Tag: Klaus Dinger (Page 1 of 3)

50: The Legacy of NEU!

23 September 2022 /

Trailblazing kosmische duo NEU! celebrate the 50th anniversary of their self-titled debut album with a boxed set containing their imperial back catalogue. It is appended by a modern day remixes collection featuring contributions by members of NEW ORDER, FACTORY FLOOR, HOT CHIP and MOGWAI amongst others. The CD version of the boxed set additionally features the divisive ‘NEU! 86’ reunion album.

Michael Rother and the late Klaus Dinger had been members of KRAFTWERK when Ralf Hütter had temporarily left the band; they even appeared on West German TV with Florian Schneider but on Hütter’s return, Rother and Dinger left to form NEU!

The name NEU! had been chosen by Dinger as “a protest against the consumer society” and their aim was to restore a sense of German artistic identity, in reaction to the Americanisation of European post-war culture that was now prevalent due to the large detachment of American armed forces on station during The Cold War.

Dinger and Rother were never easy bedfellows from the start, so it was legendary producer Conny Plank who acted as mediator between the pair’s quite different personalities and artistic aspirations. Although popularising the motorik beat, Dinger was a manic and confrontational character who wanted to be more than just a drummer, while Rother was unassuming in his half speed guitar texturing to paint mini-cacophonies of esoteric sound.


The pair had a creative tension to produce music that was experimental, yet accessible. This was showcased on their 1972 self-titled debut with the magnificent opening salvo ‘Hallogallo’. Almost trance-like thanks to its lengthy time space, the Apache drum mantra would later be mutated into drum machines to act as backbeat for OMD. Originally released on Brain Records, the album outlined the musical manifesto of NEU! with a sound that was not derived from the Trans-Atlantic culture.

The pressure was on the duo to produce a worthy follow-up to their debut and but having spent most of their budget from Brain on ‘Für Immer’, effectively a more polished development of ‘Hallogallo’, the second self-titled album was still about five tracks short. So Dinger came up with a brainwave to fill the void with versions of their interim single ‘Neuschnee’ and its B-side ‘Super’. This included recording the 45 RPM single at 16 and 78 complete with needle drops; other variants included drilling an off-centre hole into the vinyl and replaying a tape recording on a faulty cassette player!

Was this winging it or avant-garde genius or was it as Rother thought, Dinger’s way of antagonising Brain Records following what he considered the lack of promo for the ‘Neuschnee’ single? But variations on a theme were always part of the NEU! manifesto as had been demonstrated on their cover artwork and this was taking it to a musical level.

By the time of their third album, relations between Rother and Dinger had got so bad that they agreed to conceive a side each, with minimal input from the other. But NEU! ‘75’ was to be their best record yet, with Rother directing the more sedate and thoughtful first half. Meanwhile Dinger brought in his younger brother Thomas and Hans Lampe to take over his drums as he headed to the front with his guitar for a snarling second half of proto-punk.

‘Isi’ was a wonderfully catchy synthesizer and piano instrumental while ‘Seeland’ pointed to where Rother was eventually to head with his solo career. However, the haunting ‘Leb Wohl’ with its plaintive piano and Dinger’s anguished lead vocal was the stand-out to provide the farewell; OMD were to use this template in their musical dedication ‘4 Neu’.

Dinger provided his angry masterpiece in ‘Hero’ which grooved and startled in equal measure. One person who was listening was Iggy Pop and he provided the ultimate tribute to Dinger with his recent performance of ‘Hero’ with Rother at Hamburg Stadtpark in June 2022.

David Bowie was another NEU! fan and Rother later was asked to play on the “Heroes” album sessions in Berlin, but the collaboration never materialised due to interference from Bowie’s then-management. It remains a curiosity as to what could have been…

After NEU! disbanded, Rother’s became Germany’s answer to Mike Oldfield, while Dinger continued with Hans Lampe and Thomas Dinger in LA DÜSSELDORF. The first three albums from each had their merits while Conny Plank worked with both parties, although even with his good natured demeanour, he was only to last one further recording with Dinger who never really mellowed.

Rother and Dinger entered a studio together in 1986 for a brief NEU! reunion but the continuing tensions meant that the album was abandoned. But in 1995, Dinger released the recordings as the fourth NEU! album in Japan without Rother’s consent; he later described this experience as “a rather painful disaster between Klaus Dinger and myself”. There were several standout tracks, one of which was subsequently titled ‘Euphoria’ and sounded like a lost OMD instrumental while there was a moodier variation called ‘Wave Mother’. The fourth album was eventually sanctioned by Rother after he remixed the recordings following Dinger’s death in 2008 and released as NEU! ‘86’.

Photo by Anton Corbijn

But relations were to sour further when Dinger then toured and recorded for several years as LA! NEU? with Rother angry that his former bandmate was unfairly trading off the NEU! legacy. It was to take many years for the pair to agree on how to reissue their long deleted but now heavily bootlegged albums.

An attempted reconciliation between Rother and Dinger was attempted when the first three NEU! albums were finally reissued in 2000 by Grönland Records, but during the joint promotional interviews, the pair were barely able to tolerate each other’s company, with the photographs taken by Anton Corbijn notably capturing the friction.

