Neu!

"Neu" redirects here. For other uses, see Neu (disambiguation).

For universities with the same initials, see Northeastern University (disambiguation).

Neu!
Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother by Hadley Hudson, 2004.
Background information
Origin	Düsseldorf, Germany[1]
Genres	Krautrock Experimental
Years active	1971–1975 1985–1986
Labels	Brain Records
Associated acts	Kraftwerk La Düsseldorf La! Neu? Harmonia Die Engel des Herrn Conny Plank
Website	neu2010.com
Past members
Klaus Dinger Michael Rother Eberhard Kranemann Uli Trepte Thomas Dinger Hans Lampe Conrad Matheiu Georg Sessenhausen

Neu! (trademarked NEU! in block capitals, German: New!, pronounced [ˈnɔʏ]) was a German band formed by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother after their split from Kraftwerk in the early 1970s. Though the band had minimal commercial success during its existence, Neu! are retrospectively considered one of the founding fathers of Krautrock and a significant influence on artists including David Bowie, Brian Eno, Iggy Pop, PiL, Boredoms, Joy Division, Gary Numan, Ultravox, Simple Minds, Negativland, Stereolab, Radiohead, The Horrors, Electrelane, and much of the current electronic music scene.

History

(1971–1975) Main career

Neu! was formed in 1971 in Düsseldorf as an offshoot from an early line-up of another seminal Krautrock band, Kraftwerk, whose early works were also produced by Conny Plank.^[1]

Drummer Klaus Dinger had joined Kraftwerk midway through sessions for their eponymous debut album. Guitarist Michael Rother was then recruited to the Kraftwerk line-up on completion of the album.^[1] (Rother had been playing in a local band called The Spirits of Sound, the line-up of which also included drummer Wolfgang Flür, who would himself go on to join Kraftwerk two years later.)

Kraftwerk founder Ralf Hütter left the band at this point and, for six months, Kraftwerk consisted of a trio of Rother, Dinger and Florian Schneider. This line-up played sporadic gigs and made a live appearance on German TV programme Beat Club (recently made available on DVD). Attempted recording sessions at Conny Plank's studio were unsuccessful ("a difference of temperament", Rother was later to remark), and Dinger and Rother parted company from Schneider and began a new project with Plank: Neu! (Schneider rejoined Hütter and the pair continued recording the second Kraftwerk album with Plank.)

Their eponymous first album sold very little by mainstream standards (though 30,000 records was a lot for an "underground" band), yet is today considered a masterpiece by many, including influential artists such as David Bowie, Brian Eno, Iggy Pop and Thom Yorke of Radiohead. It included the Motorik benchmark tracks "Hallogallo" and "Negativland" (the band Negativland took their name from this track), and bizarre "songs" like "Sonderangebot".

Their second album, Neu! 2, features some of the earliest examples of musical remixes. The band, excited to record another album, decided to expand their limits by purchasing several instruments. With the money they had left as an advance from the record company, they could only record half an album's worth of material. The company would not increase their advance because the first album did not sell anywhere close to well and the label did not see a reason to further finance what was most likely to become a flop. To rectify the lack of material, the band filled the second side with manipulated versions of their already released single, "Neuschnee"/"Super", playing back each song at different speeds and sometimes warbling the music by messing with the tape machine or placing the record off center on the turntable. The song "Super 16," unwittingly, became the theme song to the 1976 martial arts cult classic Master of the Flying Guillotine by Jimmy Wang Yu. This film was later referenced by Quentin Tarantino in Kill Bill (Volume 1) by also featuring the track "Super 16".

Dinger and Rother were both very different when they were left to their own devices, and this led to their final album of the 1970s, Neu! '75. Side One was Rother's more ambient productions which were similar to the first album, albeit more keyboard driven. Side Two (particularly the song "Hero") was acknowledged as important influence by many later involved in the UK's punk rock scene, with Dinger's sneering, unintelligible vocals searing across a distorted Motorik beat with aggressive single chord guitar poundings.

