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The Cambridge Companion to Krautrock

The Cambridge Companion to Krautrock

The Cambridge Companion to Krautrock

Uwe Schütte, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany
October 2022
Available
Paperback
9781009005272

    This Companion is the first academic introduction to the 1960s/70s 'Krautrock' movement of German experimental music that has long attracted the attention of the music press and fans in Britain and abroad. It offers a structured approach to this exceptionally heterogeneous and decentralized movement, combining overviews with detailed analysis and close readings. The volume first analyzes the cultural, historical and economic contexts of Krautrock's emergence. It then features expert chapters discussing all the key bands of the era including Can, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Neu!, Faust, Ash Ra Tempel, Cluster and Amon Düül II. The volume concludes with essays that trace the varied, wide-ranging legacy of Krautrock from a variety of perspectives, exploring in particular the impact of German experimental music in the Anglosphere, including British post-punk and Detroit Techno. A final chapter examining the current bands that continue the Krautrock sound closes this comprehensive overview of the Krautrock phenomenon.

    • Provides insight into the contexts and legacy of Krautrock in addition to portraits of the best-known and most influential bands
    • Offers a structured and reliable introduction to this very heterogeneous movement, combining overview with detailed analysis and close readings
    • Reflects the highly varied nature of the Krautrock movement through the different perspectives and approaches of the contributors from Germany and the Anglosphere

    Reviews & endorsements

    ‘The Cambridge Companion to Krautrock is a valuable resource for both scholars and fans of German music of the 1970s, offering rigorous and historically grounded analysis of the kind that this supremely rich and intoxicating era of experimental rock and electronic music deserves.’ Simon Reynolds, author of Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–84

    ‘This Companion delivers a great introduction to Krautrock. The book is very well-researched and catches the spirit of the music Faust and our colleagues made (and continue to make).' Jean-Hervé Péron, FaUSt / art-Errorist / Avantgarde Festival Schiphorst

    ‘An absorbing and entirely readable study.' Shindig!

    ‘If you’re going to stand a chance of passing your Electronic Sound exams this year, you’ll need a copy of The Cambridge Companion To Krautrock … edited by Kraftwerk egghead Uwe Schütte, so you know you’re in safe hands.' Electronic Sound

    See more reviews

    Product details

    October 2022
    Paperback
    9781009005272
    320 pages
    245 × 169 × 19 mm
    0.6kg
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • Introduction Uwe Schütte
    • Part I. Context:
    • 1. Krautrock: definitions, concepts, contexts Ulrich Adelt
    • 2. Krautrock and the radical politics of 1968 Detlef Siegfried
    • 3. Krautrock in the British and American Music press Alexander Simmeth
    • 4. Infrastructure of the German music business Jan-Peter Herbst
    • 5. The sound of krautrock Heather Moore
    • Part II. Music:
    • 6. Kraftwerk Uwe Schütte
    • 7. Can Patrick Glen
    • 8. Tangerine dream Sean Nye and Michael Krikorian
    • 9. Neu! David Stubbs
    • 10. Faust Alexander Henkle
    • 11. Cluster/Harmonia David Pattie
    • 12. Popol Vuh Sascha Seiler
    • 13. Ash Ra Tempel, Manuel Göttsching and Klaus Schulze Pertti Grönholm
    • 14. Amon Düül II Ryan Iseppi
    • 15. The flip side of Krautrock Jens Balzer
    • Part III. Legacy:
    • 16. Krautrock and German Punk Jeff Hayton
    • 17. Krautrock and British post-punk Alexander Carpenter
    • 18. Krautrock and German Free Jazz, Kraut Fusion, Detroit Techno Marcus Barnes
    • 19. Krautrock Today Alex Harden
    • Index.
      Contributors
    • Uwe Schütte, Ulrich Adelt, Detlef Siegfried, Alexander Simmeth, Jan-Peter Herbst, Heather Moore, Patrick Glen, Sean Nye, Michael Krikorian, David Stubbs, Alexander Henkle, David Pattie, Sascha Seiler, Pertti Grönholm, Ryan Iseppi, Jens Balzer, Jeff Hayton, Alexander Carpenter, Marcus Barnes, Alex Harden

    • Editor
    • Uwe Schütte , Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany

      Uwe Schütte worked as a Reader in German in British higher education until Brexit. Now based in Berlin, he is Privatdozent at the University of Göttingen. Schütte has edited some ten volumes and written more than fifteen monographs on contemporary German-language literature and German pop music, with a focus on W. G. Sebald and Kraftwerk.