The Spyros Krautrock list

[chalkpie]

The kraut list

Kraut rock classics
1. CAN Future days
2. AMON DUUL II Tanz der lemminge
3. FAUST So far
4. NEU Neu 75
5. AGITATION FREE Malesch
6. ASH RA TEMPEL Ash Ra Tempel
7. CLUSTER 2
8. EMBRYO Steig aus
9. FRUMPY 2
10. MYTHOS Mythos
11. KRAFTWERK Kraftwerk
12. Klaus SCHULZE Cyborg
13. WITTHUSER + WESTRUPP Trips & traume
14. GROBSCHNITT Ballermann
15. POPOL VUH In den garten pharaos
16. GURU GURU UFO
17. GILA Gila (Free electric sound)
18. COSMIC JOKERS Galactic supermarket
19. DEUTER D
20. TANGERINE DREAM Zeit
21. BRAINTICKET Cottonwoodhill
22. OUT OF FOCUS Four letter monday afternoon
23. LUCIFER'S FRIEND Where the groupies killed the blues
24. ELOY Floating
25. ANNEXUS QUAM Osmose

Kraut rock obscurities
1. Walter WEGMULLER Tarot
2. SAND Golem
3. BETWEEN And the waters opened
4. CORNUCOPIA Full horn
5. WIRED Free improvisation
6. BABA YAGA Collage
7. DOM Edge of time
8. Achim REICHEL Echo
9. KLUSTER Zwei osterei
10. DZYAN Electric silence
11. ALCATRAZ Vampire state building
12. IBLISS Supernova
13. Gunter SCHICKERT Samtvogel
14. THIRSTY MOON Thirsty moon
15. SAHARA Sunrise
16. CODE III Planet of man
17. DENNIS Hyperthalamus
18. NINE DAYS WONDER Nine days wonder
19. TOMORROW'S GIFT Tomorrow's gift
20. EMTIDI Saat
21. XHOL Motherfuckers Gmbh & Co
22. VIRUS Revelation
23. YATHA SIDHRA A meditation mass
24. MESSAGE From books and dreams
25. BRAVE NEW WORLD Impressions on reading Aldus Huxley

Kraut rock modern
1. ELECTRIC ORANGE Abgelaufen!
2. F.G. EXPERIMENTAL LABORATORY Hope
3. HIGH WOLF Ascension
4. STEREOLAB Mars audiac quintet
5. DOUBLE LEOPARDS Halve maen
6. EMERALDS Solar bridge
7. ALPS III
8. SULA BASSANA Dreamer
9. Bernd KISTENMACHER Head visions
10. MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE Totem one
11. MOTHER YOD Mother Yod
12. RADIO MASSACRE INTERNATIONAL Frozen north
13. NURSE WITH WOUND An awkward pause
14. SEVEN THAT SPELLS The death and resurrection of krautrock: Aum
15. MITTELWINTERNACHT Mittelwinternacht '71
16. SPACE Space
17. ZEN Derya
18. WELTRAUMSTAUNEN Weltraumstaunen
19. SURFACE OF ECEYON Dragyyn
20. LAMAGAIA Lamagaius
21. SILVESTER ANFANG Kosmies slachtafval
22. OHR MUSIK Friction burns
23. ROBEDOOR Shrine to the possessor
24. MOON DUO Mazes
25. SUN DIAL Mind control

[chalkpie]

So here is the deal - I asked my pal Spyros if he would be willing to shoot me about 20 or so of his favorite krautrock and spacerock titles, both spanning the usual classics to the fairly obscure (including possibly vinyl only), and everything in between. He did just that and more, and came back with a much larger and comprehensive list for which I am extremely grateful (thanks again man ). He said it would be fine to share with the list as well, so here 'ya go. I know we go crazy with lists sometimes, but personally this is educational for me.

[Zappathustra]

Well, I'll be seeing him in an hour from now and I'm going to complain for leaving Scorpions' Lonesome Crow out of the list!

this guy is an example of generosity. His knowledge is also terrifyingly vast. And deep.

[battema]

Very cool list

[100423]

Nice!

[chalkpie]

Well, I'll be seeing him in an hour from now and I'm going to complain for leaving Scorpions' Lonesome Crow out of the list!

