Neu!- Neu!

Today I'll take my first dip into one of the largest and most misunderstood subgenres of prog: Krautrock. Neu! were a German duo consisting of Klaus Dinger on drums and Michael Rother on Guitar. In 1971, these two split from famed electronic band Kraftwerk due to their perception of lack of focus. Neu! Began playing underground, and released this self titled debut album in 1972. It sold poorly (30,000 copies), but it is hailed today as a masterpiece by many musicians and fans alike.

This six-track album starts off with “Hallogallo” which is typical of this form of Krautrock in its sheer mellowness. This song is a great example of Dinger’s “Motorik” beat (or “Apache” beat), where he would strip down traditional rock structure to a minimalist, repetitive 4/4 beat. This beat became Neu!’s signature. Rother adds sparse guitar throughout, which creates a mellowed out feel. A cool, spacey little track. After a little over 10 minutes, “Hallogallo” ends and “Sonderangebot” starts. In total contrast to what came before, the song opens with claustrophobic electronic sounds. It continues through all sorts of strange noises, making a very eerie impression. After fading out from ringing noises, we reach “Weissensee” via segway. This song falls somewhere in between the two prior songs, as the feel is both claustrophobic and mellowed. More repetitive drumming from Dinger, but he changes it from time to time so “Weissnensee” can’t be called Motorik. Towards the end, Rother’s guitar takes prominence. The track carries on with minimalism and ends side A.

The B Side begins with “Im Glück”, and water noises. Electric guitar fuzz fades in eventually. The song merely hums along with little things going on in the background. No drumming features, and by far “Im Glück” has the most minimalistic approach on Neu! Water noises take us out of the track for a cycle. Afterwards, “Neagtivland” begins with a jackhammer, dogs barking, and screeches. Neagtiveland is not so much like Neu! Or other mellow Krautrock, it’s more similar to Faust or Early Can, abrasive and difficult on the ears. It flies around with Motorik beat, guitar fuzz, guitar riffs, and a general aggressive feel. “Neagtivland” certantly is the least accessible but most interesting track on the album, including other surprises like sudden stops and tempo changes. The final song is “Lieber Honig”, and unfortunately I consider it Neu!’s weakest. An infant like moan dominates the track, and it is annoying as anything. This is truly a shame, as the guitar in nice and relaxing under it.

Neu! Is not always an engaging album, but is always a strange one. The tracks contrast with each other more than most other albums, but the contrast crates quite a bit of interest. Neu! Pioneered a new minimalist electronic style, which would go on to influence acts as diverse as David Bowie, Radiohead, New Age acts, and their old bandmates in Kraftwerk. Soulless but oddly human, mellow yet slightly aggressive, Neu! proves to somehow be accesable. The album itself is hard to take as a collective since there isn’t great cohesion between many of the tracks. However, when effort is made to seem those few similarities together, we have a work that is fun to listen to. Krautrock is rarely flows so well. Nothing is perfect, yet nothing is horrid.

Neu! Has such strength in its pioneering of drum beats and electronic music that its weaknesses are very easy to overlook, and I’d recommend it for your Prog collection. Grade: B