Tag: Ralf Dörper (Page 2 of 3)

A Beginner’s Guide To CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN

Photo by Patrick Lichfield

With her distinctive ice maiden delivery, Claudia Brücken is the undoubted queen of cinematic avant pop.

She first came to prominence with PROPAGANDA and the Trevor Horn produced film noir drama of ‘Dr Mabuse’. Together with Susanne Freytag, Michael Mertens and Ralf Dörper, the Düsseldorf based quartet released their acclaimed album ‘A Secret Wish’ on ZTT in 1985. But despite the album being a favourite of musical figures such as Quincy Jones, Martin Gore, John Taylor and Jim Kerr, PROPAGANDA split following business and creative tensions as a result of their deal with ZTT.

Remaining with ZTT, Brücken formed ACT with early electronic pioneer Thomas Leer and released an album ‘Laughter Tears & Rage’ in 1988 which featured an array of lush synthetic dynamics glossed with a touch of starlet glamour. Not one to rest on her laurels, her first solo album ‘Love: & A Million Other Things’ came in 1991 on Island Records before she took a career break.

There was a brief reunion of PROPAGANDA in 1998 with ‘Ignorance’, ‘No Return’, ‘To The Future’ and ‘Turn To The Sun’ among the songs demoed. Although a video for ‘No Return’ was produced, the title proved poignant so when that came to nought, Brücken spent much of the new millennium’s first decade working and touring with OMD’s Paul Humphreys in ONETWO, supporting ERASURE and THE HUMAN LEAGUE along the way.

Since then, she has released two further solo albums and more recently been spotted in the studio with Susanne Freytag and Stephen J Lipson, while a new collaborative project with Jerome Froese is also in progress.

Although her catalogue is wide and varied, Claudia Brücken is perhaps still very much regarded as a cult figure on the music scene. In 2011, she celebrated her career with a special show at The Scala in London with various friends and collaborators, all captured on the live DVD ‘This Happened’.

Certainly, she deserves greater recognition so with a restriction of one track per release of a very impressive collaborative portfolio, here is a 20 track Beginner’s Guide to her work…


TOPOLINOS Mustafa (1982)

TOPOLINOSBrücken and Freytag first met at Die Ratinger Straße; “There was this interaction between art and music happening and everyone kind of knew one another” she said. Together they formed TOPOLINOS, literally translated as ‘The Mickey Mouses’! Using a rhythm unit, electric organ lines and Middle Eastern flavoured vocal phrasing, ‘Mustafa’ appeared on ‘Partysnäks’, the soundtrack to ‘Die Tanzbeinsammler’.

Available on the compilation album Electri_City 2 (V/A) via Grönland Records


PROPAGANDA p: Machinery (1985)

Propaganda ‎– pMachineryAt the suggestion of Freytag, Brücken was recruited into PROPAGANDA and they were marketed as “ABBA in Hell”! ‘p: Machinery’ captured their Teutonic edge and the charm of state-of-the-art technology. Produced by Stephen J Lipson, the song also had an unexpected contributor as Brücken recalled: “It was amazing when David Sylvian came in. On ‘p: Machinery there is this line he wrote on a little keyboard…”

Available on the PROPAGANDA album ‘A Secret Wish’ via Union Square


GLENN GREGORY & CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN When Your Heart Runs Out Of Time (1985)

Glenn+Claudia When Your HeartBrücken and the HEAVEN 17 vocalist met during the video shoot for ‘Dr Mabuse’ as Gregory’s then-wife did the make-up. Written by Will Jennings, best known for ‘My Heart Will Go On’ from ‘Titanic’ and ‘Up Where We Belong’ from ‘An Officer & A Gentleman’, ‘When Your Heart Runs Out of Time’ was recorded for the film ‘Insignificance’ and produced by Midge Ure under the pseudonym of Otto Flake Junior.

Available on the compilation album ‘The Art Of The 12 Inch’ (V/A) via Union Square


ACT Absolutely Immune (1988)

ACT Absolutely ImmuneAfter PROPAGANDA fragmented, Brücken formed ACT with Thomas Leer in 1987. Working again with Stephen J Lipson, there came a more playful, decadent glamour with some political flirtations. ‘Absolutely Immune’ was a commentary on the “I’m alright Jack” selfishness of the nation. The sentiment lost unfortunately on a British public still drowned in blue emotion…

Available on the ACT album ‘Love & Hate’ via Union Square


JIMMY SOMERVILLE Run From Love (1990)

jimmy_somerville-the_singles_collection_1984-1990The acclaim and respect that ‘A Secret Wish’ attained led to Brücken being offered many opportunities to collaborate. One of the first came from Jimmy Somerville. ‘Run From Love’ was a lesser known BRONSKI BEAT number reworked in a more house fashion by S’EXPRESS producer Pascal Gabriel for the diminutive Glaswegian’s greatest hits collection and Ms Brücken provided backing vocals in the chorus.