To aid with performing on the album, and more importantly, live, Hans Lampe and brother Thomas Dinger were enlisted to help execute more music than was possible by two men. Upon its release, and arguably to this day, Neu! '75 is the most diverse record available from the Krautrock scene. While this can be seen as a positive point, the differences in musical direction (as well as personal issues) not only isolated the Dinger/Rother duo, it isolated their already small fan base. Neu! broke up after the release of Neu! '75.

Neu are highly praised in Julian Cope's "Krautrocksampler", along with other great Krautrock artists such as Kraftwerk and Can, and Cope has also written a song called "Michael Rother" which appears on CD2 of the Deluxe edition of the album Jehovahkill.

(1975–1984) Band inactivity

In 1974, Rother had already collaborated with German electronic duo Cluster, recording as Harmonia an album titled Musik Von Harmonia. In 1975, he subsequently recorded a second Harmonia album, Deluxe, and further sessions followed with Brian Eno, which were not released until 1997 as Tracks and Traces. In 1977, Rother started recording as a solo artist. His first three albums; Flammende Herzen (1977), Sterntaler (1978), and Katzenmusik (1979) were recorded with Neu! producer Conny Plank.

The two Dingers and Lampe formed La Düsseldorf, who were equally cited as influential by David Bowie in a 1979 interview with a music magazine. Their first album; La Düsseldorf was released in 1976.

(1985–1986) Aborted comeback

Between October 1985 and April 1986, Dinger and Rother tried to rekindle the flame that was Neu!: by adding more synthesizers and a slightly more commercial aspect to some compositions, the band sounded like a cross between their old selves and the recent new wave groups. Then they were torn apart again by personal and musical issues.

An example of the sharp contrast between Dinger and Rother was evidenced by such tracks as "Crazy", Rother's attempt at pop, and "'86 Commercial Trash", a Dingerian collage of dialogue and sound effects from Germany's television commercials of that year. The work that took place in these sessions would resurface in late 1995 as Neu! 4, see below.

Conny Plank died in 1987.

(1987–2000) Acrimony

Dinger and Rother did not work together during the 1990s, and indeed some degree of acrimony existed between them, not least due to Dinger releasing a couple of old substandard Neu! recordings on the Japanese Captain Trip Records label without Rother's knowledge or consent. In late 1995, this label released the above-mentioned Neu! 4 recordings from the 1985–1986 sessions. It also released Neu! '72 Live in Dusseldorf (recorded on May 6, 1972), considered^[who?] their weakest release, but notable for the inclusion of Eberhard Kranemann, who was involved with Neu! precursors Kraftwerk as well.

A 1999 tribute album, entitled A Homage to Neu! (Cleopatra Records) features covers from artists by bands including the Legendary Pink Dots, Download, Autechre, Dead Voices On Air, Khan, System 7, and James Plotkin, as well as an original track from Rother entitled "Neutronics 98 (A Tribute To Conny Plank)".

(2001–2008) CD remasters

The rights to the Neu! back-catalogue are jointly owned by Rother, Dinger's estate and Plank's widow, Christa Fast. However, for many years a degree of acrimony and legal wrangling existed between Rother and Dinger and they could not agree on licensing arrangements to make Neu!'s music available on CD. In the ensuing vacuum, illegal and inferior quality bootleg CDs (mastered from old vinyl records) were distributed by an outfit calling themselves Germanofon.

This situation was finally resolved in 2001, when Rother and Dinger put aside their differences and entered a studio to transfer the three Neu! albums to CD, from the original master tapes (reportedly mastering each album three times). These were produced and released by Grönland Records (licensed to the Astralwerks label in the US), packaged with stickers featuring rave reviews by notable artists, including Thom Yorke. Following the release of the first three albums Dinger and Rother entered negotiations to legally reissue Neu 4! Rother has called the failure of those negotiations "unfortunate" but has left open the possibility of at least some Neu! 4 material as well as additional material from the 1985–86 recording sessions.