These first reissues gave NEU! some much deserved recognition and their influence can be heard in acts such as ULTRAVOX, U2, OMD, NEW ORDER, SONIC YOUTH, STEREOLAB, FUJIYA & MIYAGI, HOT CHIP and MOOD TAEG. And with the NEU! ‘50’ boxed set comes an album of remixes and reworkings by some of those acts by way of tribute.

Stephen Morris and Gabe Gurnsey’s take on ‘Hallogallo’ is probably more of a neu recording than NEU! remix but there are still enough original elements to attribute the source. While Yann Tiersen presents a filmic electronic take on ‘Lieber Honig’ from  the second album, the best of the bunch is Alexis Taylor with ‘4+1=5’, his slowed down 13 minute version of ‘Wave Mother’ that also adds his plaintive vocal in the final quarter.

After five decades, NEU! continue to inspire a new generation, thanks to the continuing live performances of Michael Rother featuring a significant portion of material from that era. While Klaus Dinger may no longer be on this mortal coil, his spirit lives on through the music and it is fitting that it is Hans Lampe who sits in the drum stool behind his former comrade-in-arms as the surviving heroes from ‘75’ continue the mission.

NEU! ‘50!’ is released as a 5LP or 5CD boxed set by Groenland Records

Michael Rother 2022 European live dates celebrating NEU! 50! include:

Berlin Betonhalle @ Silent Green (26th October), London Clapham Grand (3rd November), Barcelona Mira Festival (11th November), Paris BBMix Festival (26th November)

https://www.groenland.com/artist/neu/

http://www.neu2010.com/

https://www.michaelrother.de/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
23rd September 2022

RHEINGOLD Interview

19 December 2017 /

Named after the opera by Richard Wagner, Düsseldorf’s RHEINGOLD were part of Die Neue Deutsche Welle movement which also included artists such as NENA, PETER SCHILLING and ALPHAVILLE.

Between 1980 to 1984, RHEINGOLD released three albums ‘Rheingold’, ‘R.’ and ‘Distanz’, all working with the legendary Conny Plank.

Led by Bodo Staiger, the band also featured his now-wife Brigitte Staiger on backing vocals and Lothar Manteuffel on keyboards.

Singing primarily in Deutsch, they also differed from their electronically driven contemporaries by having a more melodic vocal style and a distinctive rhythm guitar template.

Staiger starred in the 1982 West German horror film ‘Der Fan’ directed by Eckhart Schmidt which warned against the dangers of fanaticism, but RHEINGOLD never performed live so have almost become a forgotten band whenever the history of German pop is discussed.

However, the inclusion of 2010 reworkings from a ‘Best Of’ album of their domestic hits ‘Fluss’ and ‘Dreiklangdimensionen’ on the splendid ‘Electri_City 1_2’ 2CD compilation, released by Grönland Records, deservedly placed their work alongside LA DÜSSELDORF, HARMONIA, RIECHMANN, DAF, NEU! and DIE KRUPPS.

RHEINGOLD are certainly one of the most under rated acts from the German New Wave, but this year’s excellent new album ‘Im Lauf Der Zeit’ was a fine return after an absence of original material for many years. Bodo Staiger kindly took time out to talk about the career of RHEINGOLD.

In 2010, you re-recorded the old hits like ‘Fluss’ and ‘Dreiklangdimension’, having also done the ‘Electric City – Düsseldorfer Schule’ 2007 covers album, so why was the time right for a brand new RHEINGOLD album?

There was a collection of about 50 songs / layouts over the last years and in 2014, I got back the lightness of playing guitars, so I felt that is the right time for a new album.

What was different about your approach to ‘Im Lauf Der Zeit’ compared to your debut and ‘R.’?

Compared to the 80s albums, I have learned a lot about studio work, technology and production.

So this time, I knew exactly what I wanted and how RHEINGOLD should sound today without changing the style.

You give thanks to Karl Bartos in the ‘Im Lauf Der Zeit’ album credits, how was he involved?

Karl is one of my best friends, we’ve known each other for a long time and I really appreciate his musical competence. Since I started to work on the selected songs, there were many telephone calls, MP3s and comments between us. Finally he wrote the lyrics for ‘Im Lauf der Zeit’ and ‘Weisses Licht’ for the new album.

The artwork also features some nostalgic photos including ones of you and Conny Plank who was involved in all the previous RHEINGOLD albums, what was he like to work with?

The photos document my musical journey – over time – starting in 1967 with a band called HARAKIRI WHOOM with a young singer called Marius Müller-Westernhagen, who today is a big rock star here in Germany and also the band SINUS with Karl Bartos, THE LILAC ANGELS and my own project RHEINGOLD.

Referring to Conny Plank, we met in 1970 and I recorded – with Marius and Karl – my first tracks with Conny that year were at the Rhenus Studio near Cologne. To work with him was always a pleasure, he was relaxed, very competent and had the talent to listen what the artist wants. And he also brought some good ideas and inspiration. For example, the percussive synth sound on ‘Dreiklangsdimensionen’ was his idea.

Like classic RHEINGOLD, there are several great instrumentals on this new record. Was the opening track ‘Kraut’ intended as a kind of statement?

Yes, of course.