Available on the JIMMY SOMMERVILLE album ‘The Singles Collection 1984/1990’ via London Records


CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN Absolut[e] (1991)

Claudia Brucken Absolut(E)Brücken signed a deal with Island Records for her debut solo album produced by Pascal Gabriel. ‘Absolut[e]’ was very much dominated by Gabriel’s dancefloor instincts. But all was not well within. “The MD from Island suddenly left and all the people who worked on my album left as well” she remembered, “A new guy came in and already I could sense what would happen, so Pascal and I decided to get really experimental”.

Available on the CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN album ‘Love: & A Million Other Things’ via Cherry Red Records


CHROME SEDUCTION Light The Way (1993)

Claudia+SusanneBrücken took a career break to bring up her daughter Maddy, emerging only occasionally to record the odd guest vocal. ‘Light The Way’ with CHROME SEDUCTION was a percussively frantic club number that also saw a reunion with former partner-in-crime Susanne Freytag. The project of Magnus Fiennes, brother of actors Joseph and Ralph, it was independently released by Mother Alpha Delta.

Available on the CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN album ‘ComBined’ via Union Square


THE BRAIN I’ll Find A Way (1996)

THE BRAIN I'll Find A WayThe project of Düsseldorf based DJ Dietmar Andreas Maier, ‘I’ll Find A Way’ was typical of the frantically paced Euro-Trance of the period. Co-written with Michael Mertens, the seed of a PROPAGANDA reunion began with a number of songs demoed but Brücken later announced: “The reunion was worth a try, but did not work out.”

Available on THE BRAIN single ‘I’ll Find A Way’ via BMG


OCEANHEAD Eyemotion (1997)

OCEANHEAD EyemotionContinuing to contribute the occasional guest vocal, ‘Eyemotion’ was a co-write with John Etkin-Bell which coupled a shuffling drum loop with some beautifully chilled out atmospheres. Brücken’s breathy whispers and a muted synthetic brass motif à la PET SHOP BOYS provided the colourful sonics on an elegant piece of downtempo electronica.

Available on the OCEANHEAD single ‘Eyemotion’ via Land Speed Records


CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN & PAUL RUTHERFORD This Is Not America (2000 – not released until 2011)

Joining Paul Humphreys on his solo tour of the US, one of the first recorded fruits of their partnership was a cover of ‘This Is Not America’ featuring a duet with FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD’s Paul Rutherford  A beautifully crafted synthesized tribute to David Bowie & Pat Metheny, it had been intended for a film soundtrack but shelved.

Available on the CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN album ‘ComBined’ via Union Square


APOPTYGMA BERZERK Unicorn – Duet Version (2002)

APOPTYGMA BERZERK HarmonizerA collaboration with Norway’s cult electronic body merchants APOPTYGMA BERZERK, Brücken returned to the more Teutonic overtones that had been evident in PROPAGANDA. In an electronic rework of the heavier guitar focussed original, the combo provided a suitably aggressive but accessible backing track for her to duet with frontman Stephan Groth on ‘Unicorn’.

Available on the APOPTYGMA BERZERK album ‘Harmonizer’ via WEA


ONETWO Cloud 9ine (2004)

ONETWO ItemBrücken formalised her musical partnership with Paul Humphreys and together they named themselves ONETWO. They dusted off a track that had been demoed during the aborted PROPAGANDA reunion. The song in question was ‘Cloud 9ine’, a co-write with Martin Gore which also featured the guitar of DEPECHE MODE’s main songwriter.

Available on the ONETWO EP ‘Item’ via https://theremusic.bandcamp.com/


ANDY BELL with CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN Delicious (2005)

ANDY BELL Electric BlueBrücken joined ERASURE’s Andy Bell to sing on two tracks for his debut solo album ‘Electric Blue’. More club oriented than ERASURE, the long player was produced by THE MANHATTAN CLIQUE who were also part of the ONETWO live band. The call-and-response Hi-NRG stomp of ‘Delicious’ saw Brücken in her most playful mood since ACT despite the bittersweet reflective lyrical nature of the song.

Available on the ANDY BELL album ‘Electric Blue’ via Sanctuary Records


CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN & ANDREW POPPY Libertango (2005)

ANOTHER LANGUAGEBrücken teamed up with former ZTT label mate Andrew Poppy to record a number of stripped back cover versions for her first long form release since 1991. The songs came from bands such as RADIOHEAD and ASSOCIATES, as well as divas like Marianne Faithfull and Kate Bush. One highlight was a suitably dramatic take on ‘Libertango’, better known as ‘I’ve Seen That Face Before’ made famous by Grace Jones.

Available on the CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN & ANDREW POPPY album ‘Another Language’ via http://theremusic.bandcamp.com/


ONETWO Anonymous (2007)

Humphreys and Brücken finally released an album as ONETWO in 2007 and from it was ‘Anonymous’, a song that began life as a demo from the aborted PROPAGANDA reunion co-written with Andy McCluskey. The pretty ringing melodies and elegiac atmospheres were reminiscent of OMD. The collaboration had been unusual as at the time of conception as Humphreys had not yet rejoined his old band.

Available on the ONETWO album ‘Instead’ via https://theremusic.bandcamp.com/


BLANK & JONES Don’t Stop (2008)

BLANK & JONES The Logic of PleasureIn between the aborted PROPAGANDA reunion and ONETWO, Ms Brücken guested with the popular German dance duo on ‘Unknown Treasure’, a most gorgeously shuffled electrobeat ballad. While ‘Unknown Treasure’ was in Brücken’s words, “a real collaboration”, “’Don’t Stop’ was in reverse, they gave me all the music and then I did the words and sent it back to them”.