Neu! did not record anything new after Neu! 4. Rother has said that he and Dinger had been considering recording a fifth Neu album, but the idea was aborted after personal problems arose between them. Dinger died of heart failure on March 21, 2008. Rother also said that he was unaware of Dinger's illness until just before Dinger died.^[2]

Rother writes and produces solo albums. Before his death, Dinger was a member of the band La! Neu? as well as collaborating with Miki Yui and band Sub-tle in a project that is unreleased to this date.^[3]

(2009) Brand Neu!

On 25 May 2009, the new record label Feraltone released a compilation CD called Brand Neu! containing tracks by many modern artists who credit Neu! as an influence. Most notably, it featured a track from Michael Rother from the previous Neu! homage album (A Homage to Neu!) and a new track by La Duesseldorf.de, one of Klaus Dinger's final recordings before he died.

In interviews conducted in the summer of 2009, Rother announced that he is working on a box set that will include all of Neu!'s recordings including material that appeared on the Neu! 4 album (which Rother refers to as Neu! '86). "I’m investing a lot of time and effort into the Neu! vinyl box set, which we hope to release later this year," Rother explains. "It will contain all of Neu!’s recordings, also the ones that were illegally released by my Neu! partner, the late Klaus Dinger, in the Nineties."^[4] Plans also are to include a thick booklet filled with rare photos and new text. Rother also mentions the possibility of live recordings appearing in the box set.^[4]

In 2010 Rother teamed up with Steve Shelley (of Sonic Youth) and Aaron Mullan (of Tall Firs) for Hallogallo 2010, a live project to present Neu! music and some new pieces.

Tributes

• The band Negativland is named after a Neu! track, and so is the name of their record label, Seeland.
• A track on The Whitey Album by Sonic Youth side project Ciccone Youth is titled "Two Cool Rock Chicks Listening to Neu!" The NEU! track "Negativland" is audible in the background.
• Former Broadcast member Tim Felton and former Plone member Billy Bainbridge named their project, Seeland, after the Neu! song.
• The Japanese punk/new wave band Polysics have an album entitled Neu!
• Argentina-based band Cassetto is named after the Neu! track.
• English electronic band Death in Vegas have a track on their 2004 album Satan's Circus entitled "Sons of Rother" which features a Motorik-like 4/4 beat and repetitive keyboard chords in the Neu! style.
• Mexican electronic musician Antiguo Autómata Mexicano has a track entitled "Rother, Dinger, You and Me".
• English synth-pop band OMD have a song called "4-neu".
• English band Porcupine Tree covered the track "Hallogallo" on their album Insignificance and Neu! are a major inluence on Steven Wilson's side project IEM.
• Argentinian band Spike The Mikail Rother Hedgekipper are named after the Neu! band member. Their only album to date is Black Forest Gateau named after a UK Neu! album compilation, and the original LP sleeve is clearly visible on the album cover artwork photo showing a scattering of LPs on a park bench.

Musical style

Probably the most cherished element of the Neu! oeuvre is what is often called the "Motorik" beat (meaning 'motor skill' in German) - although the band themselves did not use this term, Dinger himself later referred to it as the "Apache beat". At least one third of their recorded output is in the Motorik form. Here they deconstruct the traditional rock song format, with its verses and choruses, intros and changes, stripping it down to a single minimalist 4/4 beat, which Dinger repeats continuously throughout the entire track. Neu! were a big influence on the sound of the 1970s band Hawkwind, particularly Simon King and Lemmy's driving Motorik bass and drum double act. The band's 1975 track "Opa Loka" is an homage to Hallogallo. Japanese experimental music group Boredoms cite Neu! as a huge influence on their later sound, evident in their unique application of the radical tape manipulation remix techniques and driving 4/4 rhythms pioneered by Rother and Dinger. Releases such as Super Ae and Super Roots 3 pay clear homage to the classic Neu! sound.