‘Sternstaub’ is very electronic compared with other RHEINGOLD tracks, what inspired this?

When I digitalized our old 24 track tapes in 2010 and I found this song on a tape of the first album from 1980. I think because of the limitation of time on the vinyls, we didn’t use it. So I kept the original recording and mixed it 2016 in for the 1st time. But I forgot what inspired me 🙂

The wonderful ‘Paradieshafen’ sounds like OMD meets Michael Rother?

I take it as a compliment.

‘Theme ‘84’ recalls LA DÜSSELDORF, is it true you gave Klaus Dinger guitar lessons? What he a compliant student?

That’s correct, musically regards to Klaus. I don’t remember the guitar lessons, but I played a lot of sessions with Klaus at his studio Im Grund here in Düsseldorf… maybe I showed him some chords or licks and tricks.

Of the songs on ‘Im Lauf Der Zeit’, which ones have become your favourites and why?

I can’t answer this question.

You disliked working with drummers and preferred drum machines, were there any particular reasons for this?

Since I got the Roland CR-78 drum machine in 1979, I liked the sound, the groove and tightness of this unit. But we also worked with a drummer – on ‘Fanfanfanatisch’ and ‘Das Steht Dir Gut’ from the second album ‘R.’

RHEINGOLD did not perform as a live band; do you ever regret this?

No, RHEINGOLD was always a one man band. I never thought about performing live.

How do you feel about the renewed interest in RHEINGOLD?

Well, we enjoy it. But let’s see the result end of the year.

What were your career highlights with RHEINGOLD?

The first years – ’81 to ’84 were our good times, TV shows and films and sales.

What is next for you, either as RHEINGOLD or with your other musical interests?

First of all, we’re trying to promote the new album and keep our Rheinklang studio going.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its grateful thanks to Bodo Staiger

‘Im Lauf Der Zeit’ is released in CD and digital formats by Lucky Bob Records / Soulfood

https://www.facebook.com/Rheingold-156171354461006/

http://3klangrecords.de/

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
19th December 2017

ELECTRI_CITY – The Düsseldorf School of Electronic Music

26 August 2017 /

OMD’s Andy McCluskey said: “Musically we are much more the sons of Düsseldorf than we are the sons of Liverpool. KRAFTWERK, NEU! and LA DÜSSELDORF were so much more influential on us than THE BEATLES”.

Meanwhile ULTRAVOX’s Chris Cross adds: “Personally I would have loved to have been in a band like LA DÜSSELDORF” – First published in German during the Spring of 2015, Rudi Esch’s ‘ELECTRI_CITY – Elektronische Musik Aus Düsseldorf’ gave a fascinating insider’s account of the Germany’s influential post-war music scene which was centred around Düsseldorf.

The original book spawned an English language edition ‘ELECTRI_CITY – The Düsseldorf School of Electronic Music’, two compilation albums released on Grönland Records and an annual music conference. 

Rudi Esch came to prominence as the bassist of industrial trailblazers DIE KRUPPS whom he joined in 1988, but prior to that, he was in DIE ENGEL DES HERRN with the mercurial Klaus Dinger of NEU! and LA DÜSSELDORF fame. The book takes an unusual format in that it features a series of parabites.

Pieced together from over fifty exclusive interviews, to tell the story of The Düsseldorf School and its cultural significance. This makes the text easily digestible and is certainly a preferred layout compared to the more tedious documents that have been published about musik von die Bundesrepublik over the last few years.

Interviewees include Michael Rother, Klaus Dinger, Wolfgang Flür, Daniel Miller, Paul Humphreys, Andy McCluskey, Martyn Ware, Glenn Gregory, Chris Cross, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Giorgio Moroder and Rusty Egan who gives one of the funniest quotes: “To me, the Germans made cars and rockets. Mercedes and Messerschmitt were the names I knew before KRAFTWERK”.

“Düsseldorf is the capital of electronic music” says Esch, as he gives an account of how the Düsseldorf electronic scene developed from 1970 to 1986 with acts like KRAFTWERK, LA DÜSSELDORF, DER PLAN, LIAISONS DANGEREUSES, RIECHMANN, RHEINGOLD, PROPAGANDA, DAF and NEU!

In those early days, the choice of instrumentation was dictated by money. Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider-Esleben both came from affluent millionaire families, with the latter’s father a prominent architect who oversaw the redesign of the Cologne-Bonn Airport.

As expensive as synthesizers were back then, the more avant-garde types tended to prefer EMS equipment as it did not come with a keyboard, while those who liked melody opted for the Minimoog. KRAFTWERK of course bought both! But as former member Ebehard Kranemann remembers “KRAFTWERK was not about the money, it was about the music”.

And with his Farfisa organ and its preset rhythm accompaniment, Hütter became fascinated with mechanical percussive templates and goaded their then-drummer Klaus Dinger with his proclamation that it was “the fastest drummer in the world”.

Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother were working class boys, which influenced their pursuit of a more organic approach and ultimately led to them flying the KRAFTWERK nest to form NEU! While Rother had the talent and an easy going manner, Dinger had ambition and his forthright tendencies did not win him many friends. “With Klaus, you never knew if he would give you a headbutt or an invitation to dinner…” says Wolfgang Flür, “…all in all, I didn’t like him”.

