- Michael Rother
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Michael Rother 
Rother in concert in November 2007Background information Born 2 September 1950
Hamburg, GermanyGenres Krautrock, Kosmische Musik, proto-punk, art-rock, electronic music Occupations Musician Instruments Guitar, keyboards Years active 1971 (with Kraftwerk)
1971–1975, 1985–1986 (With Neu!)
1973–1976, 2007- (with Harmonia)
1976- (Solo)Labels Brain, Sky, Polydor, Random Associated acts Neu!, Harmonia, Kraftwerk, Cluster Website www.michaelrother.de/en/ Michael Rother (born 2 September 1950 in Hamburg) is a German experimental Krautrock musician and composer.
Contents
Early life and education
Born in 1950, Rother went to school in Munich, Wilmslow (England), Karachi, and Düsseldorf. He also lived in Pakistan in the early 1960s where he was exposed to Pakistani music that would influence his own music in the late 60s and early 70s.[1] From 1965 Rother played in the band Spirits of Sound, from which other members would later go on to join Kraftwerk and Wunderbar.
Music career
Michael Rother live in 2007.
Michael Rother (left) & Dieter Moebius (right) live in 2007.Rother is a multi-instrumentalist (primarily guitar and keyboards) who, along with a catalog of several solo albums starting in 1977, is best known for having co-founded the German group Neu! with drummer Klaus Dinger (five albums between 1971 and 1996), and his collaborative efforts with Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius (aka Cluster) under the name Harmonia (two albums, one in 1974 and 1975, with later 1976 sessions recorded with Brian Eno; the studio tapes for the latter disappeared but were found by Roedelius two decades later; he remixed the tapes and released the results as Tracks and Traces in 1997; Rother was the main producer for the version re-released in 2009).[2] Rother and Dinger were also in a short-lived version of Kraftwerk in 1971, with Florian Schneider, during a time when founding member Ralf Hütter had temporarily left the band. (This version of the group was filmed during an appearance on the German music show Beat Club, which has been available sporadically on VHS and DVD.)
Beginning in the late 1970s, Rother began issuing LPs under his own name: Flammende Herzen (1977), Sterntaler (1978), and Katzenmusik (1979) all featured drums by Can percussionist Jaki Liebezeit. Further releases included Fernwärme (1982), Lust (1983), Süssherz und Tiefenschärfe (1985) and Traumreisen (1987). Rother regained the rights to these releases in the late 90s, and re-released CD versions of them, all of which contained bonus tracks, usually in the form of then-current remixes of original album tracks. Along with these reissues were a best-of compilation, Radio, and a new release, Esperanza (1996). His most recent album; Remember (The Great Adventure) featured vocals (a first for Rother's solo work) and was released in 2004.
On 1 July 2007 Michael Rother joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers for a live jam at the end of their concert in Hamburg. Together they played for nearly 25 minutes in front of 35,000 people.[3] In November 2007 he toured with Dieter Moebius (another member of Harmonia) as Rother & Moebius.[4] On 27 November 2007, a Harmonia reunion concert was announced for Berlin, where they performed together live for the first time since 1976.[5][6]
In 2010, Rother played five shows in Europe with Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley and Tall Firs guitarist Aaron Mullan (who played bass in the trio).[7] This group, known as Hallogallo, performed the music of Neu! live for the first time in many years. They are confirmed to play the ATP New York 2010 music festival in Monticello, New York and Incubate 2010 in Tilburg, Netherlands in September 2010.
Discography
Michael Rother discography Releases ↙Studio albums 9 ↙Compilation albums 2 ↙Singles 7 - Studio albums
Year Album details 1977 Flammende Herzen - Labels: Sky Records
1978 Sterntaler - Labels: Sky Records
1979 Katzenmusik - Labels: Sky Records
1982 Fernwärme - Labels: Polydor Records
1983 Lust - Labels: Polydor Records
1985 Süssherz & Tiefenschärfe - Labels: Polydor Records
1987 Traumreisen - Labels: Polydor Records
1996 Esperanza - Labels: Random Records
2004 Remember (The Great Adventure) - Labels: Random Records, WEA, Gang Go Music
- Compilation albums
Year Album details 1993 Radio - Singles, 1977–1993 - Labels: Random Records
1998 Chronicles I - Labels: Purple Pyramid
- Singles
- "Flammende Herzen" b/w "Karussell" (1977)
- "Sterntaler" b/w "Sonnenrad" (1978)
- "Katzenmusik 9" b/w "Katzenmusik 2" (1979)
- "Silberstreif" b/w "Erlkönig" (1982)
- "Hohe Luft" b/w "Fortuna" (1982)
- "Palmengarten" b/w "Cascadia" (1983)
- "Glitzerglanz" b/w "Rapido" (1985)
- Contributions
- Station 17 (1990, Mercury/Phonogram) - "Morning Sun"
- A Homage To Neu! (1999, Cleopatra) - "Neutronics 98 (A Tribute To Conny Plank)"
- Brand Neu! (2009, Feraltone) - "Neutronics 98"
with Neu!
Year Album details 1972 Neu! - Labels: Brain Records
1973 Neu! 2 - Labels: Brain Records
1975 Neu! '75 - Labels: Brain Records
1995 Neu! 4 - Labels: Captain Trip Records
1996 Neu! '72 Live In Dusseldorf - Labels: Captain Trip Records
2010 Neu! '86 - Labels: Grönland Records
with Harmonia
Year Album details 1974 Musik Von Harmonia - Labels: Brain Records
1975 Deluxe - Labels: Brain Records
1997 Tracks & Traces: Harmonia '76 - Labels: Rykodisc
2007 Live 1974 - Labels: Grönland Records
References
- ^ From an interview with Michael Rother on Sound Opinions, October 4, 2010.
- ^ Bluefat Issue 6, 2010
- ^ "Michael Rother's official site, news: " Michael Rother jamming with Red Hot Chili Peppers"". 10/07/2007. http://www.michaelrother.de/en/. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
- ^ "Michael Rother's official site, news: "Rother & Moebius concerts in November 2007"". 2007-10-29. http://www.michaelrother.de/en/. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
- ^ "Michael Rother's official site, news: "Harmonia album "Live 1974" out now/Harmonia concert on 27th Nov. 2007"". 2007-10-25. http://www.michaelrother.de/en/. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
- ^ "Worldtronics 2007. Festival of Electronic Music. 27.11.2007 - 01.12.2007". http://www.hkw.de/en/programm2007/worldtronics/projekt-detail_3.php. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
- ^ "Michael Rother's official site, news: "Michael Rother/Steve Shelley/Aaron Mullan trio debut in Europe"". http://www.michaelrother.de/en/news_single.php?nid=85. Retrieved 2010-5-31.
External links
- Official website
- Neu! Morning August 2010 Interview by the Village Voice
- KRAUTROCK DELUXE Interview for Blurt magazine, September 2009
Klaus Dinger · Michael RotherNeu! Klaus Dinger Michael Rother Musik von Harmonia · Deluxe · Tracks and Traces · Flammende Herzen · Sterntaler · Katzenmusik · Fernwärme · Lust · Süßherz und Tiefenschärfe · Traumreisen · Radio · Esperanza · Remember (The Great Adventure)See also Categories:- 1950 births
- Living people
- German keyboardists
- Musicians from Hamburg
- Kraftwerk members
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