Available on the BLANK & JONES album ‘The Logic Of Pleasure’ via Soundcolours


CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN & THE REAL TUESDAY WELD The Things I Love (2011)

=LA NoireRockstar Games wanted a German singer for a new game called ‘LA Noire’ soundtracked by THE REAL TUESDAY WELD’s Stephen Coates who in a jazzy cabaret-style music with subtle electronica dubbed Antique Beat. “I thought: why not?” said Brücken, “I found it a really good challenge doing something I hadn’t done before”. ‘The Things I Love’ was the alluring highlight of three songs recorded.

Available on the soundtrack album ‘L.A. Noire’ (V/A) via Rockstar Games


CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN One Summer Dream (2012)

Claudia Brucken One Summer DreamThe B-side to ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA’s ‘Mr Blue Sky’, ‘One Summer Dream’ was the first song to emerge from Brücken’s reinterpretations project with producer Stephen Hague which also included songs by Julee Cruise and David Bowie. It built to a dreamy John Barry influenced ‘Felt Mountain’-era GOLDFRAPP string arrangement.

Available on the CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN album ‘The Lost Are Found’ via There (there)


OMD Kissing The Machine (2013)

OMD-English-ElectricAlthough this co-write by Andy McCluskey and Karl Bartos first appeared in 1993 on the ELEKTRIC MUSIC album ‘Esperanto’, Paul Humphreys completely reworked ‘Kissing The Machine’ from scratch for OMD. “Paul had the idea of asking Claudia to do the vocal in the middle eight” remembered McCluskey… the result was electronic magic.

Available on the OMD album ‘English Electric’ via BMG


CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN Time To Make Changes (2014)

CLAUDIA BRUCKEN Where ElseThe biggest surprise musically on Brücken’s third solo album was her adoption of the acoustic guitar. Working with producer John Owen Williams, the songs dealt with “emotion, beginnings, endings, past life and future hopes”. Like ABBA meeting THE SMITHS in a lush organic backdrop, ‘Time To Make Changes’ very much reflected her personal mindset following the end of her relationship with Paul Humphreys.

Available on the CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN album ‘Where Else…’ via Cherry Red Records


For further information on the upcoming projects of Claudia Brücken, please visit her official website and Facebook page

http://www.claudiabrucken.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/ClaudiaBruckenMusic

https://twitter.com/ClaudiaBrucken1

https://www.instagram.com/claudiabrucken/


Text by Chi Ming Lai
30th July 2016

ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE 2015

Dance To The Future…

 Düsseldorf paid homage to its electronic music history with a three day event of lectures, discussions and live music.

The ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE celebrated the work of pioneers like KRAFTWERK, DAF, RIECHMANN, NEU! and LA DÜSSELDORF, as well as reflecting the city’s worldwide influence on bands such as NEW ORDER, THE HUMAN LEAGUE, DEPECHE MODE, CABARET VOLTAIRE, VISAGE and OMD.

A year in the planning, organisers Rudi Esch and Carsten Siewert assembled an impressive line-up of artists, musicians and academics which read like a ‘Who’s Who?’ of electronic music.

Daniel Miller-Carsten SiewertIt included names such as Benge, Gabi Delgado, Ralf Dörper, Rusty Egan, Harald Grosskopf, Peter Hook, Stephen Mallinder, Andy McCluskey, Daniel Miller, Mark Reeder, Michael Rother and Martyn Ware.

Also present was Dr Uwe Schütte, whose academic conference ‘Industrielle Volksmusik for the Twenty First Century – Kraftwerk & the Birth of Electronic Music in Germany’ at Aston University helped inspire the seeting up of the event.

While there have been numerous books about Germany and in particular KRAFTWERK, few have been written by people who were actually there at the time. Esch’s own book ‘Electri_City: Elektronische Musik aus Düsseldorf’ was published in 2014 and provided a much needed eyewitness account.

It fully related the Cold War tensions within Der Bundesrepublik that inspired many young Germans into pursuing adventures in art, music and cinema as a matter of self-expression and cultural identity.

The book’s success in Germany provided much of the impetus and momentum to curate this lavish gathering of kindred spirits. The first of the special guests taking part was Peter Hook who talked to Rob Keane about German influences on the UK’s post-punk scene and in particular, JOY DIVISION.

It was Ian Curtis who first introduced the others to KRAFTWERK. After the charismatic vocalist’s passing, the surviving band members became NEW ORDER and as they became more electronic, they acquired five Prophet 5s costing £2000 each.

This had only been made possible by the posthumous success of JOY DIVISION.

“God bless him, Ian… without him, we wouldn’t have been able to afford these machines to make electronic music…” Hooky said, “what happened in NEW ORDER was as the technology developed, it enabled you to buy the machines that KRAFTWERK were using. I’d love to watch them do something, I really would. Because for all the coverage you get of KRAFTWERK, you never actually know HOW they did it!”