Dinger was explosive, confrontational and unpredictable. In KRAFTWERK, while Hütter and Schneider had their neon lit signs with their first names in blue, he wanted one with ‘Klaus’ in red! When Colgate offered to pay a substantial amount of money to use LA DÜSSELDORF’s hit ‘Rheinita’ in a TV advert, he declined. There was also the incident of him breaking journalist Konrad Schalensick’s nose following a negative review of their second album ‘Viva’.

The signs were there from the start, with Dinger playing rhythmic guitar alongside Rother’s melodic interplay, not satisfied with just being the drummer. So without Conny Plank to act as buffer and referee, NEU! would never have lasted for three albums. The silent partner in NEU! who recognised talent and created an atmosphere for musicians to experiment, Plank was without doubt a factor in the second side of ‘Neu! 2’ being filled with speeded up and slowed down variations of a previously issued single.

The thorny issue of KRAFTWERK’s treatment of Conny Plank is discussed in the book; “I don’t know where KRAFTWERK would be today if it wasn’t for Conny” says Hans Lampe, assistant to Plank and later to become a member of LA DÜSSELDORF.

However, Plank did accept 5000 Deutschmarks (a lot of money in 1974!) which bought him out of the co-producer credit on ‘Autobahn’ after it was licensed and edited for release by Capitol Records in America.

Another discussion point is Karl Bartos‘ contribution to KRAFTWERK as he wrote many of the melodies as ‘the kraftsman’. According to Michael Mertens of PROPAGANDA who was a conservatoire classmate: “Karl understood that to make popular music, you had to retain some degree of naivety”.

Classical music education played an important role and it appeared in the most unlikely of places. DAF’s Robert Görl had much in common with Karl Bartos and Michael Mertens, although Görl says: “Wir wollten lieber mit Maschinen arbeiten. We always preferred working with machines”.

During the post-punk period, just as Liverpool had Eric’s, Manchester had The Factory and London had The Blitz, Düsseldorf had a creative centre emerge around Die Ratinger Hof.

Affordable synths from Japan such as the Korg MS20 were a game changer for younger bands like DAF and DIE KRUPPS as they found their sound.

However, there was an important distinction between synths and keyboards as Kurt Dahlke of DER PLAN and PYROLATOR explains: “I insist that I am never credited as a keyboardist on records. A keyboard player is some kind of all-round entertainer, sat at his keyboard using various presets. I insist on synthesizer”.

While KRAFTWERK were a reaction to the Americanisation of popular culture in Germany, the next generation of more forthright and aggressive acts like DIE KRUPPS and DAF were a reaction to KRAFTWERK. Jürgen Engler mentions “I hadn’t bought a single KRAFTWERK album” while Gabi Delgado comments that “To me, KRAFTWERK were sounding too boring, too beautiful, too sedate and too sterile” and even adds “Sequencers and Moroder. That was more important for electronic music than the entire legacy of KRAFTWERK, NEU! and LA DÜSSELDORF”.

DAF’s preference for a militaristic aesthetic caused controversy and confused observers, but from the off, they were out to shock. They attracted a following which Gabi Delgado hated; his parents had escaped from the Fascist Franco regime in Spain. However, their early sequencer guru Chrislo Haas was less bothered and flirted with the ideology as a fashion statement.

Their manager Bob Giddens reckons “DAF kind of overdid it later on with their hyper-Germaness” and as they hit the peak of their success, Ralf Dörper reckons they disappeared in a haze of “Sex, drugs and sequencer”. Haas eventually left DAF and went on to form alternative club favourites LIAISONS DANGEREUSES in a charged partnership with Beate Bartel of MANIA D.

Of course, all this is only a small part of the story. The visionaries, technicians and eccentrics who played their part like the late Gunter Körber (A&R for Metronome and Brain Records who later founded the Sky label that issued key albums by Michael Rother and Wolfgang Riechmann), inventor Werner Lambertz and Florian Schneider’s sister Claudia also give their takes on the scene.

The book appropriately ends its coverage in 1986, when KRAFTWERK’s ‘Electric Café’ disappointed many and led to the departure of Messrs Flür, Bartos and eventually Schneider.

Photo by Anton Corbijn

But fast forward to 2017 and Düsseldorf has come to terms with one of its biggest cultural exports and is now happy to celebrate the city’s influence on musicians and artists all over the world.

However, the final word has to go to the departed Klaus Dinger: “A lot of people may have helped themselves to the stuff we developed, and then made big bucks abroad. But nevertheless I’d go as far as saying: this was only ever possible in D-U-S, my home town Düsseldorf”.

‘ELECTRI_CITY – The Düsseldorf School of Electronic Music’ is published by Omnibus Press, available via all good book and online retailers

https://www.facebook.com/Electri.city.Esch/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
26th August 2017, updated 17th June 2023

ELECTRI_CITY 1_2

17 August 2016 /

Elektronische Musik Aus Düsseldorf

German music has been compiled before, but it has often been a hit and miss affair.

