Neu! was the Düsseldorf duo of Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother, ex-Kraftwerk members who struck out on their own in 1971 and built the motorik beat that Krautrock runs on. The 1972 debut Neu! and Neu! 75 are the essentials — Bowie, Stereolab, and countless others took notes. Dig into Neu! vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Neu! formed in Düsseldorf, Germany in 1971 around Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother, who had both been members of the early Kraftwerk lineup (1970-1971) before departing to form their own project. The band's name (German for new!) reflected their creative rejection of post-war German musical traditions and their pursuit of new musical languages. Their distinctive motorik rhythm - a steady 4/4 drum pattern at moderate tempo that Dinger developed - has been influential on subsequent generations of rock, electronic, and contemporary music (David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Stereolab, Spoon, and many others have cited Neu! as foundational influence). The duo dissolved in 1975 after Neu! 75, with creative differences between Dinger and Rother. They reunited briefly in 1985-1986 to record material that was controversially released as Neu! 4 in 1995 over Rother's objections. Dinger died of heart failure on March 21, 2008 at age 61. Rother has continued recording solo material and as a member of Harmonia (with Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius of Cluster). Their foundational influence on Krautrock, post-punk, electronic music, and broader contemporary music is widely documented.
Neu!'s sound is foundational to Krautrock - combining Krautrock, motorik, ambient, kosmische Musik, experimental rock, post-rock, and electronic with Dinger's foundational motorik rhythm (the apache beat, steady 4/4 at moderate tempo), Rother's atmospheric guitar work, minimalist arrangements, and conceptual approaches to album-length work. Their foundational influence on Krautrock, post-punk, electronic music, and broader contemporary music is widely documented.
Original Brain Records pressings of the 1970s Neu! catalog are foundational items in Krautrock collecting, with collector premiums on rare pressings. Multiple anniversary editions, audiophile reissues, and the comprehensive Grönland Records reissue programs have been released.
Listeners new to Neu! typically start with Neu! (1972) or Neu! 75 (1975).