But despite KRAFTWERK being the pioneers of electronic music, Ralf and Florian had been so impressed by ‘Blue Monday’, they arranged to meet its engineer Michael Johnson at Britannia Row Studios where it was recorded. “They wanted to book into the studio we used…” remembered Hooky, “and they wanted to use our engineer, because they wanted their next record to sound like ‘Blue Monday’, which is most ironic because we spent years trying to sound like them!”

KRAFTWERK had a look round Britannia Row but unimpressed with the old fashioned, faded grandeur of the studio, they cancelled the session. “I took that as quite a compliment” quipped the Salford Bass Viking playfully.

Hooky also reminisced about how he was very impressed by fellow Mancunian Mark Reeder’s mastery of speaking German while on JOY DIVISION’s only visit to Berlin in 1980.

But when he asked how Reeder had become fluent so quickly, the then Factory Records representative in Germany answered: “you can learn any language when you’re starving!”

Mark Reeder himself formed part of panel discussion on the German impact of the Düsseldorf Schule to give his ‘Englishman in Berlin’ point of view. As the man often credited with introducing Italo disco to NEW ORDER, Reeder’s recent film ‘B-Movie – Lust & Sound In West Berlin 1979-1989’ captured the spirit of the divided city and highlighted how a similar document about Düsseldorf would now be quite timely.

The ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE was not just about lectures and talks, but about live music too. Cologne’s EMOTIKON opened proceedings with some incongruous generic pop funk, so it was a welcome relief when HEAVEN 17 took to the stage at Zakk for the sold-out show.

Headlining their first ever concert in the German art capital, HEAVEN 17 gave one of their now famous electronically focussed sets which also featured material that had spawned from THE HUMAN LEAGUE Mk1 when Martyn Ware was a member.

Inviting him to join the band, Phil Oakey remembered how Ware turned up at his house with ‘Trans-Europe Express’ under his arm and told him “Look, we can do this!”. The song that best summed up the occasion was ‘I’m Your Money’, a synthetic train ride with multi-lingual business phrases that captured the essence of a European Union.

To follow a fine performance from HEAVEN 17, Daniel Miller’s aftershow DJ set reflected his influences and subsequent signings for Mute Records to conclude an excellent first day.

With a packed second day, Friday’s numerous academic and theoretical proceedings were concluded with a Krautrock discussion in German by a panel of veteran musicians that included one-time ASHRA member Harald Grosskopf, Michael Rother from NEU! and WALLENSTEIN’s Jürgen Dollase.

Whereas Germany has usually been associated with purer forms of electronic music, its kosmische outlook has influenced many rock and alternative bands too.

However, Dollase’s continual ranting about the joys of LSD proved tiresome and was exemplary evidence to children as to why they shouldn’t do drugs!

The panel was later opened up to questions from the audience so ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK took the opportunity to ask Michael Rother about his first three solo albums.

‘Flammende Herzen’ , ‘Sterntaler’ and ‘Katzenmusik’ were produced by the late Conny Plank and featured CAN’s Jaki Liebezeit on drums. Did he have a favourite?: “I don’t really have favourites, there are individual tracks I enjoy more, it depends on mood and circumstances. It would be unfair really to have a favourite album” Herr Rother replied, “Of course, I try to highlight Conny Plank’s contribution, he was so valuable… 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”

Opening the second evening’s musical line-up, Dublin’s TINY MAGNETIC PETS have been championed by Rusty Egan and their appearance in Düsseldorf was their first in Europe.

The trio’s main strength was their engaging lead singer Paula Gilmer, while Sean Quinn’s synth soloing was also enjoyable. But the occasional rattle of an acoustic drum kit was a distraction and the trio sounded much better when Eugene Somers took to exclusively electronic percussion.

WRANGLER, fronted by Stephen Mallinder who had lectured earlier in the day, delivered a screeching set of dystopian vibes and cold wave mechanics, demonstrating how the Düsseldorf gene has mutated into marvellous pieces such as ‘Lava Land’. Mallinder’s drowning gargoyle vocal was particularly striking within the venue’s effective stereo panning capability.

Incidentally, the trio’s incumbent synth collector extraordinaire Benge has recently relocated his MemeTune studio to rural South West of England, in an echo of Conny Plank’s legendary countryside complex which KRAFTWERK, NEU! and LA DÜSSELDORF all recorded in.

Michael Rother delivered a career spanning set of his works including NEU! evergreens like ‘Hallogallo’, ‘Neuschnee’ and ‘Seeland’.

There was also the welcome airing of material from his HARMONIA days too. Accompanied by Hans Lampe, formally of LA DÜSSELDORF, the drummer was unbelievably metronomic throughout, providing the hypnotic heartbeat to these much loved numbers. With assistance on bass and synth from a computer, the glorious symphony of ‘Karussell’ from ‘Flammende Herzen’ was a joy to behold. Watching enthusiastically in the crowd was OMD’s Andy McCluskey who remarked in passing to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK that ‘Flammende Herzen’ was the most played album on his iPod!

With another fine evening of live music over, proceedings then moved over to the famous club Dr Thompsons for the aftershow party featuring Rusty Egan.