I seem to recall seeing Scorpions on one of his lists - maybe on Yves Top 5 Krautrock thread?

this guy is an example of generosity. His knowledge is also terrifyingly vast. And deep.

Agreed 100%. Spyros is the man

10. DZYAN Electric silence

Wow - I can't get over how good this album is. The mallets vibe here is just spectacular.

[Zappathustra]

^^ the answer was "oh shit, I forgot about" and then some great story about acquiring the album without knowing what it was, in the mid 70's, hoping that it would sound like Led Zep, and his disappointment that it didn't.

[spacefreak]

Yoy guys make me blush

[JKL2000]

It's the Nurse with Wound of Krautrock! It looks very good. One I would add (just for anyone interested) is Amon Duul's "Paradieswärts Düül." Great album!

[Levgan]

Excellent list, as expected from Spyros, but isn't FG Experimental Laboratory a late 1970s project? I used to have this album and wouldn't really group it with neokraut bands – it's very much a product of the same era as, say, the classic records by Klaus Schulze, Gunter Schickert or Tangerine Dream (although unlike those mentioned, Fredy Guye was from Switzerland as far as I recall).

[spacefreak]

Excellent list, as expected from Spyros, but isn't FG Experimental Laboratory a late 1970s project? I used to have this album and wouldn't really group it with neokraut bands – it's very much a product of the same era as, say, the classic records by Klaus Schulze, Gunter Schickert or Tangerine Dream (although unlike those mentioned, Fredy Guye was from Switzerland as far as I recall).

Right but I needed somewhere to fit it Lev, and as it is from 1980... Could easily be in the Kraut rock obscurities... It is Swiss of course, but more krautrock than many krauts.

[JKL2000]

BTW, I think it's kind of interesting that Spyros' list isn't that far away from Julian Cope's list of the top 50 Krautrock albums in Krautrocksampler, but some people were really upset by that list. It was too mainstream Krautrock for some people or something. But I think both lists are fine. Personally my Krautrock listening has usually veered more toward the less "obvious" at times, which has more to do with my own taste than anything else. For example, I've listened to very little Can, Faust, or Neu! But I see that as something I need to rectify. And this list certainly gets to a lot of the stuff I like.

For the record, I love the book Krautrocksampler and it's one of the few books I've read many times. Even though I haven't listened to some of the albums he covers much, I still love reading his descriptions and reminiscences. I highly recommend the book to anyone interested in Krautrock. It's hard to find, but I know I found a PDF of the whole thing online once so if you Google Krautrocksampler.PDF you might find it. Actually, looks like it was yanked, but I can probably find it and send it to anyone interested.

[Levgan]

Right but I needed somewhere to fit it Lev, and as it is from 1980... Could easily be in the Kraut rock obscurities... It is Swiss of course, but more krautrock than many krauts.

Yeah, I'd personally add it to the Krautrock obscurities, but it's nothing but picking nits of course. I completely agree with your assessment of the album, and the list in general is excellent and should be very helpful for newcomers. One thing I'd stress is that while the majority of the "classics" that you list are indeed of the typically German unabashedly psychedelic experimental rock variety, there are a few more conventional albums within, which are also very good, but perhaps don't really bear that elusive "krautrock" stamp – I'm referring to Frumpy 2, Lucifer's Friend and Eloy in particular. That breed of more cosmopolitan German prog rock could be seen deserving of its own list, while things like Sergius Golowin's LP, A.R. & Machines' Die Grune Reise or Et Cetera would replace them in the "main" 25. Again, not undermining the work you've done, my friend, just some random thoughts from someone who is off from work today and thus has way too much free time on his hands.

[spacefreak]

BTW, I think it's kind of interesting that Spyros' list isn't that far away from Julian Cope's list of the top 50 Krautrock albums in Krautrocksampler, but some people were really upset by that list.

Well, Cope is here:

http://rateyourmusic.com/list/groonr...r-julian-cope/

Cope's list ain't bad but rather focused on commonly agreed classics (and several albums per featured artist). No Embryo (criminal omission), Frumpy, Agitation Free, Mythos, Grobschnitt, Deuter, Brainticket, Out of Focus, Lucifer's Friend, Eloy, Annexus Quam on his classics and there are 50 vs 25 in my selection. I think I differed considerably in my approach (1st by deciding to include only one album per artist in order to be rather artist-focused that album-centered and to include more facets of the cultural phenomenon than the electronic/freaked out one)... For the record, I'm not an admirer of his book there's an abundance of fanboy drooling there and a narrow vision of what is "different rock" from Germany. Neither of Dag Erik Asbjornsen's encyclopedia, for his limited knowledge of the scene. I tend rather to be closer to the Freemans wider approach of the genre; if temprted to go near top100 as they did, I should have included several Neue Deutsche Welle borderline albums within...

