Demob Happy

BRAND NEU ! - Various artists

8/10

BRAND NEU! is a tribute to the influential German band (aka Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother) that brings together a respectable selection of artists inspired by the Krautrock innovators. There are one note chugging guitars and hypnotic motorik grooves aplenty in this beguiling compilation, which doesn’t suffer too much from overly literal re-imagining of Krautrock due to some more liberal interpretations that mix things up a bit. There are old chestnuts like Primal Scream’s ‘Shoot Speed / Kill Light’, from their NEU! aping (and equally block capital happy) 2002 album XTRMNTR, and, um, younger chestnuts such as LCD Soundsystem’s ‘Watch the Tapes’. It begins with the Sonic Youth skit ‘Two Cool Rock Chicks Listening to Neu!’, which must have been a shoo-in for this compilation, and closes with a previously unreleased track called ‘Sketch 1_08′ by Dinger’s post-NEU! outfit La Düesseldorf (the last recording the drummer was involved in before his death in 2008), and finally a Michael Rother solo effort.

Surprisingly, there is a track by Oasis marked as ‘Rare’ (there are four categories here: already released, unreleased, rare, and exclusive to the compilation) which, while certainly a four square approach to the genre, is a visceral thrill of unrelenting Krautrock chug that hints at the Gallagher brothers’ early appeal. But for me the compilation is most interesting when it moves away from the template a bit: Foals’ amorphous, ominous ‘Titan Arum’ segues well into the mutant digital funk of Cornelius’ ‘Wataridori’. Holy Fuck’s ‘Super Inuit’ is a linear, but exhilirating Kraut rock-out replete with steadily intensifying crescendos, while School Of Seven Bells’ exclusive ‘Device fuer M’ is drowsier, dreamier, but still committed to a 4/4 orthodoxy - a mellow groove that bleeds near seamlessly into Fujiya and Miyagi’s fairly archetypal (for them) ‘Electro Karaoke’.

This compilation might lead you to believe that NEU! is very much the eclectic influence du jour, but I can’t help feel that the revival has already outstayed its welcome somewhat. The Krautrock aesthetic has been revisited rather extensively over the last 15 plus years or so, with musical trends such as shoegaze, electroclash and post rock all touching on elements laid down by the likes of NEU! While fairly insipid bands such as Baikonour continue to churn out fairly one-dimensional interpretations of the genre, fine recent albums by Caribou, Super Furry Animals and LCD Soundsystem suggest more imaginative ways the motorik conceit can be incorporated into a broader sonic palette. Oh, and yes, the cover art does say Kasabian - whose Radio 1 bothering ‘Stuntman’ is here - but don’t let that put you off.