Originally a location for a factory making floor wax, Egan’s DJ set reflected electronic music’s past and present, much to the approval of both TINY MAGNETIC PETS and METROLAND whose tunes got an airing on the dancefloor.

Day three featured SØLYST aka Thomas Klein who warmed up early attendees with an ambient percussive soundtrack that suited the time of day perfectly. Meanwhile, the Rusty Egan vs ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK discussion about the influence of Düsseldorf, Berlin and Bowie on the New Romantics brought up some amusing anecdotes from his Blitz Club and VISAGE days. “KRAFTWERK was all in time!” he retorted in a fascinating and at times, hilarious chat. On DAFT PUNK, he said “The reason why DAFT PUNK wear robot helmets is cos they can’t show their faces… cos THEY STOLE EVERYTHING! But they did it brilliantly!”

The conversation even turned to THIN LIZZY’s Phil Lynott who frequented the scene and recorded the synth friendly single ‘Yellow Pearl’ co-written with Midge Ure that featured Egan on drums. Also featuring Billy Currie, Egan confirmed that it was a VISAGE song in all but name. ‘Yellow Pearl’ was heavily influenced by LA DÜSSELDORF and was to later gain iconic status as the theme music to ‘Top of the Pops’ from 1981 to 1986, showing just how far reaching the influence of German electronic music had become.

Wolfgang Flür’s now famous video messages on the world wide web have been a delight to many in electronic music circles and in his absence, a special broadcast was prepared by the former KRAFTWERK percussionist for the conference.

Following on, Andy McCluskey and Rudi Esch presented some light hearted but music fan friendly banter in what was billed as The Electri_City Show.

Discussing a variety of records Esch had brought along from his own personal collection, the OMD frontman mentioned how he was a big fan of LA DÜSSELDORF: “Thinking about LA DÜSSELDORF and NEU! – the biggest loss to the scene is Klaus Dinger”. Following his death in 2008, Klaus Dinger was hailed as a legendary drummer, having popularised the Motorik beat.

But as Michael Rother once pointed out, before 2004 nobody cared about NEU! “It’s great that people are thinking about NEU! and LA DÜSSELDORF” said McCluskey, “they should be up there with KRAFTWERK”. However as documented in Esch’s ’Electri_City_Musik_Aus_Düsseldorf’ book, Dinger was known to be a difficult character and that didn’t help his reputation. “It’s the Van Gogh thing” added McCluskey, “you have to bloody die before people think you’re a genius”

Of course, OMD combined various influences to achieve their distinctive template. But what is not often realised is that it is closer to LA DÜSSELDORF than it is to KRAFTWERK, especially on ‘Architecture & Morality’: “It is great that the city of Dusseldorf has woken up to the fact that KRAFTWERK and other musicians changed the world. 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. And OMD unconsciously were combining the two, the electronic sound with the organic…”

The Techno / Industrial panel in Deutsch fittingly included DAF’s Gabi Delgado and DIE KRUPPS’ Ralf Dörper as well as Ramon Zenker, the man behind FRAGMA.

It would be fair to say that neither sub-genre could have had its roots in any country other than Germany.

Delgado caused some amusement when he casually lit up a cigarette in the middle of the discussion, reinforcing the rebellious and confrontational aura of DAF.

During the interlude, many went to take a look at the Monster Formant modular synthesizer, owned by local enthusiast Siegfried Brückner, which was being demonstrated in the foyer. Six years in the making and featuring a gobsmacking sixteen VCOs plus many other features too numerous to mention, it was an impressive sight that looked like one of those vintage telephone exchanges.

To begin Saturday night’s live music proceedings were Zurich based combo LEN SANDER; their languid style of trip hop has become a favourite of Rusty Egan who also lists LONDON GRAMMAR among his current favourites.

They provided a cerebral build before the appearance of two of the most impressive synthesizer duos in Europe at the moment.

With the amount of equipment VILE ELECTRODES possess, they could fill Klingklang itself. Using their more streamlined European touring set-up, the Home Counties couple are now effectively adopted Germans having impressed enough during their tour of Germany supporting OMD in 2013 to land two Schallwelle Awards. Splendid new songs like ‘Pulsar Timing Array’ and ‘Stark White’ from the just released EP were evidence of their continuing progression.

With a more minimalist set-up, METROLAND were the perfect act for the weekend to honour the artistic legacy of Düsseldorf. Their second long player ‘Triadic Ballet’ was a conceptual audio installation themed around das Staatliche Bauhaus.

The perfect realisation of Walter Gropius’ theory of uniting art with technology, with a combination of crisp electronics and art school visuals, the Belgian duo gave a wonderful presentation that was appreciated by all those present including Andy McCluskey and Rusty Egan.

Closing the event, escapist trio DELTA turned out to be the most disappointing of all the bands participating, their landfill indie totally at odds with the weekend’s ethos.

Meanwhile Düsseldorf duo BAR fared much better, their synth laden dreampop augmented on occasion by singer Christina Irrgang’s use of a recorder.

However, these two acts highlighted the lack of a clear headliner to finish the weekend on a true high.

Overall though, the ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE was fabulous weekend with representation from both sorcerers and apprentices of the Düsseldorf scene. With the English translation of the ’Electri_City_Musik_Aus_Düsseldorf’ book due in 2016, the story of what the city has contributed to the world can only spread further.

