ref name="Reynolds1996"/> 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."<ref name="AllMusic">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Some common musical features exhibited by krautrock artists include:

• A blend of elements from psychedelic rock with electronic music or avant-garde sources<ref name="shindig"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Hypnotic or minimalistic rhythms, including the common 4/4 "motorik" beat pattern<ref name="AllMusic"/><ref name="The Merciless Circularity of Beak"/><ref name=line>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Emphasis on long-form repetition, texture, and drone elements rather than song structure<ref name="AllMusic"/><ref name="thequietus.com"/><ref name="harmonia">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Use of synthesizers and musique concrète techniques<ref name="AllMusic"/><ref name="allmusic.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• A movement away from rock's traditional rhythm & blues roots<ref name=wire />
• Extended improvisation<ref name="shindig"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> However, a common feature is the "motorik" beat: the 4/4 beat often used by drummers associated with krautrock,<ref name="allmusic.com"/> characterised by a kick drum-heavy, pulsating groove, that created a forward-flowing feel.<ref name="allmusic.com"/> 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,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> later being adopted by other krautrock bands. It has been widely used in many different styles of music beyond krautrock.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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".<ref name=xlr8r>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Origins and influences

File: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.<ref name="mattbolton"/> The music was partially inspired by broad cultural developments such as the revolutionary 1968 German student movement,<ref name="Guardian"/>Template:Sfn with many young people having both political and aesthetic concerns.<ref name=Stubbs/> Youth rebelled against both dominant American influence and conservative German entertainment such as schlager music,<ref name=Stubbs/> seeking to liberate themselves from Germany's Nazi legacy in World War II and create a new popular culture.<ref name=xlr8r/> 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."<ref name=Stubbs/> 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,<ref name="Reynolds1996"/> typically reflecting a "genuine sense of awe and wonder."<ref name="mattbolton"/>

Template:Quote box 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,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Pink Floyd.<ref name="Guardian"/> 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,<ref name="Aficianado">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> particularly his jazz fusion work on In a Silent Way (1969).<ref name=Stubbs/> The influence of Jimi Hendrix and James Brown on krautrock musicians was also notable.<ref name="thequietus.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Some artists drew on ideas from 20th century classical music and musique concrète,<ref name=Stubbs>Template:Cite book</ref> 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).<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref name=":0" />

Etymology

Until around 1973, the word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ("German Rock") was used to refer to the new groups from West Germany.Template:Sfn Other names thrown around by the British and American music press were "Teutonic rock", "Überrock"<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and "Götterdämmer rock".Template:Sfn West Germany's{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= Template:Fix }} music press initially used {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} as a pejorative, but the term lost its stigma after the music gained success in Britain.Template:Sfn The term derives from the ethnic slur "kraut". "Kraut" in German can refer to herbs, weeds, and drugs.Template:Sfn

The term was originally used by Virgin records in 1972.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Various sourcesTemplate:Who claim that "krautrock" was originally a humorous term coined in the early 1970s, either by British disc jockey John PeelTemplate:Sfn or by the UK music newspaper Melody Maker, in which experimental German bands found an early and enthusiastic following.<ref>'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 Template:ISBN</ref> The first useTemplate: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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The music emerging in Germany was firstTemplate: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.<ref>Macdonald, I. (December 1972). "Krautrock: Germany Calling" #1, #2 and #3. London, UK: New Musical Express.</ref>Template:Third-party source needed

Its musicians tended to reject the name "krautrock".<ref name="Pop and Poetry">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn This was also the case for "kosmische Musik".Template:Sfn 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.<ref name="cope">Template:Cite book</ref> 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."<ref name="wire">Template:Cite news</ref>

Kosmische Musik

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{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ("cosmic music") is a term which came into regular use before "krautrock" and was preferred by some German artists who disliked the English label;<ref name=seabrook/> today, it is often used synonymously with krautrock.<ref name="harden"/> More specifically, it may describe 1970s German electronic music which uses synthesizers and incorporates themes related to space or otherworldliness;<ref name="harden">Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Sfn it is also used as a German analogue to the English term "space rock".<ref name="Bloomsbury Academic">Template:Cite book</ref> The style was often instrumental and characterized by spacious ambient soundscapes,Template:Sfn with artists using synthesizers such as the EMS VCS 3 and Moog Modular, as well as sound processing effects and tape-based approaches.<ref name="harden"/> They often rejected rock music conventions, and instead drew on "serious" electronic compositions.Template:Sfn

The term "kosmische Musik" was coined by Edgar Froese and later used by record producer Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser as a marketing name for bands such as Ash Ra Tempel, Tangerine Dream, and Klaus Schulze.Template:Sfn The following year, Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser's Ohr Records used the term when he released the compilation Kosmische Musik (1972) featuring tracks by Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Ash Ra Tempel, and Popol Vuh.<ref name="harden"/> Kaiser eventually began referring to the style as "cosmic rock" to signify that the music belonged in a rock idiom.<ref name="Bloomsbury Academic"/> German producer Conny Plank was a central figure in the kosmische sound, emphasizing texture, effects processing, and tape-based editing techniques.<ref name=seabrook>Template:Cite book</ref> Plank oversaw kosmische recordings such as Kraftwerk's Autobahn, Neu!'s Neu! 75, and Cluster's Zuckerzeit.<ref name=seabrook/>

Several of these artists would later distance themselves from the term.<ref name="harden"/> Other names for the style, and for sub-genres were the "Berlin School" and the "Dusseldorf School", both of which are recognised and actively contributed to by artists such as Node, Martin Sturtzer, Propaganda, Kraftwerk, Tannheuser and Fritz Mayr, from the 1980s through to the present day.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The style would later lead to the development of new-age music, with which it shared several characteristics.Template:Sfn It would also exert lasting influence on subsequent electronica and experimental rock,<ref name="Bloomsbury Academic"/> especially post-rock in the 1990s.<ref name="The Wire May 1994">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="sa">Sean Albiez, David Pattie Kraftwerk: Music Non-Stop 2011, page 146-157</ref> The genre also had a strong influence on David Bowie's Station to Station (1976) and the experimentation it inspired led to his so-called Berlin Trilogy.<ref name="Buckley p.275–277">Buckley (2000): pp. 275–277.</ref><ref name="The Complete David Bowie pp.205–206">Pegg (2004): pp. 205–206.</ref>

Ash Ra Tempel's first album, released in 1971, informed later krautrock music.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

References

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External links

• Krautrock @ pHinnWeb
• krautrock website
• Krautrocksite – online magazine from Germany

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