Soul Jazz Records’ lushly packaged ‘Deutsche Elektronische Musik’ sets over two volumes contained a wide range of freeform experimental works from Der Bundesrepublik, but occasionally forgot about the Trade Descriptions Act implications of its title. Released to coincide with ‘ELECTRI_CITY – The Düsseldorf School of Electronic Music’, the English translation of the acclaimed book by Rudi Esch about the city’s music heritage, ‘ELECTRI_CITY 2’ gathers together the more accessible elements of Deutsche Elektronische Musik, Kosmische and Neue Deutsche Welle.

Think of it as a direct journey of discovery, but with the benefit of a local tour guide as well. Issued by Grönland Records who handled the NEU! and HARMONIA remasters, the 2CD deluxe edition  ‘ELECTRI_CITY 1_2’ adds the first volume that came out in 2015 alongside the original German language book.

NEU! and DAF will probably be the best known acts of those included; produced by the legendary Conny Plank, both are more than well represented on ‘ELECTRI_CITY 1_2’. But with the proto-synthpop of ‘Isi’ and the proto-punk of ‘Hero’ from the former, alongside the electro-body controversies of ‘Der Mussolini’ and ‘Kebabträume’ from the latter, there are also many other acts who are worthy graduates of the school.

One of the most welcome inclusions is that of the under rated Neue Deutsche Welle trio RHEINGOLD. Both ‘3Klangsdimensionen’ and ‘Fluß’ are almost up there with great international crossover hits like PETER SCHILLING’s ‘Major Tom’.

But often, the German language was a barrier to wider recognition and apart from DAF, most of the material gathered here does not really break the lyric bank.

Those of Klaus Dinger from NEU! in particular are amusingly close to ranting gibberish, especially on the two brilliant offerings from his more synth driven combo LA DÜSSELDORF.

Missing though are KRAFTWERK; but with Ralf Hütter’s well-known defensiveness of the Kling Klang legacy, representation instead comes from former percussionist Wolfgang Flür and his autobiographical party piece ‘I Was A Robot’. There is also a special hidden cover of ‘Ruckzuck’ from THE TECHNOCRATS, a side project of Ralf Dörper, best known as a member of PROPAGANDA and DIE KRUPPS. Anyone getting as far as even listening to this set of compilations will probably have at least one KRAFTWERK album in their collection, so their absence is not really noticed.

As Andy McCluskey put it: “Whilst KRAFTWERK cement their position in the pantheon of the museums and the books, LA DÜSSELDORF and NEU! were very important. They also did something that was beautiful and different”. Of course, British acts like OMD championed the cause of Elektronische Musik aus Düsseldorf, eventually distilling the form into synthpop and even selling it back to Das Vaterland; in acknowledgement of that, a mysterious collective called MAKROSOFT cover ‘Electricity’ in a deadpan apocalyptic fashion.

Further evidence of cultural exchange comes with the 1976 HARMONIA & ENO collaboration ‘Luneberg Heath’, the effects of which were to later have a profound effect on DAVID BOWIE’s Berlin Trilogy of ‘Low’, ‘Heroes’ and ‘Lodger’. But the biggest surprise to many will be ‘Darling Don’t Leave Me’, a lost duet between DAF drummer Robert Görl and EURYTHMICS’ Annie Lennox which is a gloriously wiggly synthpop pleasure.

Diversity was one of the beauties of The Düsseldorf School Of Electronic Music and harder, edgier sounds emerged alongside more esoteric instrumental pieces. ‘Wahre Arbeit Wahrer Lohn’ and ‘Zwei Herzen, Ein Rhythmus’ from DIE KRUPPS show how much of a debt is owed to them by the Industrial music scene.

Meanwhile LIAISONS DANGEREUSES led by Beate Bartel (MANIA D, EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN, MALARIA!) and Chrislo Haas (DAF, DER PLAN) took Teutonic precision into the underground dance clubs with hypnotic numbers like ‘Etre Assis Ou Danser’ and ‘Los Ninos Del Parque’. However, those in the hunt for something even angrier will probably appreciate the more challenging platitudes of BELFEGORE.

With ‘Flammende Herzen’, NEU! guitarist Michael Rother opened his solo account to become Germany’s answer to Mike Oldfield while on ‘Karussell’, he also proved he could sound like a one-man ULTRAVOX. A former band mate of Rother’s, RIECHMANN is undoubtedly the great lost talent of the era; the lunar synth passages of ‘Abendlicht’ and the delicate melodic schaffel of ‘Wunderbar’ showcased his potential towards the musical magnificence that was never able to be fulfilled due to his tragic passing.

Of course, a vibrant art scene centred around Düsseldorf and provided a sympathetic environment for many to flourish. DER PLAN, TEJA and DIE LEMMINGE are good examples of that more experimental approach. PYROLATOR’s ‘Max’ in particular comes over like a Rhein-Ruhr version of THE NORMAL while ‘Mustafa’ by TOPOLINOS, a pre-PROPAGANDA girl group featuring Claudia Brücken and Susanne Freytag, is a jaunty, enjoyable piece of Middle Eastern flavoured avant pop that was not really a true indicator of what was to come.

All-in-all, ‘ELECTRI_CITY 1_2’ is as Rudi Esch puts it “an intelligent and sophisticated roller coaster ride through one of the most integral chapters of recent German music history”. A fine collection of cathartic expressionism, the 29 tracks on offer provide a fine entry point into a fascinating post-war attitude that resulted in a highly influential musical aesthetic.

