1970's German Experimental Rock ~ Kraftwerk ( Their Early Years )

The boys from Dusseldorf, Ralf Hutter and Florian Schnieder were both in a group called Organisation before they formed Kraftwerk in 1969. But the electronic pioneers that we now know and love were quite a different beast in the early 1970's, and its not just in their haircuts and choice of clothes. Hutter appears now to acknowledges this difference by refusing to allow the re-release of their first three albums, or even include them in Kraftwerk's discography. So if you want to hear their early work it can only be found in bootleg versions and the ubiquitous You Tube videos.

What you find if you venture your ears into these albums is a treasure trove of  exploratory music struggling to find its true form. Kraftwerk in 1970 fit into a style of progressive rock performance common in the twilight of the hippie era. A loose collective of individuals hang out and play long semi-improvised pieces, probably in abandoned buildings taken over for the event. However, there is also something out of the musical ordinary going on here. First, its purely instrumental no vocals, no lyrics, no musical warmth to embrace. They play real instruments:flutes, Hammond Organs and guitars, but these are electronically adjusted and phase sounds and drones weave into the overall sound they make. Kraftwerk appear to never have been too concerned with returning back to nature or averse to technological advances, they've always idealised, embraced and celebrated the modern world as it is, or as it could be re-imagined

Here's a live performance recorded in 1970 of Ruck Zuck the opening track of Kraftwerk's first album. Schnieder plays a  muti-tracked flute which lends it a folky air of 'Jethro Tull' . Every now and then you'll recognise a particular music cadence or rising tone sequence on the flute that you realise gets re-used in later Kraftwerk. The band also features Klaus Dinger on drums who is the originator of  German 'motorik' drum beat.

On first hearing they are hard to define This isn't really trad rock but neither is it avante garde modernism. The final track on Kraftwerk 1 is Vom Himmel Hoch its an altogether darker doom laden affair that bears comparison with the bleak industrial sound of early Cluster.

By the time Kraftwerk 2 (1971) arrived the band personel had been through seismic change. For some reason Ralf Hutter leaves the band. Schnieder and Klaus Dinger remain and are joined by Micheal Rother on guitar. You Tube videos are all that's left to record this short lived triumvirate. Before Kraftwerk 2 was recorded, Dinger and Rother leave Kraftwerk to form Neu! Whether this is what prompts Hutter to return is unknown. but all this joining, leaving and returning perhaps indicates there may have been some sort of conflicts over personality or musical direction. However, Kraftwerk is re-conceived and will never be quite the same again. Hutter, so myth reports, had seen an exhibition of Gilbert & George and something about these two identically besuited gentleman with their working premise of making peoples art accessible to all, lodges in his mind. For the next two albums it will be just the dynamic duo of Hutter and Schneider playing everything.

As a second album it is admittedly a strange one.  It opens with the track KingKlang ( later to be the name of their studio) which starts with an oblique percussive overture of ringing bell noises similar to a Stockhausen piece, which then it settles into a groove that has hints of the future Kraftwerk, but its sparser and often veers closer to minimalism than a piece of pure pop music.



The album comes across as though its a series of exercises in paring down musical structures. Its all getting rather arid and conceptual, even down to re-referencing the Warhol inspired road cone on the cover, this time in green. They use no pure synthesiser sound, every sound continues to be generated from actual instruments electronically treated. No rhythms from conventional drums and still no vocals.  On this album Hutter & Schnieder sound like two men in search of a fresh direction, but not finding it.

But then comes their third album Ralf & Florian (1973) and from the cover you can sense something of the Kraftwerk visual and musical style is beginning to click into place.  Here they are photographed like people from the 1950's. Schnieder in a suit, tie and slicked back hair. Hutter, still with long hair, but parted and pulled back, and wearing a strange half repaired pair of spectacles. In a way it provides a visual metaphor for a band that can almost, but not quite, see its way forward yet. There are still a few more indiosyncrasies to iron out. Like the Kraftwerk road cone that still remains, though  much smaller, on the record cover.

The album is though full of rather delightful informal gems, and with these they begin to catch the attention and influencing of other musicians. David Bowie citied R & F as one of the influences he drew on for his Berlin trilogy. Brian Eno borrows ideas from it, on Discreet Music, made two years later, he uses a very similar taped looped tonal sequenc as Heimatklange the fourth track on the album. They remain just Hutter & Schnieder, they still don't have a drummer and often settle for flicking the rhythm switch of an electric organ on. However, the album does feature on Ananas Symphonie their first use of a proto-type voice vocoder.  It is with the fifth track Tanzmusik that you get the first appearance of a piece of music that can be considered the genuine progenitor of the future classic Kraftwerk sound. Slightly sloppier in its rhythm section, with wobbly ethereal backing vocals, but a real charmer nonetheless.



