'Deutsche Elektronische Musik' - New Soul Jazz Compilation

[Serge]

Thought about putting this in the 'Krautrock' thread, but sod it, might as well start a new thread for it. Soul Jazz have just released 'Deutsche Elektonische Musik' a 2-CD compilation of Krautrock that manages to cover pretty much everybody. Except Kraftwerk - who wouldn't licence any of their tracks, as usual. Which is a shame - 'Tanzmusik' would have fitted on this comp very nicely.

What's great is that it works as a compilation for someone who's new to krautrock and for someone like me who never shuts up about it. Neu! are represented by the mighty 'Hallogallo', Harmonia (twice), La Dusseldorf, Cluster are all represented, along with Popol Vuh(twice again), Amon Duul II, Faust and a solo track apiece by Roedelius and Moebius.

Can are strangely represented by two tracks from later in their career, both great, but it would have been nice to see the Mooney or Damo eras represented on there. Bizarrely, despite it being a favourite latter-day Can track of mine, it wasn't until my friend Phil pointed it out that I noticed that the track 'A Spectacle' was completely ripped off by the Mondays for 'Kinky Afro'. 'I love the fact that 'A Spectacle' was also used as the theme for a German 'Pebble Mill At One' style programme, and when you listen to it, you can totally hear it in that context. Tangerine Dream are also represented by a mid-eighties track, the proto-Balearica of 'No Man's Land', though as someone who's into a lot of that old Balearics, I'm not complaining.

But what is great is the fact that about half of the stuff on the compilation is from bands I'd not heard, even in a couple of cases, heard of. Ibliss, anybody? Me neither. But after hearing the thirteen minute 'High Life', which sounds like the younger brother of 'Yoo Doo Right' but with added flute - I love a good flute, me - I'm going to have to track down whatever of theirs I can. Similarly Kollectiv, whose magnificently titled (and almost equally epic) 'Rambo Zambo' also astonishes. And Michael Bundt's 'La Chasse Aux Microbes' is utterly lovely.

Seriously, this is one of the best compilations I've ever heard. If you've got even a passing interest in Kosmische Musik, you should check it out.

[Neville Chamberlain]

Crikey! Thanks for the "heads up", Serge! I'm possibly more excited about this than I ought to be "on paper" because I've never been fully won over by the more electro side of Krautrock, as I tend to go more for the big dirty weird psychedelic noise of Amon Duul 2, Ash Ra Tempel or Faust, but I do like a good Soul Jazz compilation so this sounds like the perfect opportunity to delve a bit more.

Oh, and late Can is good too. Very good, in fact, as I discovered only through watching Can DVD - and I regret ever being lead astray by people who told me to avoid everything after Soon Over Babaluma!

[Serge]

Oh yeah, late period Can is great, I just thought it would have been nice if they could have sneaked one Damo-era track on there! Ash Ra Tempel are on the comp as well - like I say, it's pretty thorough.

[Absorb the anus burn]

This is a solid compilation, but I find the cover art uninspiring - generic Soul Jazz, I suppose... I also have two thirds of these tracks on vinyl or CD.... But to the uninitiated, it's a great entry point into the wonderful world of Krautrock. The genre that's always fascinating, fun and peversely not even a proper genre.

Ibliss produced only one album and it's a corker... There is a nice Kraftwerk connection, in that Basil Hammoud (sp?) played with Organisation and can be seen in early Kraftwerk performances, a brilliant rhythmic counterpoint to Florian the flautist... In fact, I was briefly obsessed with Ibliss and paid a stupid wodge of cash for an EX- copy of Supernova. I played the track Margah track twice as a DJ (between break beats from Syntleman's March Of The Roaring Seventies and Can's Up The Bakerloo Line With Annie) and it always got a good response from the three glue sniffing weirdoes who were spaz dancing. I even made a DIY video for this track and it features on the Ibliss RYM album page.

rateyourmusic.com/release/album/ibliss/supernova/

For those thinking of buying the Soul Jazz comp, it's worth it just for Rheinita by La Dusseldorf - is there a more perfectly rhythmic and sweetly melodic introduction to Kraut...? I think not. A most enchanting seven minutes of music.