- Neu! 2
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NEU! 2 
Studio album by Neu! Released 1973 Recorded January 1973 Genre Krautrock, remix, ambient soundscapes, proto-punk[1] Length 42:14 Label Brain Producer Conny Plank, Neu! Neu! chronology Neu!
(1972)Neu! 2
(1973)Neu! '75
(1975)Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic 
[2]Pitchfork Media (7.5/10)[3] PopMatters (Positive)[4] Rolling Stone [5]Neu! 2 is an album by Krautrock band Neu!.
Contents
Overview
It was recorded in January 1973 at Windrose-Dumont-Time Studios, Hamburg, Germany, mixed in February 1973 at Windrose-Dumont-Time Studios, Hamburg, Germany, and released in 1973 by Brain Records. It was officially reissued by Astralwerks on May 29, 2001. Illegal bootleg CDs (with the audio taken from vinyl) from the Germanofon label were widely available in the late 1990s.
This album further focused the classic Neu! 'Krautrock' sound, with 11 minute "Für immer" in particular being the archetypal example of their style—a seemingly endless forward-driving vamping, propelled by Dinger's 4/4 drumming and Rother's layered guitar with its fluid lines and droning harmonic structure.
Side 2 of the record caused consternation at the time: Neu! had quite simply run out of money to finish recording the album, so side 2 is made up entirely of their previously released single "Neuschnee/Super", manipulated at various playback speeds on a record player, or mangled in a cassette recorder. Critics at the time dismissed this as a cheap gimmick and a rip-off. Whilst it was indeed an experiment born of desperation and necessity, it was entirely in keeping with Neu's pop art aesthetics, taking a 'ready-made' sound object and re-presenting it with a series of stylized manipulations, and also quite in keeping with the way Neu's music deconstructed and pared down the form of rock music. Dinger has since pointed to side 2 of this album as being a prototype of the now ubiquitous multiple 'remixes' which typically accompany any pop single release.
Track listing
Side 1 No. Title Length 1. "Für Immer" ("Forever") 11:17 2. "Spitzenqualität" ("Top Quality") 3:35 3. "Gedenkminute (für A + K)" ("Minute's Silence (For A + K)") 2:06 4. "Lila Engel" ("Lilac Angel") 4:37 Side 2 No. Title Length 5. "Neuschnee 78" ("Fresh Snow 78") 2:32 6. "Super 16" 3:39 7. "Neuschnee" ("Fresh Snow") 4:07 8. "Cassetto" ("Cassette") 1:48 9. "Super 78" 1:36 10. "Hallo Excentrico!" ("Hello Excentrico!") 3:44 11. "Super" 3:11 Personnel
- Band members
- Michael Rother – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, zither, percussion, electronics, cassette recorder
- Klaus Dinger – shamisen (Japanese banjo), 11-string guitar, drums, percussion, Farfisa electronic piano, vocals, electronics, record player
- Additional personnel
- Konrad "Conny" Plank – producer, engineer
- Hans Lampe – engineer
References
- ^ Sirota, Brent S. (5 June 2001). "Neu! Neu! '75". Pitchfork Media. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5756-neu-75/. Retrieved 24 May 2011. ""...the radical proto-punk of their second album...""
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Pitchfork Media review
- ^ PopMatters review
- ^ Rolling Stone review
Klaus Dinger · Michael Rother Neu! 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:- 1973 albums
- Neu! albums
- Albums produced by Conny Plank
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