Its unusual in popular music for a band to find their signature sound so late. A third album is usually where they achieve their most fully realised and polished version of it, which they struggle thereafter to quite match or exceed. Kraftwerk seemed to have to get all their hippie and arty pretensions out of their system before they were able to create that definitive album. Autobahn (1974) is a record that is really worthy of being called groundbreaking and proved to be the starting gun for a whole new chapter in popular music.

So what happened to resolve all those conflicting ideas and bring this accelerated rate of change about? No one really knows except Hutter & Schnieder I guess, and they're not saying much that is enlightening about this period. Hutter does appear to be in control of everything now, the past and future of Kraftwerk, and everyone else are just 'music workers'. If, however, you're looking for external influences I'll point you in the direction of the track Hallogallo from 1971 by Neu! who are Klaus Dinger & Micheal Rother remember, both ex-Kraftwerk collaborators. that's been featured on a previous post.

Even on Autobahn there is still the odd bit of fluffy flute around, but the direction was now set. Here is a music with a distinct individual vision behind it. Gone are most of their self-indulgent exercises in arty farty notions. Kraftwerk's sound becomes more and more stylistically and electronically pure, with its simple, almost Bach like, melodies gliding over a backing track that is crystal clear with not one single note out of place. Plus vocals ' Wir fahr'n fahr'n fahr'n auf der autobahn' with lyrics. But then words were never their strong point.

1970's German Experimental Rock ~ Faust

Faust emerged from the late sixties Hamburg music scene and consisted of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron, Rudolf Sosna and Gunther Wüsthoff, This lineup lasted from its founding in 1971 to 1975. After a period of being disbanded, Diermaier & Peron reformed Faust with a fluctuating collective of musicians from 1996 onwards.

If any band existed to scotch the notion of 'krautrock' as a cohesive genre of music it is Faust. Though the idea of non-musicians who nevertheless make music is often found to be the working premise of many bands as stylistically distant from Faust as Kraftwerk. The sound world that Faust inhabited was filled with a relentless search for new sounds by mangling conventional instruments or innovating cruder instruments out of salvaged machinery, pipes and industrial tools.

Though often called a rock band, these early albums rarely fully or consistently conform to any tradition without consistently veering wildly and chaotically away from its cliches or standard form. Theirs is an anarchic rag bag of influences from Syd Barrett, Velvet Underground to Stockhausen as if  processed through a cement mixer.  Hippie without being trippy or dippy, but not beyond being whimsical whilst being hard core deadly ernest experimenters, they defy categorisation, subvert styles and expectations more than any other band of this or any period. They're the very epitome of what an indie underground band was at that time.

Their first two albums  Faust and So Far were released on Polydor and these laid down the template for the Faust musical approach. Here's a distinctly abrasive track from So Far called Mamie Is Blue.



Eager to ride the wave of new bands emerging from Germany a fledgling Virgin Records signed Faust in 1973. They attempted to open up a market for this distinctly non-conformist music, by releasing a budget album The Faust Tapes, renowned for being sold for the price of a single at 48p. The album though essentially a series of experiments and outtakes roughly edited together, probably  captures the spirit of the Faust musical zeitgeist better than their more considerd albums. Having failed with their sales strategy, Virgin dropped them two years later.

This is one of the most famous tracks from The Faust Tapes , J'ai Mai Aux Dents. Just when you think you've understood the groove they inexplicably take a jazz break before returning to it. The vocals and style are reminiscent of the Velvet Underground's Sister Ray though with substantially more avant-garde slabs of noise and meaningless lyrics, there being no room for laconic streetwise sasseyness in Faust world

Nevertheless they did produce Faust IV in 1973 whilst signed to Virgin. Now recognised as a classic 'must hear' album of the period it showcases an admittedly more refined version of their trademark mash up of styles. On the album's opening track Faust fully embrace the cliche of the by then recognisable new German sound as espoused by the likes of Neu!,taking it and leaving it somewhere it doesn't normally go, a track they've called rather toungue in cheek - Krautrock.

Here's another track from Faust IV, called Just A Second ( Starts Like That ), which starts off with what seems a very conventional riff based piece,which half way through slips into a rolling stream of tweeting cacophony. Apologies for the arty video but it was the only one I could find with this track on.

