compilation guide by James Murphy, Bobby Gillespie, Sonic Youth
‘Brand Neu!’ a new compilation in homage to seminal 70s Krautrockers NEU! is out today, 18th May 2009. This release features fantastic contributions from artists influenced by the band from Primal Scream to LCD Soundsystem, Foals to Oasis. The album is the first release on Feraltone, a new label founded by Gronland’s former Managing Director, Rene Renner.
As well as featuring a new composition by current Brooklyn dream pop favourites School Of Seven Bells, ‘Brand Neu!’ also contains a rare guitar track by NEU! guitarist Michael Rother plus an unreleased track by La Duesseldorf, one of the last pieces of music late drummer Klaus Dinger was involved in shortly before his untimely death in March 2008.
All the artists involved were asked about how NEU! had influenced their music, resulting in the following guide to the album in their own words:
James Murphy/ LCD SOUNDSYSTEM:
“I first started listening to NEU! in the early 90's. It was a little tragic for me because I discovered them for myself just before the original records became wildly expensive, but I was too broke to take advantage of it! I bought the first LP only, and it was all I could listen to of theirs until the reissues started surfacing a few years later. In a way, I'm glad, because I developed such a strong relationship with that first record—so much that the next 2 I bought were a total surprise--sounded completely different to me! Now, of course, I hear the continuity, but I loved how my relationship to the music expanded over years rather than in the mad rush I would have had if there were an internet with music... it was more personal. And that's what it's supposed to be, right?”
Bobby Gillespie / PRIMAL SCREAM:
“Winter 1999........Me & Mani see an incredible Iggy show on the Reeperbahn in Hamburg.
"I've been struck by lightning" Mani said. "It doesn't get any better than this" I thought.
We said thanks & goodbye to our friend Joss then got in a fast car & headed down the autobahn to Cologne.
The soundtrack to our journey was Neu! 1 & Neu! 2. The combination of pure amphetamine sulphate & the relentless pulsing driving guitar & drums of Rother & Dinger had us both in a state of total joy. Neu! make perfect dream music. As we hit the Ruhr Valley huge factories blew smoke & fire into the sky, ripping a hole in the night. We didn't want the journey to end.
I think that the music that Klaus Dinger & Michael Rother made as Neu! is heroic. Along with their producer Conny Plank they created a new sound & style. Pop, but experimental. Futuristic and uncompromising and always going forward.
Their record sleeves & graphics pre-dated & anticipated punk/post punk. Day-glo/ bright/ minimal /clean/ no mess/ straight to the point.
I hope that this album turns more people onto the music of Neu! They really are great.”
Benjamin Curtis / SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS:
"I once heard Michael [Rother] say, and I'm paraphrasing, that he "just wanted to make music that didn't sound like anybody else". This was probably in response to my repeated questioning that more or less amounts to: "what on earth were you thinking!?” I'm sure I've rephrased the question many times, searching for some hidden jewel of wisdom in his response, but I guarantee that if you asked him the same question, he'd be just as frank. But, what other answer could there be? I mean, as far as being creative goes, what else is there to know?
The implication is not so much that he and Klaus weren't trying to sound like anybody else, but that they were only trying to sound like THEMSELVES. In other words, they just wanted to BE themselves, and as we've all seen, there might not be anything more difficult to do with only a guitar and some drums.
Neu! is, in my opinion, one of the more towering musical achievements in recent history, and we are all living in the individual shadows of these two men.
Speed and stillness, simplicity and cacophony, gentleness and aggression, mania and focus, are all juxtapositions that have been given a voice, and have learned to coexist under the equally as contradictory guidance of Michael and Klaus.
Getting to know an artist like Michael who has changed paths, taken chances, followed his ears, all while being himself with a grace and honesty I just haven't seen in many other musicians I've known has truly inspired me to do the same."
LEE RANALDO / SONIC YOUTH:
"NEU!: aural visionary minimalist icons in a wilderness of psychedelia and beyond, inspired us with their heroic beats and flat-out grooves on the expressway to our collective skulls."
NOEL GALLAGHER / OASIS:
'My current new favourite German band of all time. Proper tour bus music. Spiritual!!'
DAVID BEST, FUJIYA & MIYAGI:
“The records Neu! left us are an antidote to everything that I don't like in music. Their LPs will never sound anything other than unique and timeless.”
Keigo Oyamada / CORNELIUS:
"Always NEU!"
