Track Listing

1. Hallo Gallo
2. Souderoujebob
3. Weimensee
4. Im Gluck
5. Negativland
6. Lieber Houig

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #147270 in Music
• Released on: 2001-05-29
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered

Amazon.com
Neu! was recorded over four days in Hamburg with Can producer Conrad Plank, and its static, aggressive harmonies and almost (but not quite) robotic sound still has a resonance that echoes even today. As any musician from Add N to X to Sonic Youth, from Stereolab to Cabaret Voltaire could tell you, early '70s Dusseldorf band Neu! were one third of the original triumvirate--alongside Can and Faust--that defined Krautrock. Michael Rother (guitar/keyboards) and Klaus Dinger (drums) formed the band in 1971, and with their first three albums established a pattern of minimalist melodies and locked groove "motorik" beats that were to later exert a tremendous influence over left-field music, both in dance and rock. Indeed, one of the great U.S. avant-garde '90s bands, Negativland, take their name from a track on this album. "Hallogallo, Sonderangebot," "Im Gluck"--these are the conveyor-belt grooves, the elemental sweep and soar of the neon-bright autobahn, and the sound of the future when it was still shiny and clean. As David Bowie put it, "[Neu! were] Kraftwerk's wayward, anarchistic brothers." And so much more. --Jerry Thackray

Customer Reviews

Unbelievable
I grew up listening to Kraftwerk, but I've never been exposed to any actual Krautrock until now. I bought Neu, Neu 2 and Neu 75 recently. I have to say, this is amazing. I mean that literally... I'm truly amazed. This was recorded in the early 70s? How can that be? This is so far away from anything else that was going on at the time. These guys were 20 years ahead of their time, at least. I would have guessed it was recorded in 1995 or so. So many bands that I thought were innovative and original... all this time, it turns out they were just ripping off Neu. My world is crumbling around me. And I like it.

It's pronounced "noy!," by the way..
Someone once commented on the Velvet Underground by saying that not too many people had heard their self-titled album with Nico, but that everyone who did went out and started a band of their own. That person might as well have said the same thing about Neu!, assuming he/she had heard of them - the enigmatic German duo's three albums (of which this is the first) sparked the imaginations of a small host of musicians from David Bowie to Stereolab, and even with all the things that have come since, their Krautrock trilogy still really sounds like nothing else around. This 1971 gem of a debut introduced an idea known as "motorik" ('motor' + 'musik') - music designed specifically for playing in cars. The main tracks are simple steady-cruising grooves, often never breaking out of one main chord or basic line, but it's amazing what fascinating ear candy can be spun out of so simple an idea.

Look no further than the beautiful opener "Hallo Gallo" to hear what I mean - it's ten minutes of pure joy. Even though it's all based around one chord it's anything but monotonous: guitars explore myriad variations within that basic framework, never getting repetitive. An insistent drum beat propels things with a steadiness that could easily go on forever. Dreamy synths spin and whirl around the beat to produce an ever-shifting cloud of sound that's so honey-sweet, even ten minutes seems like a breeze. "Weimensee" explores the same idea at a more slow and sedate pace, hovering somewhere in limbo between mid-tempo and slow ballad. With this kind of sonic bliss, who needs lyrics?

The other part of Neu!'s uniqueness is their way of blending loopy non-musical sounds into the mix. "Negativland" rides on a similar extended groove, but this time it's filtered and overlaid with some kind of metallic scraping noise, giving the whole thing a strange industrial edge, and the tempo shifts oddly from a sedate bluesy pattern to an energetic but relaxed cruise. "Souderoujebob" and "Im Glück" wander through a vague haze of sound without actual music, the kind of thing Brian Eno later perfected with On Land. "Lieber Houig" may not be to everyone's taste; it's the kind of thing that meanders so slowly and pauses so often that you're never sure whether it's over, and the odd croaking vocal can be off-putting.

But whether the closer is enjoyable or not, the album leading up to it is a marvel. It's offbeat but beautifully accessible; it's simple and minimalist at heart yet doesn't fade or get stale even after many, many repeat spins. Neu! 2 may be more abstract and weird, Neu! '75 may be more tuneful and consistent.. but for the introduction that best covers their whole fascinating range, start right here. This one's really in a class all its own.

There IS a God!!!
One of the most important pieces of Euro-unobtainium for years has been the NEU! albums. These works influenced a host of musicians who've managed to get hold of them in some way or another; from Detroit techno wizards to lo-fi tinkerers, a host of players owe a long-unsung debt to NEU!

This first album appeared in the wake of Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother's split from an early lineup of Kraftwerk. It has some of the motoric rhythms + sonic tampering of the early (ie: "Kraftwerk" and "Kraftwerk 2") Kraftwerk releases, but more of an emphasis on rock beats, guitars, and a late-psychedelic sensibility. But lurking under this...especially hinted-at in the liner notes and the noise-romp "Negativland"...is a leaning toward the glorious racket of punk and postpunk outfits such as PiL (whose John Lydon, it should be noted, is a confirmed NEU! fan). But also lurking here and there is a weird ambient-experimental murk that also leans one toward thing such as Eno's work, or later on, that of The Orb.

All of the original Brain-released 'canon' NEU! albums are worth having, but either this or the final "NEU! '75" are the right places to start.