CD1
01 LA DÜSSELDORF Düsseldorf
02 RIECHMANN Wunderbar
03 HARMONIA & ENO Luneburg Heath
04 DER PLAN Wir Werden Immer Mehr
05 DAF Der Mussolini
06 NEU! Hero
07 TEJA Säuren Ätzen
08 DIE KRUPPS Wahre Arbeit Wahrer Lohn
09 LIAISONS DANGEREUSES Los Ninos Del Parque
10 WOLFGANG FLÜR I Was A Robot
11 RHEINGOLD 3Klangsdimensionen 2010
12 MICHAEL ROTHER Flammende Herzen
13 MAKROSOFT Electricity

CD2
01 RIECHMANN Abendlicht
02 NEU! Isi
03 RHEINGOLD Fluss
04 ROBERT GÖRL featuring ANNIE LENNOX Darling Don’t Leave Me
05 DIE KRUPPS Zwei Herzen, Ein Rhythmus
06 TEJA SCHMITZ Studieren
07 DAF Kebabträume
08 PYROLATOR Max
09 LA DÜSSELDORF La Düsseldorf
10 BELFEGORE Mensch Oder Gott
11 DER PLAN Gummitwist
12 LIAISONS DANGEREUSES Etre Assis Ou Danser
13 TOPOLINOS Mustafa
14 DIE LEMMINGE Himmel
15 MICHAEL ROTHER Karussell
16 THE TECHNOCRATS Ruckzuck (Hidden Track)

‘ELECTRI_CITY 1_2’ is released by Grönland Records as a deluxe 2CD edition. Each compendium is also available separately as a CD, double vinyl LP and download

https://groenland.com/en/artist/electri_city/

ELECTRI_CITY The Dusseldorf School Of Electronic Music‘ELECTRI_CITY – The Düsseldorf School of Electronic Music’ by Rudi Esch is published by Omnibus Press on 26th August 2016.

Book launch events featuring Q&A sessions with Rudi Esch and special guests to be announced include: London Rough Trade East (10th September), Brighton Hotel Pelirocco (11th September), Liverpool Cavern (9th November), Birmingham and Midland Institute (12th November), Manchester Palace Hotel (13th November)

Please check https://www.facebook.com/Electri.city.Esch/ for details

This year’s ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE takes place at Düsseldorf CCD on 14th – 15th October 2016

http://www.electricity-conference.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ELECTRICITY.Conference/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
17th August 2016, updated 1st July 2017

A Beginner’s Guide To CONNY PLANK

6 August 2016 /

It was at Conny’s Studio near Cologne that a number of landmark recordings were completed, notably KRAFTWERK’s ‘Autobahn’ and ULTRAVOX’s ‘Vienna’. 

The studio was the operational centre of engineer and producer Konrad Plank whose innovative portfolio covered a wide spectrum of music.

Using a customised mixing desk, Plank favoured a dynamic production ethos that went against the grain of the compressed rock recording of the times. An advocate in the possibilities of electronics, he said: “I like synthesizers when they sound like synthesizers and not like instruments. Using a drum machine for electronic music is okay, but not if you try to make it sound like a real drummer”.

Conny Plank’s work with pioneering German experimental acts such as KRAFTWERK, CLUSTER and NEU! had a strong influence on David Bowie and Brian Eno, and thus ultimately every act that emerged from Synth Britannia; John Foxx considers Plank to be the most important record producer since George Martin.

His influence was quite evident when ULTRAVOX worked with George Martin on the ‘Quartet’ album in 1982; compared to their Plank produced Cologne Trilogy of ‘Systems Of Romance’, ‘Vienna’ and ‘Rage In Eden’, ‘Quartet’ sounded thin and lacked density. But as history has shown, a producer can only achieve so much when the artists themselves are not delivering and even Plank’s involvement in ULTRAVOX’s lamentable ‘U-Vox’ album could not save it.

“Craziness is something holy” Plank once said; his key to getting the best out of his work was to enjoy the company of the acts he worked with. This was a particularly important requisite when trapped inside a countryside complex away from the social distractions of a city.

When Plank was booked by Daniel Miller for a four day session to record DAF’s first full-length album ‘Die Kleinen Und Die Bösen’, only the final day involved any actual recording as he had spent the first three days getting to know them; the relationship with DAF continued for a further three albums.

However, legend has it that after being introduced to U2 by Brian Eno with the view to producing ‘The Joshua Tree’, Plank turned down the job declaring: “I cannot work with this singer!”

As well as studio work, Plank was also an active musician. It was while touring South America with CLUSTER’s Dieter Moebius that Plank fell ill; he sadly passed away in December 1987 at the age of 46. Conny Plank leaves an important musical legacy, so here is a look back at twenty of his works, with a restriction of one track per album project…

ASH RA TEMPEL Traummaschine (1971)

ASH RA TEMPEL were a highly important Kosmiche band; it was the platform from which future electronic exponents Manuel Göttsching and Klaus Schulze emerged. Plank engineered their very different debut album, seeded from sessions of free-form improvising. With just one track per side of vinyl, the eerie atmospheres of ‘Traummaschine’ contrasted with the noisier rock of ‘Amboss’.