[Trane]

Wow, I checked my Gnosis ratings and I have 150 German albums rating 10 or higher and 230 above 9

All of Spyros' albums in the first two should be in the first list and about 9/10 in the second list

However, outside Electric Orange and RMI (and I'm not sure we're talking about the same albums here), I don't know any of the rest of the list. I guess I got some catching up to do.

(well, is NWW really a German band?)

[Zappathustra]

An omission - deliberate or not - could be Silberbart's 4 Times, a record I picked up from Spyros' suggestions. A freak-out, proto-metal classic.

[spacefreak]

One thing I'd stress is that while the majority of the "classics" that you list are indeed of the typically German unabashedly psychedelic experimental rock variety, there are a few more conventional albums within, which are also very good, but perhaps don't really bear that elusive "krautrock" stamp – I'm referring to Frumpy 2, Lucifer's Friend and Eloy in particular. That breed of more cosmopolitan German prog rock could be seen deserving of its own list, while things like Sergius Golowin's LP, A.R. & Machines' Die Grune Reise or Et Cetera would replace them in the "main" 25. Again, not undermining the work you've done, my friend, just some random thoughts from someone who is off from work today and thus has way too much free time on his hands.

Well my friend, I underwent this problematic myself before compiling the list, but I think my response to JKL provides also an answer to your statement (I wrote it before reading your contribution as I'm at work through my mobile -which ain't my preferable tech tool for browsing PE). I 've always followed the wider approach of krautrock, as in my opinion the german idiosyncrasies were to my ears more striking than what the resemblances to the anglo/american (and cosmopolitan as you aptly noted) rock sound implied.

[spacefreak]

An omission - deliberate or not - could be Silberbart's 4 Times, a record I picked up from Spyros' suggestions. A freak-out, proto-metal classic.

Well... I limited to 25 my friend...

[spacefreak]

(well, is NWW really a German band?)

Modern krautrock by 90% ain't german but an imitation of style... that's why you have less teutonic bands. Usually foreign acts sounded more convincing than the germans (as french HIGH WOLF or american MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE f.e.)

[chalkpie]

Well, Cope is here:

http://rateyourmusic.com/list/groonr...r-julian-cope/

No Future Days here, or I am just not seeing it?

[chalkpie]

Digging Neu '75 for (perhaps?) the first time. Loving it so far, especially the second track "Seeland". Such an atmospheric tune, really lovely. The sound of this record is really quite different compared to the s/t.

[Trane]

Modern krautrock by 90% ain't german but an imitation of style... that's why you have less teutonic bands. Usually foreign acts sounded more convincing than the germans (as french HIGH WOLF or american MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE f.e.)

OK, got it.

No Future Days here, or I am just not seeing it?

Probably replaced by Tago or Ege...

[chalkpie]

Probably replaced by Tago or Ege...

Its just an odd omission imo, especially that he includes virtually every other album in that classic period.

[Levgan]

I think my response to JKL provides also an answer to your statement

It does! Just to clarify, I did not mean that Eloy or Lucifer's Friend are somehow not eligible to be called krautrock... Quite the contrary, I'm all for the liberal approach to the genre boundaries, and like you, tend to enjoy both the more Teutonic and the more cosmopolitan examples of German rock music. What I suggested was merely dividing the former and the latter between two different lists. But again, it's definitely not an attack on your list, just a thought that crossed my mind.

I tend rather to be closer to the Freemans wider approach of the genre; if temprted to go near top100 as they did, I should have included several Neue Deutsche Welle borderline albums within...

Agreed that Freemans are better authorities than Asbjornsen or Cope, but IMO they tend to lose it precisely when it comes to NDW...

[chalkpie]

13. WITTHUSER + WESTRUPP Trips & traume

Never heard this album before. What a nice, pleasant mix of laid-back folkie slightly spaced-out acid German folk. Quite unique. Thumb up