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Neu (Reis)

by Neu!

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Neu! was recorded over four days in Hamburg with Can producer Conrad Plank, and its static, aggressive harmonies and almost (but not quite) robotic sound still has a resonance that echoes even today. As any musician from Add N to X to Sonic Youth, from Stereolab to Cabaret Voltaire could tell you, early '70s Dusseldorf band Neu! were one third of the original triumvirate--alongside Can and Faust--that defined Krautrock. Michael Rother (guitar/keyboards) and Klaus Dinger (drums) formed the band in 1971, and with their first three albums established a pattern of minimalist melodies and locked groove "motorik" beats that were to later exert a tremendous influence over left-field music, both in dance and rock. Indeed, one of the great U.S. avant-garde '90s bands, Negativland, take their name from a track on this album. "Hallogallo, Sonderangebot," "Im Gluck"--these are the conveyor-belt grooves, the elemental sweep and soar of the neon-bright autobahn, and the sound of the future when it was still shiny and clean. As David Bowie put it, "[Neu! were] Kraftwerk's wayward, anarchistic brothers." And so much more. --Jerry Thackray