Available on the ASH RA TEMPEL album ‘Ash Ra Tempel’ via SMGO Art

http://www.ashra.com/

KRAFTWERK Tanzmusik (1973)

Having engineered KRAFTWERK’s first two albums and the earlier ORGANISATION ‘Tone Float’ long player, Conny Plank helped their shift towards synthesizers on their third long player. A Minimoog and an EMS AKS appeared, but a Farfisa electric piano and a preset rhythm unit were the dominant textures of ‘Tanzmusik’. Things were becoming more structured with the abstract use of vocals.

Originally on the KRAFTWERK album ‘Ralf & Florian’ via Philips Records, currently unavailable

http://www.electriccafe.info/

NEU! Für Immer (1973)

Plank acted as mediator between the NEU! nucleus of Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger who each had quite different personalities and aspirations. Over a classic Motorik beat, ‘Für Immer’ featured carefully layered mini-cacophonies of sound. Indeed, so much studio time was spent on the track, the duo ran out of budget.

Available on the NEU! album ‘Neu! 2’ via Grönland Records

http://www.neu2010.com/

KRAFTWERK Autobahn (1974)

Under Plank’s stewardship, ‘Autobahn’ was KRAFTWERK’s breakthrough release as their transition into electronic pop. Ralf Hütter’s octave shifting Minimoog formed the rhythm backbone alongside a futuristic electronic snap, while Florian Schneider’s ARP Odyssey took the melodic lead over a 22 minute car journey. The parent album was to be their last recording with Plank.

Available on the KRAFTWERK album ‘Autobahn’ via EMI Music

http://www.kraftwerk.com/

HARMONIA Deluxe (1975)

Unable to recreate NEU! live as a duo, Rother headed to Forst to meet with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius of CLUSTER to record ‘Musik Von Harmonia’. For the follow-up ‘Deluxe’, they added vocals, a drummer in Mani Neumeier of GURU GURU and Plank to assist with production. The wonderful synth work on the title track signalled a melodic sensibility equal to KRAFTWERK.

Available on the album ‘Deluxe’ via Grönland Records

http://www.harmonia1973.com/

CLUSTER Sowiesoso (1976)

Plank’s association with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius began in 1969. Their fourth album ‘Sowiesoso’ was CLUSTER’s first fully realised exploration into ambient electronics. With gentle melodic phrasing and unimposing rhythmical patterns, the title track was a wonderfully hypnotic adventure that welcomed the listener into the soothing world of the long player’s remaining aural delights.

Available on the CLUSTER album ‘Sowiesoso’ via Bureau B

http://www.bureau-b.com/cluster.php

LA DÜSSELDORF Time (1976)

The third NEU! album saw a two sided approach with a frustrated Klaus Dinger looking to seek the limelight. He finally got what he wanted in LA DÜSSELDORF and headed down a more aggressive direction on their debut self-titled LP produced by Plank where there was a lot of “Düsseldorf”. But ‘Time’ was the epic lengthy album closer that built to a brooding climax.

Available onthe LA DÜSSELDORF album ‘La Düsseldorf’ via WEA

http://www.la-duesseldorf.de

MICHAEL ROTHER Flammende Herzen (1977)

Michael Rother’s first three solo albums ‘Flammende Herzen’, ‘Sterntaler’ and ‘Katzenmusik’ were produced by Plank and featured CAN’s Jaki Liebezeit on drums. “he was so valuable” Rother said in 2015, “we wouldn’t have been able to record NEU! or the second HARMONIA album or my solo albums without Conny, so he’s all over the place in my music… thank you Conny”.

Available on the MICHAEL ROTHER album ‘Flammende Herzen’ via Random Records

http://www.michaelrother.de/en/

BRIAN ENO By This River (1977)

Originating from his sessions with CLUSTER, Eno produced this beautiful piano and synth ballad at Conny’s Studio with Plank at the engineering controls for inclusion on his fourth pop solo album ‘Before & After Science’. The warmth extracted from the Yamaha CS80 used was one of the key stand-out elements of ‘By This River’, which was later covered by Martin Gore for ‘Counterfeit 2’.

Available on the BRIAN ENO album ‘Before & After Science’ via Virgin Records

http://brian-eno.net/

ENO MOEBIUS ROEDELIUS Broken Head (1978)

With the success of their earlier ‘Eno & Cluster’ ambient opus, the artful threesome added voices and more experimentation for its follow-up ‘After The Heat’. With Plank again behind the desk, ‘Broken Head’ recalled some of Eno’s work with Bowie on ‘Heroes’ while deep monotone vocals were a offset by some oddly noted piano accompaniment and an unorthodox rhythmic template.

Available on the ENO MOEBIUS ROEDELIUS album ‘After The Heat’ via Bureau B

http://www.roedelius.com/

ULTRAVOX! Slow Motion (1978)

The first phase of ULTRAVOX! was dominated by the songwriting of John Foxx, but ‘Slow Motion’ was a group effort. Decamping to Conny’s Studio, the intro and theme were composed by bassist Chris Cross on his newly acquired EMS AKS. The quintet locked together as never before, with Billy Currie’s ARP Odyssey playing off Robin Simon’s treated guitars as one behind Warren Cann’s powerful drums.