Faust IV proved divisive, whilst it attracted new fans, older ones thought they'd lost their edge and sold out by producing,what was for Faust, a relatively accessible album. The original band that was Faust parted ways in 1975, Whilst the reformed band carries on in the spirit of what the first Faust band stood for, their early work still stands head and shoulders above their subsequent albums.

1970's German Experimental Rock ~ Cluster & Harmonia

For any nascent music movement finding a place where you are left free to perform. experiment and refine your ideas is central.  For experimental rock in Germany this was the Zodiak Free Arts Lab in West Berlin. The Lab was a late sixties hippie happening performance venue through whose doors passed Ash Ra Tempel, Klaus Schultze and Tangerine Dream.  Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Konrad Schnitzler were two of the founding members of the Lab. There they met Dieter Mobius and formed a band called Kluster, producing three albums, independently released in limited 300 pressings. When Schnitzler left, Roedelius and Mobius carried on but changed one letter of the name to Cluster.

Their present day reputation is based upon Cluster and Harmonia's work in the 1970's period. The music they made was spontaneous and of the moment, they improvised as they went along, following any idea to see how far they could take it, with little self-censoring. A legacy of their Arts Lab days is that Cluster's work feels to have a natural and organic evolution to it, whilst it is largely electronic or electronically modulated sound. Over the seventies their music slowly shifts from longer avant garde industrial noise improvisations to shorter melodic vignettes, similar to painting an abstract portrait or landscape in miniature.

On Cluster 71, there first album each track has no name, each piece is denoted only by the length of time it runs for. The tracks have no melody, no rhythmic beat and the soundscapes they evoke prompt feelings, that are often rather bleak and darkly modulated. They explore the aural shadows with intimidating walls of screeching noises, that shift and fade in and out. It can be a distinctly unnerving listening experience that grabs your ears and refuses to let you go. Though harsh and austere you can detect from the long sustains and tangled interweaving of sound where their gentler sound would eventually evolve. This track, 7.42, starts very quietly and builds to create the effect of entering an aural nightmare.



Cluster 2 followed in 1975, this time all the tracks have a name. The music pieces are generally shorter in length, and sonically the sound is more inviting, slightly less angular and bleak, they include moments of rhythm ,small harmonic loops and flourishes.  Its a truth of any musical form that starts off being so resolutely extreme, that this leaves you with nowhere else to progress to but back in the direction of rhythm, melody and harmonic conventions. This track, Live in der fabrik, is a recording of 14.42 minute live improvised performance at The Fabrik in Hamburg.

In 1973 they started a side project, joining forces with Micheal Rother from Neu! to form Harmonia. This new conjunction of personalities and talents shifted the Cluster sound further away from industrial technik noise. Their first and second album Musik von Harmonia (1974) and Deluxe (1975) found them firmly established in a more recognisable world, each short piece having its own sense of place and dynamism. This piece Sonnenschein rattles along like some off kilter medieval barrel organ.



These albums were hugely influential. Brian Eno's enthusiasm and collaboration brought them to the attention of a much wider music buying public. The albums he made with Cluster ie Cluster & Eno (1977) and After The Heat (1978) plus a previously unreleased album of work with Harmonia called Tracks & Traces recorded in 1976 but released in 1997, all show what a huge influence Cluster had upon Eno's own musical ideas and future direction. Cluster's work never became ambient, they were never purists and more anarchic free spirits, but nonetheless you can hear in them the sources for it. The music is becoming more minimal and tightly structured, this track from Tracks & Traces called Vamos Companeros has a fabulous rhythm like a steam train powering up a mountain side.

I'm sure there are plenty of other gems yet to be unearthed from Cluster's or Roedelius and Mobius's individual back catalogue.  Enjoy your research.

SHERINGHAM DIARY 9 ~ Pickles, Cakes & Stable Work.

Over the last few months, Jnanasalin has become an enthusiast for making Jams, Preserves & Pickles. This has its origins in a Cucumber & Dill Pickle he successfully made in the early Autumn. since then its progressed rapidly through making Mint Sauce, Marmalade, Red Cabbage Pickle, Chilly Jam, Raspberry & Plum Jam, Mincemeat and Cranberry Preserve. These now have a designated shelf plus our Xmas Pudding and Cake all to themselves in the Pantry.  I'll keep you updated on new additions as and when they arrive.