Matthias Schulz / HOLY FUCK:
“What can be said about Neu! (or any other great band, for that matter)? - It's best to approach music un-burdened with silly music journalism and listen for yourself. It will be obvious why they are important.”
Brand Neu! on MySpace Music
Feraltone
As well as featuring a new composition by current Brooklyn dream pop favourites School Of Seven Bells, ‘Brand Neu!’ also contains a rare guitar track by NEU! guitarist Michael Rother plus an unreleased track by La Duesseldorf, one of the last pieces of music late drummer Klaus Dinger was involved in shortly before his untimely death in March 2008.
All the artists involved were asked about how NEU! had influenced their music, resulting in the following guide to the album in their own words:
James Murphy/ LCD SOUNDSYSTEM:
“I first started listening to NEU! in the early 90's. It was a little tragic for me because I discovered them for myself just before the original records became wildly expensive, but I was too broke to take advantage of it! I bought the first LP only, and it was all I could listen to of theirs until the reissues started surfacing a few years later. In a way, I'm glad, because I developed such a strong relationship with that first record—so much that the next 2 I bought were a total surprise--sounded completely different to me! Now, of course, I hear the continuity, but I loved how my relationship to the music expanded over years rather than in the mad rush I would have had if there were an internet with music... it was more personal. And that's what it's supposed to be, right?”
Bobby Gillespie / PRIMAL SCREAM:
“Winter 1999........Me & Mani see an incredible Iggy show on the Reeperbahn in Hamburg.
"I've been struck by lightning" Mani said. "It doesn't get any better than this" I thought.
We said thanks & goodbye to our friend Joss then got in a fast car & headed down the autobahn to Cologne.
The soundtrack to our journey was Neu! 1 & Neu! 2. The combination of pure amphetamine sulphate & the relentless pulsing driving guitar & drums of Rother & Dinger had us both in a state of total joy. Neu! make perfect dream music. As we hit the Ruhr Valley huge factories blew smoke & fire into the sky, ripping a hole in the night. We didn't want the journey to end.
I think that the music that Klaus Dinger & Michael Rother made as Neu! is heroic. Along with their producer Conny Plank they created a new sound & style. Pop, but experimental. Futuristic and uncompromising and always going forward.
Their record sleeves & graphics pre-dated & anticipated punk/post punk. Day-glo/ bright/ minimal /clean/ no mess/ straight to the point.
I hope that this album turns more people onto the music of Neu! They really are great.”
Benjamin Curtis / SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS:
"I once heard Michael [Rother] say, and I'm paraphrasing, that he "just wanted to make music that didn't sound like anybody else". This was probably in response to my repeated questioning that more or less amounts to: "what on earth were you thinking!?” I'm sure I've rephrased the question many times, searching for some hidden jewel of wisdom in his response, but I guarantee that if you asked him the same question, he'd be just as frank. But, what other answer could there be? I mean, as far as being creative goes, what else is there to know?
The implication is not so much that he and Klaus weren't trying to sound like anybody else, but that they were only trying to sound like THEMSELVES. In other words, they just wanted to BE themselves, and as we've all seen, there might not be anything more difficult to do with only a guitar and some drums.
Neu! is, in my opinion, one of the more towering musical achievements in recent history, and we are all living in the individual shadows of these two men.
Speed and stillness, simplicity and cacophony, gentleness and aggression, mania and focus, are all juxtapositions that have been given a voice, and have learned to coexist under the equally as contradictory guidance of Michael and Klaus.
Getting to know an artist like Michael who has changed paths, taken chances, followed his ears, all while being himself with a grace and honesty I just haven't seen in many other musicians I've known has truly inspired me to do the same."
LEE RANALDO / SONIC YOUTH:
"NEU!: aural visionary minimalist icons in a wilderness of psychedelia and beyond, inspired us with their heroic beats and flat-out grooves on the expressway to our collective skulls."
NOEL GALLAGHER / OASIS:
'My current new favourite German band of all time. Proper tour bus music. Spiritual!!'
DAVID BEST, FUJIYA & MIYAGI:
“The records Neu! left us are an antidote to everything that I don't like in music. Their LPs will never sound anything other than unique and timeless.”
Keigo Oyamada / CORNELIUS:
"Always NEU!"
Matthias Schulz / HOLY FUCK:
“What can be said about Neu! (or any other great band, for that matter)? - It's best to approach music un-burdened with silly music journalism and listen for yourself. It will be obvious why they are important.”
Brand Neu! on MySpace Music
Feraltone
