Whilst listening to a ‘Mind Fusion’ compilation, there was this track with vocals that sounded very much the same to a young Michael Jackson. First thoughts where, this might of been a Jackson 5 song that I’ve missed, but then the sound of the band wasn’t quite 70s Motown. There was more ‘Rock’ to their already present jazzy sound and more ‘freeness’ in the way they played. (Motown didn’t allow much or even any creative control with the Jackson’s, hence their move to CBS) Further on into the track an expressive, psychedelic guitar solo hit and I knew that this wasn’t the work of (Motown) the Jackson brothers.
I later learned that the track was called ‘Pick Your Feet off the Ground’ and the vocalist who I’d thought to be an adolescent Jackson, (or other guy at least!) was actually a young woman called Sarah Archer also known as Rush Winters. Sarah Archer and the instrumentalists where german group called ‘The Real Ax Band’ and the song that I’d heard was sadly from their only LP release ’Nicht Stehenbleiben/Move Your Ass In Time’. And as for that unique, psychedelic, jazzy, rock sound they produced, it had a name. Krautrock. Which was a movement prominent in the late 60s to the 70s.
BBC Four recently aired a documentary on the genre ‘Krautrock: The Rebirth of Germany’, and is partly the reason I wrote this post. The documentary basically explained that ‘Krautrock’ came about in the late 60s, through the hardships of German living, a country being torn apart by war and various social and political oppressions. Anger in the German youth was growing against the German Government for their perceived authoritarianism and hypocrisy’. The German Student Movement had created a class of young, intellectuals who no longer bought Schlager (nonsensical Pop music, your modern day ‘Flo Rida’ for example) as an acceptable form of music and turned towards the mind powering alternatives, and Krautrock being one of them, which offered socially and politically incisive lyrics.
A collision of politics & music. ‘expression through the heart and mind and not just systematic rhythm’. The pioneers where just focused on creating a totally new sound, moving away from German Schlager, experimenting, being able to express themselves through their music. Artists usually mirror what is happening around them (be it social, political, or mental), and simple rock and roll wasn’t enough to reflect this. And so they progressed revolutionary thoughts, mental trips, they used them all. Whatever surrounded them, even literally. Jean-Hervé Péron, member of the band Faust began to experiment with sounds from various objects that you wouldn’t normally approach to make sound. Cement Mixers for example, the creaking of moving the mixer on its wheels, the rough sound of the mixer rotating the cement, singing into the hollow of the mixer, scraping the microphone against the surface, he would take these sounds and use them in the band and would result in a very abstract sounding piece, which became an element of Krautrock.
The term Krautrock was actually a comical label made up by British music editorials, (with ‘Kraut’ coming from the ethnical slur used in WWII to refer to Germans) to group together German progressive rock bands alike. As years went on, newer sounds where being implemented; Jazz, classical and Electronic (what would advance the genres like New Age, Post-Punk, Ambient Electronica). Synthesizers and drones had been discovered and had been heavily experimented with to create more sounds, which took Krautrock to new heights being appreciated outside of Germany. Much so, that David Bowie had even taking interest in growing German music scene and created what is known as the “Berlin Trilogy”. Three albums, “Low”,”Heroes” & “Lodger” inspired by Krautrock and the German Alternative.
The genre was constantly spawning off new subdivisions that would appeal more to a mass market but those who had started off Krautrock remained faithful and refused to compromise. Though it gained its some-what prominence in the early 70s, it was being overshadowed by the very same spawns it was giving life to and sort back into being at an underground alternative, where it continued to be acknowledged by loyal supporters.
Krautrock: The Rebirth of Germany | BBC Four
A Thanks to BreY for sharing the Documentary
0 Responses to “fission”