Having survived his heart attack and breaking his leg near his hip, my Father, aged 91, has also survived the perilous operation to pin his leg. At present he's in a care home at least until the New Year, my Sister and I hope this will become a permanent arrangement. There's no one to keep a close enough eye on him when he's in his own home. Anyway this is still uncertain. What my Father will say should social services ask him whether he'd prefer his own home or a care home, is lets say, unpredictable. If he does stay in care then there will be the sorting through of his possessions to do, etc etc.

The Hebden Valley

Jnanasalin and I have done a lot of long car journeys over a weekend during the last month. Driving up to see my Father in hospital, in case he didn't survive the operation. It was worth it for the conversation I had with him. My Father laid flat in bed, me holding his hand, as he told me about how beautiful it was standing at the top and looking out over the Hebden Valley and how in the distance it was all bright sunlight, I found this quite moving. A couple of weeks later we did the exact same journey again to see my Father in his new care home, when he was far less talkative.  The weekend after we travelled to Nottingham to see Jnanasalin's family. After three weekends spent travelling and visiting, we were needless to say a bit 'car lagged' and looking forward to a relatively quiet and relaxing Christmas at home

JS & his Mum + polar bear (no relation)

My new work, has quickly transcended its novelty and attained the status of a predictable routine. It can feel like being in a cyclical dream where you go over the same ground again and again, but never finish or escape. When I'm handling this well, the work is smooth and easily executed, when I don't, the back pain tends to get worse and makes it tedious and hard going. Though these are typical emotional fluctuations inherent to me and any repetitive task. Nonetheless it is stable steady cleaning work, it doesn't completely drain me, and can leave a modicum of energy for more creative pursuits, such as Cottonwood Workshop. Though adjusting my mode of orientation from 'cleaning head' to 'creative head' does appear to frequently misfire.

The care homes I clean for are half way houses for people with a mental, behavioural or social handicap that requires a degree of supervision or medication. From my daily cleaning routine I know some residents have, to put it politely, 'poor toilet etiquette'. I can only take a guess at what debilitating mental realm they live in. They can be abrupt, rude, paranoid, neurotic or just generally unpredictable, but then that could describe one or two apparently 'sane' acquaintances of mine. The hardworking staff do tend to look a bit weighed down by the nature of the environment they work within.

One resident is permanently fed up, always complains about not having any money, that the food is crap, and the staff care more about her not smoking in her room then they do about her. She wanders in a lonely patter around the home with an unlit roll up in hand, constantly in search of a cuppa tea,. Her mood fluctuates, one day she'll be quite friendly and chatty in a toothless sort of way, on another she'll be abusively calling me a prat, a cunt and that I ought to be sacked. Though she did apologise to me once, confessing that it was her who was 'telling you to fuck off from behind my door' as I was in the process of cleaning it.

There's an elderly lady who, in the complaining tone of a small child, is always whining 'But I don't like cabbage'. Initially the first thing she'd asked me was 'Who are you?' , I'd tell her my name, and after this she'd say 'I don't like beards', 'Why do you have a beard?' Nowadays, the first thing she says when she sees me is 'I don't like beards' so I'm taking this is a form of recognition a bit like saying 'Hello, its you again'. Someone mentioned Christmas was coming, to which she said ''I don't like my brother, he doesn't bring any presents' I found out that in her past life she'd once been to university to study French, so where that intelligent and intelligible woman has disappeared too is anyones guess.

Another woman can be quiet and withdrawn, but then has periods where she sings, chants or rants loudly and raucously from her room, often day and night. The other day, unusually, she was publicly ranting incoherently in Reception, whilst I'm keeping my head down mopping the floor around her. It was all rather bizarre and a tad unnerving. So I've gone from unstable work with relatively stable people at The Two Lifeboats, to stable work with relatively unstable people here. Life? its amazing what you end up doing.

Our Xmas Cake made by JS

Its was our first Christmas in Sheringham and our first Christmas after living in a Buddhist community for eight years. So this year we've been completely free to celebrate however we wanted and when we wanted.  We've decorated the house and it looked really beautiful with a much larger tree than we've had before, a mantelpiece garland, lights, door wreath etc. Our Christmas meal was well planned and executed, as you might expect. For the first time we took a walk along Sheringham's wind swept beach promemade on Christmas Day. We also entertained for the first time when we had our friends Sam & Pete over for a meal on Boxing Day. Its all been quite lovely and civilised.

Now 2018 is here, we are just a tax return and three months away from having lived in Sheringham a year.  The past year was filled with many firsts, finding somewhere to live, moving, settling in, finding work, JS learning to drive, plus general adjusting to how things work on the North Norfolk Coast. Who knows what the New Year will bring? Wishing you all the very best for 2018.