THE NEW HERB SKIRT

THE NEW HERB SKIRT

No one has an exact definition, but everyone knows what is meant when we talk about Krautrock. "Krautrock is not a musical genre, but a term for a phase: 1969 to 1974," explains Dirk Jan Müller of the band Electric Orange. "Krautrock can be anything. "He was most exciting when he wasn't Anglo-American." Exactly this independence is embodied by bands like Faust, CAN, Amon Düül II, Popol Vuh, Guru Guru or Kraan, who showed a creative unconcern unknown to local conditions. Tom Redecker of The Perc Meets The Hidden Gentleman describes Krautrock as "Germany's only contribution to the worldwide phenomenon of rock music". Of course, Krautrock is wide-ranging: electronics from Kraftwerk or Tangerine Dream; art rock from Eloy, Jane or Grobschnitt; anarchistic folk from Witthüser & Westrupp.

You have to keep this in mind if you want to get closer to the current Krautrock scene. Even the neo-herbal skirt must not be restricted to one style. "There is no current Krautrock scene," says Müller succinctly. Yet his band Electric Orange has been mixing Krautrock with Psychedelic on some outstanding albums for more than twenty years. Stephan Otten from the electronic duo Sankt Otten, from whom you can draw a direct line to Kraftwerk, says: "Bands that refer to Krautrock can be counted on two hands in Germany" Maybe the term is too narrow. If you look at Neo-Krautrock with the same artistic openness as the scene in the early seventies, you will find countless bands that respectfully follow the Krautrock pioneers and their stylistic devices.

Lesen Sie mehr im eclipsed Nr. 160 (Mai 2014).