Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, other early German electronic

[JGJR]

Sam mentioned TD in another thread and I recently heard the album Phaedra and really dug it. What are other favorites of yours?

[scannest]

I like my drone-y German rock more organic. I prefer Can and Neu!, but I can appreciate bits and pieces of the more electronic stuff.

[JGJR]

I like my drone-y German rock more organic. I prefer Can and Neu!, but I can appreciate bits and pieces of the more electronic stuff.

I love CAN and Neu!, but regard Neu! and Kraftwerk as kind of brother bands since both members of Neu! were in Kraftwerk early on. I realized a while back with Neu! that I'm a way, way bigger Michael Rother (guitarist) fan than I am of Klaus Dinger (drummer) if you look at what they did from the 3rd album Neu! '75 (really 2 solo EPs; their 1st 2 albums are much more collaborative) on and then their respective solo work (Dinger's was under the name La Dusseldorf, their hometown). Rother's late '70s solo stuff is insanely great, as is the 1st side of Neu! '75, which is his compositions. It's like the instrumental blueprints for a lot of what's called post-punk now, Joy Division, Cure, et al.

Don't get me wrong. I like Dinger and side 2 of '75 and La Dusseldorf, too, but have to be in the mood for them. His vocals are a big influence on John Lydon FWIW.

As for CAN, they should be a separate thread. Lots and lots of great records even way past the Damo era. Some of the mid to late '70s stuff is super underrated IMO.

[patient_ot]

For Tangerine Dream, pretty much anything up through the early 80s or so I can recommend. Also check out Edgar Froese's solo work. Most of these albums are easier and less expensive to buy on CD or digital vs. vinyl. It used to be U.S. pressings of Virgin Records era TD albums were less than 10 dollars but the prices have really gone up in the last couple of years. Plus, I think they sound better on CD anyway.

If you like Tangerine Dream, look for anything that's part of the "Berlin School" scene from the 70s and 80s and much of it you'll probably like.

There was also an American scene based on this stuff - Steve Roach for example is mainly known for ambient and tribal-ambient type music but got his start with sequencer based electronic stuff in the late 70s/early 80s. His first few albums - Now, Traveler, and Empetus are all in that style and he revisited that style several times in the later years.

One of his inspirations was this album, which is pretty underrated IMHO:

https://www.discogs.com/Michael-Hoenig- ... ster/33786

If you can stand more repetitive/atmospheric type stuff, you might like Conrad Schnitzler or Klaus Schulze. Neither are typically as "rhythmic" as Tangerine Dream, but are well worth listening to.

Another one you may enjoy is Manuel Gottsching's E2-E4 album. That album is very beat driven with electronics and guitar work and very hypnotic. It was also a huge influence on Techno music.

As for more recent stuff, my favorite sequencer-electronic album in recent years is this one:

https://hollanholmes.bandcamp.com/album ... the-energy

If you need more stuff to check out you can always look at the Berlin School charts on RYM - just be aware that users there tend to give any type of electronic music that's not very mainstream lower scores.

https://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/al ... in-school/

[patient_ot]

As for CAN, they should be a separate thread. Lots and lots of great records even way past the Damo era. Some of the mid to late '70s stuff is super underrated IMO.

Agreed on the separate thread for more "rock" based bands of this type, or maybe just a Can-specific thread since they were so different from Amon Duul or whatever. I will admit I never paid much attention to the post-Damo era. I though Soon Over Babaluma was pretty good, but never went further than that. I've heard some hardcore fans say every album is essential, though I can't imagine I would love everything they did.

[xxxMidgexxx]

Sam mentioned TD in another thread and I recently heard the album Phaedra and really dug it. What are other favorites of yours?

TG:

'Atem' was my favorite for ages, but now its Phaedra. And there's a new 5.1 Steven Wilson mix that's sonically superior to the original. My friend sent me a burn of the Edgar Froese bootlegs and they're good for when I have to study or work.

Kraftwerk will always be Electric Café (1986) with a close 2nd being the Showroom Dummies 12". Amazing!

[SamDBL]

Sam mentioned TD in another thread and I recently heard the album Phaedra and really dug it. What are other favorites of yours?

TG:

'Atem' was my favorite for ages, but now its Phaedra. And there's a new 5.1 Steven Wilson mix that's sonically superior to the original. My friend sent me a burn of the Edgar Froese bootlegs and they're good for when I have to study or work.

Kraftwerk will always be Electric Café (1986) with a close 2nd being the Showroom Dummies 12". Amazing!

Atem, Phaedra and rubicon are my faves.

[JGJR]

Sam mentioned TD in another thread and I recently heard the album Phaedra and really dug it. What are other favorites of yours?

TG:

'Atem' was my favorite for ages, but now its Phaedra. And there's a new 5.1 Steven Wilson mix that's sonically superior to the original. My friend sent me a burn of the Edgar Froese bootlegs and they're good for when I have to study or work.

Kraftwerk will always be Electric Café (1986) with a close 2nd being the Showroom Dummies 12". Amazing!

I have to confess that I've never heard Electric Cafe nor that 12" version of "Showroom Dummies" (though the version on Trans-Europe Express is incredible, of course), but that whole stretch from Autobahn to Computer World (inclusive of both) is incredible. My favorite is The Man Machine; Computer World is a close 2nd and I think mostly that is due to "Computer Love" (one of my favorite songs).

If you like Kraftwerk and think the idea of their songs as salsa-fied floor fillers is a good idea, this is an absolute must hear and one of my favorite things to play when I want to hear something purely fun and festive. In other words, it's a great party record.