Genre story · Experimental
Krautrock
A loose name for German musicians who were refusing to make British or American rock all over again.
The term krautrock was applied, often from outside Germany, to a wide range of West German groups active around the late 1960s and 1970s. Can, Neu!, Faust, Popol Vuh and other acts were never one unified genre in the strict musical sense. They grew from different environments shaped by experimental composition, the aftermath of 1968, new recording technologies and a desire to work beyond inherited popular-music formulas. Their recordings could be rhythmic, meditative, improvisational or song-oriented.
Repetition as a new center
Some of the best-known pieces place a steady, repetitive beat under slowly shifting guitar and keyboard parts. Others use tape edits, electronics, acoustic instruments or long improvisations. The familiar 'motorik' rhythm associated especially with Neu! is a valuable reference, but it does not describe all of Can, Faust or Popol Vuh. Using it as a universal definition would erase much of the movement's range.
An awkward name, a huge legacy
Krautrock is a historical umbrella whose label can carry a derogatory edge. The music influenced post-punk, Electronic dance music, post-rock and various independent-rock scenes. In Explore, describe the specific sounds and their cultural setting rather than declaring every German experimental band part of a single strict subgenre.
Essential recordings
- 1971CanTago MagoLong-form rhythmic rock and tape experimentation.
- 1972Neu!Neu!A particularly clear early form of driving repetitive guitar music.
- 1973FaustFaust IVA playful, electronically treated and structurally restless approach.