Available on the ULTRAVOX! album ‘Systems Of Romance’ via Island Records

http://www.metamatic.com/

MOEBIUS & PLANK Tollkühn (1981)

Dieter Moebius and Conny Plank released their first collaborative effort, the reggae influenced ‘Rastakraut Pasta’ in 1979. For the second album ‘Material’, a more rigid beat was applied, as well as driving synthesizer rhythms. ‘Tollkühn’ was a mightily pulsing electronic workout that more than suited the title’s English translation of ‘Daredevil’.

Available on the MOEBIUS & PLANK album ‘Material’ via Bureau B

http://www.bureau-b.com/moebius.php

HOLGER CZUKAY Witches’ Multiplication Table (1981)

Holger Czukay was at the zenith of his Dali-inspired surrealist sound painting, having released ‘Movies’ in 1979. Following their LES VAMPYRETTES collaboration in 1980, Plank contributed ‘Witches’ Multiplication Table’ to the second solo album by the CAN bassist. With Czukay providing an oddball monologue over a dub backbone, Plank added cemetry synthesizer violin alongside bursts of French horn.

Available on the album ‘On The Way To The Peak of Normal’ via Grönland Records ‎

http://www.czukay.com/

PHEW! Signal (1981)

PHEW! was a member of psychedelic rockers AUNT SALLY and her first solo single was produced Ryuichi Sakamoto. Produced by Plank, Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit, ‘Signal’ was the experimental Japanese singer’s take on Neue Deutsche Welle with distant echoes of Berlin’s MALARIA! looming. Driven by hypnotic bass synths and punky guitar, it was unsurprisingly tense and darkly rhythmic.

Available on the PHEW! album ‘Phew!’ via Pass Records

http://www.japanimprov.com/phew/

EURYTHMICS Never Gonna Cry Again (1981)

Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart were actually interested in rhythmic electronic music from Europe, hence their name. When the pair left THE TOURISTS, one of the first to lend support for their new aspirations was Conny Plank. ‘Never Gonna Cry Again’ with its doubled synth and flute solo was the first song released from their production partnership.

Available on the EURYTHMICS album ‘In The Garden’ via Sony BMG

http://eurythmics.com/

ULTRAVOX The Thin Wall (1981)

So happy was Plank with working with ULTRAVOX on ‘SystemsOf Romance’ that when Midge Ure joined following the departure of John Foxx, he offered to finance the recording of the Vienna’ album. Produced in Conny’s Studio for the follow-up ‘Rage In Eden’, ‘The Thin Wall’ densely merged synthesizers, guitar, piano, violin and Linn Drum for a formidable yet under rated hit single.

Available on the ULTRAVOX album ‘Rage In Eden’ via EMI Records

http://www.ultravox.org.uk/

DAF Kebab Träume (1982)

Gabi Delgado-López and Robert Görl had worked with Conny Plank since 1979; DAF had reduced to a minimal electro body core of tight drumming and synth programming to accompany shouty, aggressive vocals. As with a previous Plank production ‘Der Mussolini’, DAF again courted controversy on ‘Kebab Träume’ with the provocative line “Deutschland! Deutschland! Alles ist vorbei!”

Available on the DAF album ‘Für Immer’ via Mute Records

http://www.robert-goerl.de

MOEBIUS PLANK NEUMEIER Speed Display (1983)

Mani Neumeier, the percussionist and singer of GURU GURU who recorded three albums with Plank joined him and Moebius for a one-off long player ‘Zero Set’, Neumeier’s presence was felt heavily on ‘Speed Display’, a mad hyperactive collage of drums, bubbling electronics and treated robotic vocals that did exactly what it said on the tin!

Available on the MOEBIUS PLANK NEUMEIER album ‘Zero Set’ via Bureau B

http://mani-neumeier.de/guruguru/index.htm

LES RITA MITSOUKO Marcia Baïla (1985)

‘Marcia Baïla’ was LES RITA MITSOUKO’s tribute to their late friend, Argentinian dancer Marcia Moretto. With Plank at the production helm, a squelchy backing track with enough space for Catherine Ringer’s strident theatrics was honed for a wonderful celebration of life. The duo went on to become very popular in France, collaborating with SPARKS in 1990.

Available on the LES RITA MITSOUKO album ‘Best Of’ via Sony Music

http://www.ritamitsouko.org/

GIANNA NANNINI Bello E Impossibile (1986)

The Italian singer / songwriter unusually had something in common with NITZER EBB’s Douglas J McCarthy in that she too had a relative who was a F1 driver; in her case it was her brother Alessandro. Plank started working with Nannini in 1982 at a time when he was still regarded as a more artistically minded producer, rather than one who delivered pop hits. ‘Bello E Impossibile’ was a huge hit.

Available on the GIANNA NANNINI album ‘Profumo’ via Dischi Ricordi

http://www.giannanannini.com/en/

Dedicated to the memory of Conny Plank 1940 –1987

The 4CD box set ‘Who’s That Man: A Tribute To Conny Plank’ is available via Grönland Records ‎

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063520122298

http://groenland.com/en/artist/conny-plank-2/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
6th August 2016

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