French icon JEAN-MICHEL JARRE said recently: “Electronic music has a family, a legacy and a future…” and there was nothing more truer than over these three days by der Rhein.


ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Rudi Esch and Carsten Siewert

Additional thanks to Tom Steinseifer, Roger Kamp and Tapio Normall for the use of their photos

‘Electri_City: The Dusseldorf School of Electronic Music’ is due to be published in English by Omnibus Press sometime in 2016

The ‘Electri_City – Elektronische_Musik_Aus_Düsseldorf’ compilation is released by Grönland Records.

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

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


Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Chi Ming Lai except where credited
8th November 2015

DIE KRUPPS Live In London

Die Krupps-LaLeLu02Whilst the whole Industrial genre of electronic music continues to struggle with its identity and overall sound (the cancellation of the recent Alt-Fest hardly helping the cause), there is always going to be a place for the innovators, those that lead and don’t follow, and such was the case at a packed Garage in Highbury.

Just getting into the venue to see DIE KRUPPS was an event itself.

The early start of the gig meant that following an Emirates cup match against Benfica, waves of Arsenal fans swept down the Highbury Crescent towards the nearest tube. Meanwhile, a motley crew of EBM / Goth and Industrial fans gallantly fought against the red tide the other way towards The Garage, prompting a few stares of disbelief and sideways glances at some of the more exotically attired DIE KRUPPS devotees!

Fortunately black and red didn’t mix in any confrontational manner and both parties wound their way to their destinations happily. DIE KRUPPS are rightly cited as a huge influence on the Industrial / EBM music scene, their 30 year career inspiring the likes of NITZER EBB, FRONT 242, DEPECHE MODE and most significantly the German masters of Industrial Metal, RAMMSTEIN.

The band now comprises of founder members Jürgen Engler on vocals and PROPAGANDA’s Ralf Dörper on synths, alongside guitarist Marcel Zürcher and American drummer Bradley Bills.

Die Krupps-LaLeLu01DIE KRUPPS have adopted LOU REED’s ‘Metal Machine Music’ as a way to describe their sound and this is a pretty adept way of giving identity to their songs, each track centred around big, sequenced analogue basslines, crushing guitars, live / electronic drums and chanted lyrics. The set opened with ‘Ein Blick Zurück Im Zorn’ from current album ‘The Machinists of Joy’ and this pretty much set the tone for the evening with its fast-paced 16 step sequenced bass intro and tough, but melodic / anthemic chorus.

The track that followed, ‘The Dawning Of Doom’, really showcased how indebted RAMMSTEIN are to the band for pioneering the combination of electronics and heavy guitar textures, to the point where Til Lindemann’s group wrote ‘Tier’ as a tribute, incorporating the main riff of this DIE KRUPPS track into it.

Most of the night’s set was divided between the current album and the previous one ‘The Final Option’, but there was an extra treat when five songs in, ex-CLIENT and DUBSTAR’s Sarah Blackwood joined the band for their amped-up version of VISAGE’s ‘The Anvil’ in German, ‘Der Amboss’.

Although The Garage sound crew seemed a little unprepared for the appearance of Miss Blackwood, the band delivered a superb version which the crowd loved, especially as it gave frontman Engler a chance to use his custom-made ‘steel-o-phone’ on the anvil-bashing sections of the track.

Die Krupps-chiHighlights included ‘Robo Sapien’ with its Teutonic string line intro and chanted chorus and ‘Part Of The Machine’ which was driven by a KRAFTWERK-style hi-Q drum pattern and a catchy-as-hell high-register synth hook from Dörper. Following a thirteen song set, the band were brought back out for two encores, the first with ‘Machineries of Joy’ and ‘Crossfire’ before then for one final track ‘Bloodsuckers’, which saw Engler stood atop of his ‘steel-o-phone’ soaking up the adulation of the crowd.

It could be argued that after experiencing a DIE KRUPPS gig, they don’t have that one killer stand-out track, yet conversely this fits in with the whole machine-led / factory production-line aesthetic where songs are rolled out one after the other, and when that particular song-mould is such a strong one, why mess with die formel.

What was refreshing about tonight’s performance was that it avoided all the usual Industrial music clichés, there were no dubious synth / trance riffs or distorted 909 kicks, just a band that had stuck to its guns with a sound that eventually influenced many others to follow.

Ralf Dörper was impeccably cool throughout, whilst his fellow band members put on a crowd-pleasing and energetic show that belied their 30 years in the industry. The turn out at The Garage will have certainly reminded DIE KRUPPS how appreciated they are and if you get a chance to catch this legendary band live, it is certainly worth it if you appreciate a harder-edged electronic sound to your music and want to be Part Of The Machine.

