Something Brand Neu!

In 1973, Michael Rother & Klaus Dinger, otherwise known as the German duo Neu!, began working on their second release, titled appropriately enough, Neu! 2. Hoping to build on the accolades which their eponymous predecessor received, Rother & Dinger were not only hoping to change how rock music, in all of its primitive, raw glory was supposed to sound but they would also unknowingly or otherwise create something just as fresh & exciting: what we today know as the remix.

Midway through recording, as legend has it, Rother & Dinger realized that they were in dire straits as far as funding went: they were almost broke. So to keep their label happy, & give them more than enough material for a fully realized album, Neu! put two songs, "Neuschnee" & "Super" through some pretty major paces: "Neuschnee 78" is just that, a song going 200 mph on the Autobahn (with Dinger deliberately bumping the needle on the record player at one point). "Cassetto" is two minutes of hearing a tape player on its last dying legs (& with the above recording equipment about to call it a day, a cassette getting eaten up by the tapedeck). "Hallo Excentrico" is "Neuschnee" played at varying speeds (& Dinger, Rother, & engineer Conny Plank having a conversation in the studio). "Neuschnee" in its original form is Neu! carrying over their motorik vibes from their debut effort, a new bunch of sound rolling down the motorway for sure.

"Super 16" is "Super" slowed down to a seriously molasses-like crawl (again with Dinger jacking around with the record player's stylus at the tail end). On the other hand, "Super 78" is like hearing Alvin and the Chipmunks going punk...lol. Funny but it's true. "Super" at normal speed is punk all right, well before the term even came into existence; in fact, Dinger's ecstatic yelps on this song paved the way for all the Johnny Rottens which would step onto the scene just a few years later.

And that's all for side two of the original album. Side one is equally awesome in its own right: "Fur Immer" is the sound of Krautrock in a nutshell, reminiscent of the opening track to Neu!s debut: minimal layers of sound laid down over a driving, conveyor-belt groove which is irresistible & trance-like. This composition in a sense was a battle charge folks like Stereolab responded to with a passion (as well as plenty of experimental musicians & other post-rockers). "Spitzenqualitat" reveals Dinger's drumming at its most forceful & if I dare to say so most robotic. "Lila Engel" closes off the first half of things avant-garde punk style, Neu! rocking out like two dudes possessed.

Neu! 2 had its share of many admirers & fans: David Bowie, Blur, the aforementioned Stereolab, & Kraftwerk just to name a few. This is Krautrock at its most unique & most innovative (not to forget beautiful); at the same time, as the album's second half readily confirms, it's just as intriguing & adventurous: Neu! 2 could be called the first remix album ever made on earth.