Christoph Dallach, Andreas Dorau and Daniel Jahn present Echo Neuklang, a compilation which explores the question of how Krautrock has influenced generation after generation of musicians since its inception. A contentious genre at the best of times, the music within its spectrum is essentially intangible. The common thread running through it is a compulsion to seek out the new. Beginning in the year 1981 and extending as far as 2023, the music in this collection demon- strates how the idea of what passed for Krautrock in the 1970s has been interpreted or rein- terpreted by a diverse array of artists with distinct approaches in the decades which followed, without recourse to any generic conventions. A: Goodness, I’m freezing, it is wintertime in 2019. Here we sit, smoking in a railway station bar to discuss our compilation and the irksome topic of Krautrock. Such a stupid word, Kraut- rock. The three of us all agree on that, do we not? D: Indeed we do. There’s no rock in Krautrock. A: Rock‘s just as stupid, we can agree on that as well! C: Not one of the interesting, so-called Krautrock bands has anything to do with rock. A: The million dollar question has to be: what is Krautrock anyway? I would say that Krautrock is a genre whichdefies description. Think about the rhythms, the music, the instrumentation, there are no recurring elements at all. It must be the freest genre of all time. D: The only common denominator is that it’s free music, different music, neither experimental in the classicsense, nor is it pop or rock. C: There has never been a “Krautrock sound” as such, it’s more of a unifying attitude, a drive to search for something genuinely new. That’s how it was back in the early 1970s. A: It was an attempt to find “other” music! But has it crossed into this millenium, is that same s pirit in evidence in newer music? C: Absolutely, like the the music on this compilation, because it is so hard to classify. A: So what do we call it? D: Neo-Kraut? A: I like it, you’ve left out the rock. D: And so the story continues. Tracklist 01. Stefan Thelen & Olek Gelba – Der Weg Nach Innen (Außen) 02. Burnt Friedman – Platin Tundra 03. Haindling – Weite Welt 04. Conny Frischauf – Lichterloh 05. Moebius & Renziehausen – Hydrator 06. Deutsche Wertarbeit – Deutscher Wald 07. Kreidler – Winter 08. Workshop – Eskapade 09. Love-Songs – Love-Songs gegen die Zeit 10. To Rococo Rot – Took 11. Härte 10 – Cosmos Annie 12. Schlammpeitziger – Schlafatemwagen 13. Rheingold – Strahlende Zukunft
