[UNLOCKED] The Great Kosmische Musik: Krautrock

Love is the Message: Dance, Music and Counterculture

UNLOCKED - We've made public this previously patrons-only episode following the death of Can singer Damo Suzuki. If you'd like to become a patron, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

W do you call it? Krautrock, space rock, the Great Komische Music? It’s all German to me. In a little under two hours the guys cover the history of post-WW2 Germany (East and West), anti-Communist geopolitics, what you want to hear when you’re tripping, Pop Art, post-rock and playfulness, all in reference to the music of Can, NEU!, Ash Ra Tempel and more.

We hear about the characteristics of the German counterculture from which many of these players came, the various tendencies of revolutionary European socialism, the Green Party, and the problems of De-Nazification. We consider the avant-garde compositions of Karlheinz Stockhausen, the impact of American acid rock, Ancient Egypt, and the many ways James Brown’s funk filtered into the motor rhythms of Dusseldorf 1971. More than anything, we survey a formidable body of work that is at once mesmeric and danceable - both things we like here at Love is the Message!

Produced by Matt Huxley.

Books:
Julian Cope - Krautrock Sampler: One Head’s Guide to the Great Kosmische Musik
David Stubbs - Future Days: Krautrock and the Building of Modern Germany

Tracklist:
Ash Ra Tempel & Timothy Leary - Timeship
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Spiral (Realization A)
Amon Duul ii - Yeti (Improvisation)
Ash Ra Tempel - Amboss
Kraftwerk - Stratovarius
Tangerine Dream - Genesis
Tangerine Dream - Flute Organ Piece
Can - Halleluwah
NEU! - Hallogallo
Can - Moonshake
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Harmonia & Eno '76 - Atmosphere
Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express