Line #21 Main/Krautrock


1	->''"...when the English people started talking about Krautrock, we thought they were just [[UsefulNotes/BritishEnglish taking the piss.]]"''
2	-->-- '''Faust''', quoted about their song "Krautrock".
3
4	Krautrock is a British term for the experimental rock scene in UsefulNotes/WestGermany existent between TheSixties and TheSeventies.
5
6	Since it's a catch-all term, some of the bands lumped under the genre have nothing in common with each other, and the term could be used abusively to refer to ''all'' German rock music. Generally, the musicians themselves dislike the "Krautrock" label and prefer the term "Kosmische [Cosmic] music." There was no real Krautrock "scene" (the only thing in common between some of the bands listed here was the RecordProducer of some of their records, Conny Plank, and, on the other hand, a madcap entrepreneur called Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser - more on him and the movement as a whole in Julian Cope's wonderful book ''Krautrocksampler''. A BBC documentary on the genre also described him as a "Teutonic [[Creator/FactoryRecords Tony Wilson]]."). The main distinguishing features of Krautrock are its experimentalism - musically speaking the bands of the genre drew from PsychedelicRock, ProgressiveRock, avant-garde rock bands (Music/FrankZappa, the Music/VelvetUnderground, Music/PinkFloyd), {{Funk}}, {{Jazz}}, {{Classical\|Music}}, and world music - and its focus on repetition and minimalism. Krautrock bands were among the first to seriously adopt electronics and explore world music influences, and represented a significant influence on AlternativeRock (especially PostPunk, PostRock, and AlternativeDance), ElectronicMusic, {{Ambient}}, and ProgressiveRock. The driving rhythms of bands like Music/{{Can}} and Music/{{Neu}} were a major influence on various forms of dance music.
7
8	----
9	!!Bands commonly cited as Krautrock:
10
11	[[index]]
12	* Achim Reichel
13	* Agitation Free
14	* [[Music/AmonDuulII Amon Düül II]]
15	** By extension, Music/AmonDuul and ''Amon Duul UK'' as well.
16	* Music/AshRaTempel
17	** Ashra
18	** Music/KlausSchulze (his first album - later records are ElectronicMusic and/or {{Ambient}})
19	* Brainticket
20	* Music/{{Can}}
21	* Music/{{Cluster}} (especially back when they were still called "Kluster"- starting with ''Zuckerzeit'', they turned to ElectronicMusic)
22	* Music/TheCosmicJokers
23	* Embryo
24	* Eruption
25	* Music/{{Faust}}
26	* Floh de Cologne
27	* Frumpy
28	* Gila
29	* Music/GuruGuru
30	* Music/{{Harmonia}}
31	** Michael Rother
32	* Improved Sound Limited
33	* Jane
34	* Kraan
35	* Music/{{Kraftwerk}} (their first three albums, before they switched to pure ElectronicMusic. ''Autobahn'' still has some traces left over, such as guitars and non-electronic instruments.)
36	** 1974 - ''Music/{{Autobahn}}''
37	[[/index]]
38	* Monks (an American GarageRock / {{Protopunk}} band based in Germany, whose minimalist, repetitious take on the genre is considered an UrExample, having been cited as an influence by members of Can and Faust)
39	* Organisation, a band containing the two key members of Kraftwerk which released one album in 1969.
40	[[index]]
41	* Music/{{Neu}} (yes, with an exclamation mark) and its successor:
42	** Music/LaDusseldorf
43	* Mythos
44	* Out Of Focus
45	* Music/PopolVuh
46	* Music/TangerineDream (especially on the early albums- later records are ElectronicMusic and/or {{Ambient}})
47	* Thirsty Moon
48	* Wallenstein
49	* Music/XholCaravan (Though they are more like a bridge between this and more "conventional" PsychedelicRock, and released their debut album in ''1967'')
50	[[/index]]
51
52	----
53	!!Later artists and bands who were greatly inspired by Krautrock:
54
55	[[/index]]
56	* Music/DavidBowie (particularly his output from ''Music/StationToStation'' to ''Music/{{Lodger}}'')
57	* Music/{{Chrome\|Band}}
58	* Music/{{Clinic}}
59	* Music/BrianEno
60	* Music/{{The Fall\|Band}}
61	* Music/TheFlamingLips
62	* Music/{{Hawkwind}}
63	* Music/JoyDivision
64	* Music/NewOrder
65	* Music/GaryNuman
66	* Music/OrchestralManoeuvresInTheDark
67	* Music/IggyPop (on ''Music/TheIdiot'')
68	* Music/{{Portishead}}
69	* Music/PublicImageLtd
70	* Music/{{Radiohead}} (from ''Music/KidA'' onwards)
71	* Music/{{REM}} (particularly their early output, from the 1981 version of "Radio Free Europe" to ''Music/{{Murmur}}'')
72	* Music/{{Stereolab}}
73	* Music/TalkTalk (on ''Music/SpiritOfEden'' and ''Music/LaughingStock'')
74	* Music/ThisHeat
75	* Music/{{Ultravox}}
76	* Music/{{Wire}}
77	* Music/FrankZappa
78	[[/index]]
79

Context Main / Krautrock