Setlist:

Die Krupps-LaLeLu03Ein Blick Zurück Im Zorn
The Dawning of Doom
Risikofaktor
Essenbeck
Der Amboss (with Sarah Blackwood)
The Machinist of Joy
Part Of The Machine
Schmutzfabrik
Robo Sapien
Metal Machine Music
To The Hilt
Nazis Auf Speed
Fatherland

Machineries of Joy
Crossfire

Bloodsuckers


‘The Machinists of Joy’ is released as a CD and download via Synthetic Symphony

http://www.diekrupps.de/

https://www.facebook.com/diekruppsofficial


Text by Paul Boddy
Photos by Chi Ming Lai and 7und70
12th August 2014

DIE KRUPPS Interview

Photo by Norman Hera

Photo by Norman Hera

Metall Maschinen Musik veterans DIE KRUPPS are to play two dates in the UK this August as part of the second leg of their European tour focussing on Scandinavia and festivals in Germany.

Formed in 1980, original members Jürgen Engler and Ralf Dörper plus newish recruit Marcel Zürcher have taken back some of what they have given to the Industrial scene with their 2013 album ‘The Machinists of Joy’.

Dressed in a Lou Reed ‘Metal Machine Music’ tribute sleeve, it reached No1 on the Deutsche Alternative Charts.

With acclaim by NME in 1981 for both the album ‘Stahlwerksinfonie’ and single ‘Wahre Arbeit Wahrer Lohn’, DIE KRUPPS laid the foundation for Electronic Body Music; FRONT 242 and NITZER EBB called them their inspiration while DIE KRUPPS’ blend of hard electronics and danceable beats can also be heard in music as diverse as DEPECHE MODE and Detroit Techno.

Although Dörper had already left DIE KRUPPS in 1982 to form PROPAGANDA, he initiated a rework of ‘Wahre Arbeit Wahrer Lohn’ in collaboration with NITZER EBB, retitled ‘The Machineries Of Joy’.

Produced by Dörper and Engler, it reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Dance Charts in 1989 and resulted in the pair reconvening as DIE KRUPPS for the album ‘I’.

The 25th anniversary of DIE KRUPPS in 2005 saw Dörper and Engler play festivals across Europe, leading to where they are today with ‘The Machinists of Joy’, seemingly never having lost ground in their Teutonic battle of the senses. Ralf Dörper kindly spoke to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK as they prepared for the next leg of their aural assault…

DIE KRUPPS toured Germany and Russia quite extensively earlier in the year. How has the material from ‘The Machinists Of Joy’ gone down live?

It has in fact been the first time (since ‘97) that we played not just a best-of-set. Now it’s around half / half. And the new material went down really well not just in Germany but in Eastern and Middle Europe as well. It is always impressive when people, for example in Russia, already know the German lyrics. We seem to have some hardcore fans in Russia. They even put out a record: a ‘Russian Industrial Tribute To Die Krupps’. Now, in the summer, we will try to fill the gaps we have left on the European map – so there will be concerts in the UK and in Scandinavia.

‘Risikofaktor’ signalled the stronger re-emphasis on electronics with this album. What inspired heading down this route again?

There have been some signals earlier on, as we constantly added some new material since we were asked to tour again by our fans. I refer to ‘Der Amboss’ or ‘5 Millionen’ or the release of ‘Volle Kraft 08’ in which only electronic bands participated. And we even played a harsh interpretation of ‘Dr. Mabuse’ from time to time… but we have not become purists – there are still some guitars.

‘Nazis Auf Speed’ is based by a true story?

Well – I took the title from a book which describes how the global war-machinery has used – and is still using – drugs: mainly to enhance stamina of the troops etc. But first I’d like to tell how this song came into existence. I have to admit that I quite like RAMMSTEIN, who I think are incredibly funny and very poetic as well. So a couple of years ago, I attended a RAMMSTEIN show (the tour which was supported by COMBICHRIST) and afterwards, I felt inclined to do a Lindemann-like lyric and put down the first two verses and a chorus: “Rammt sie!” (which means: bump into them) in just ten minutes. I thought the result was hilarious and I sent it to Jürgen as a joke. I guess that was back in 2010.

Quite recently when we had already started work on new material, I happened to watch a documentary channel in which they not only had a feature on Pervitin – the German Wehrmacht’s wonderdrug but also about the so-called: “Rammstoss-unit”. These were pilots who had metal-enhanced Messerschmitts – and their task was to fly into the enemy´s (sorry) Spitfire armada and to bring them down with a “rammstoss”.

So here we have the chorus: “rammt sie”), nothing personal, just historical. By the way, they were not Kamikaze, there have been quite a few survivors who appeared in that documentary. Jürgen was able to watch that programme as well – via internet in Texas. And the track was born.

And yes, it’s very tongue in cheek – we just couldn’t avoid those Ramm-style riffs. The song only appeared on a limited edition of  ‘The Machinists of Joy’, but due to high demand in the clubs, we decided to do a video.

Visually DIE KRUPPS play with a lot of Second World War imagery?

I beg your pardon? Not at all – and I think it’s quite irresponsible to do so (when you are German). We better leave that to Lemmy. Please don’t get the wrong impression from that video for ‘Nazis Auf Speed’. We actually tried to refer to movies such as ‘The Great Dictator’. ‘To Be Or Not To Be’ (the Mel Brooks version) and ‘Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines’…

Our video for ‘Risikofaktor’ was a bit like ‘The Walking Dead’ albeit without any walking dead … and there will be one for ‘Robo Sapien’ which is likely to be a sort of trashy ‘Tetsuo’ meets ‘Robocop’.