In terms of traditional western and rock music harmonic form, Rother would complement Dinger's rhythm by eschewing chord changes, and instead opting for a harmonic drone – a single chord, layering numerous electric guitar overdubs. Timbral change takes over from harmonic change as the main focus of interest. Conny Plank was renowned as a producer for creating a working environment where musicians could be free to explore such experiments, and also as a master of timbral texture and spatialisation. Many other Neu! tracks are very slow and gentle, sketching out traces of a song in what might be called an ambient style.

Former members

• Klaus Dinger (1971–1975, 1985–1986) – vocals, drums, guitars, keyboards
• Michael Rother (1971–1975, 1985–1986) – vocals, guitars, bass guitar, keyboards
• Eberhard Kranemann (1972) – bass guitar, slide guitar.
• Uli Trepte (1972) – bass guitar.
• Thomas Dinger (1975) – drums.
• Hans Lampe (1975) – drums.
• Conrad Matheiu (1985–1986) – bass guitar.
• Georg Sessenhausen (1985–1986) – drums.

Discography

Neu! discography

Releases
↙Studio albums	4
↙Live albums	1
↙Compilation albums	2
↙Singles	3
↙Tribute and cover albums	2

All Neu! albums on Brain Records were reissued in 2001 by Astralwerks and Grönland Records. All Neu! albums on Captain Trip Records have at least in part been re-released as part of the 2010 Grönland Records Vinyl Box.

Studio albums

Year	Title	Notes
1972	NEU! Label: Brain Records
1973	NEU! 2 Label: Brain Records
1975	NEU! '75 Label: Brain Records
2010	NEU! '86 Released: August 16, 2010 (2010-08-16) Label: Grönland Records	Authorised re-release of NEU! 4 with a different track listing.

Compilation, out-take and live albums

Year	Title	Notes
1982	Black Forest Gateau Label: Cherry Red	Compilation album Contains 2 tracks from NEU! and 4 from NEU! '75
1995	NEU! 4 Released: October 17, 1995 (1995-10-17) Label: Captain Trip Records	Studio out-takes album
1996	NEU! '72 Live in Dusseldorf Label: Captain Trip Records	Rehearsal recording
2009	Avantgarde History Released: November 2009 (2009-11) Label: Eberhard Kranemann self-release	CD-R compilation Featuring 3 unreleased NEU! tracks recorded in the tour that followed the recording of NEU! '72.
2010	Vinyl Box Released: May 10, 2010 (2010-05-10) Label: Grönland Records	Box set Contains the all three studio albums, out-takes album NEU! '86, NEU! '72 (live 18 minute maxi-single). 36-page picturebook, stencil, NEU! t-shirt, and digital download code.[5]

Singles

• 1972 – "Super" / "Neuschnee" (Brain Records)
• 1975 – "Isi" / "After Eight" (United Artists Records)
• 2010 – "Crazy" / "Euphoria" (Grönland Records)

Tribute albums

• 2001 – A Homage to NEU! (Cleopatra Records)
• 2009 – Brand NEU!: Tribute to NEU! (Feraltone)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. p. 687. ISBN 978-1-84195-017-4. 
2. ^ "Michael Rother podcast interview from the Quietus, conducted at All Tomorrow's Parties, May 2008". http://www.thequietus.com/2008/05/listening-in-michael-rother-of-harmonia-neu-and-kraftwerk-podcast/. Retrieved 2008-05-15. 
3. ^ Website of Dinger's last project, Japandorf: www.japandorf.com
4. ^ ^{a b} "dbmagazine.com.au - Issue #471 - Michael Rother". dB Magazine. http://www.dbmagazine.com.au/471/iv-MichaelRother.shtml. Retrieved 2009-08-19. 
5. ^ "michaelrother.de - NEU! vinyl box set released on 10 May 2010". michaelrother.de. http://www.michaelrother.de/en/news_single.php?nid=84. Retrieved 2010-03-12. 

External links

• http://www.neu2010.com/ Neu! 2010
• http://www.la-duesseldorf.de/ Current official Klaus Dinger website
• http://www.dingerland.de/ Previous official Klaus Dinger website
• http://www.michaelrother.de/ Michael Rother's official website