How do you keep your Metall Maschinen Musik fresh? Were there any unusual influences in the creation of ‘The Machinists Of Joy’?

I assume that he might not admit it, but during the production process, Jürgen has been on filmsets in Austin. He actually might appear in ‘Sin City 2’. I think that had an influence on the creation. In fact, it delayed it 🙂

And we sort of went back in time and tried to create the album that could have been released in 1989, ie just after ‘The Machineries of Joy’ which we did with NITZER EBB. That also means no plug-ins but back to analogue equipment. Jürgen has refilled his studio with hardware – and I have chosen to bring a Korg back on stage. It’s more fun to fiddle about.

You once performed your metallic cover of VISAGE’s ‘Der Amboss’ with SARAH BLACKWOOD in 2008. How did that come about and do you intend to do it again?

When I first heard ‘The Anvil’ (‘Der Amboss’) by VISAGE, I thought: “what a perfect song for DIE KRUPPS” – it just needed more sweat, more steel. But unfortunately, I was not a member of DIE KRUPPS anymore (in 1982) but in fact, I was already working with Andreas Thein on what were to become the first PROPAGANDA tracks.

And it was not before 2005 when DIE KRUPPS were asked to play a few 25-year anniversary shows that I remembered ‘Der Amboss’ and we chose to record it for a limited give-away single during the tour. And as I was a big CLIENT fan at that time, I thought it would be a good opportunity to ask Fräulein B for assistance in the vocal department. And last time we played London, Sarah was so kind as to share the stage with us. A great experience we definitely would like to repeat if she is around and up for it.

Which bands do you currently rate at the moment, industrial or otherwise?

Always tricky these questions… I think I better stick to the family and recommend VIGILANTE and CHANT who are both bands who supported us in the spring. There’s FANTOME which is a project our guitar player Marcel has with Hanin Elias who is ex-ATR. And I always look forward to hear new tracks from CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN or SARAH BLACKWOOD.

What’s next for DIE KRUPPS?

There will be further live activity in North and possibly South America. And later this year, there will be a live DVD. Most of it was filmed during our headliner show at this year s E-tropolis festival by Virus Films, the team who did the ‘Nazis On Speed’ video.


ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its grateful thanks to Ralf Dörper

‘The Machinists of Joy’ is released as a CD, 2CD, boxed set and download via Synthetic Symphony

DIE KRUPPS 2014 tour includes: Amphi Festival (27th July), Southampton Talking Heads (1st August), London Garage (2nd August), M’era Luna Festival (10th August)

Please visit http://www.diekrupps.de/ for information on other dates

https://www.facebook.com/diekruppsofficial


Text and interview by Chi Ming Lai
25th June 2014

DIE KRUPPS Nazis Auf Speed

Metall Maschinen Musik veterans DIE KRUPPS have just unveiled a controversial new video for ‘Nazis Auf Speed’, a track from their latest album ‘The Machinists Of Joy’.

Formed in 1980, original members Jürgen Engler and PROPAGANDA’s Ralf Dörper plus new recruit Marcel Zürcher have taken back some of what they have given to the Industrial scene over the last three decades with this Teutonic sub-RAMMSTEIN battle of the senses. The lyrics reflect on how The Third Reich aspired to victory at all costs and gave out drugs to their troops including speed in the form of Pervitin.

However, despite its provocative title, DIE KRUPPS point out that they “condemn fascism and drug abuse!” The monochromatic film directed by Philipp Virus depicts the darker, vicious side of Mittel Europa and sees DIE KRUPPS in a heroic and ironic dogfight AGAINST fascism and drug abuse… as if to point out the irony, the trio board Spitfires!

While the stark imagery does play on the usual Second World War clichés, it is powerful stuff while on a purely shallow and aesthetic level, who cannot resist the allure of a beautiful woman in a military uniform, no matter whose side she is on!

Meanwhile, the parent album ‘The Machinists Of Joy’ reached No1 on the Deutsche Alternative Charts on its release in the Autumn. Previous singles ‘Schmutzfabrik’, ‘Risikofaktor’ and ‘Industrie-Mädchen’ showcased a much greater focus on electronic sounds rather than guitars as in DIE KRUPPS previous work, but the essential sweaty body core still prevails in this 21st Century incarnation of the band.


‘The Machinists Of Joy’ is released as a CD, limited edition 2CD and download via Synthetic Symphony

DIE KRUPPS 2014 tour dates include:

Dresden Eventwerk (14th February), Prag Meet Factory (15th February), Budapest Duerer Kert (16th February), Wien Szene (18th February), München Backstage Werk (19th February), Nürnberg Rockfabrik (20th February), Pratteln Z7 (21st February), Oberhausen Turbinehall (22nd February), Hamburg Markthalle (23rd February), Berlin C-Club (25th February) , Frankfurt AM Batschkapp (26th February), Hannover Musikzentrum (27th February), Moskau Plan B (1st March), St Petersburg Zal Ojidanija (2nd March), Amphi Festival (27th July), M’era Luna Festival (10th August)

http://www.diekrupps.de/

https://www.facebook.com/diekruppsofficial


Text by Chi Ming Lai
29th December 2013

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