Gronland Germany Vinyl & CDs

Review: After a period of roughly three decades, German soundtrack artist and onetime Karlheinz Stockhausen apprentice Holger Czukay shares a surprise trove of lost tapes, which are said to have been once recorded by the artist for "free disposal" and which were presumably forgotten about at the time. Now available, all of said material is said to date back to at least the 1990s, and marks the forward thinking and "ahead of its time" (as remarked by fellow producer Schneider TM) approach to cold Kraut and experimental wave that informed Czukay as he experimented freewheelingly with beatmaking while in the company of further fellows Dr. Walker and Air Liquide. Also evolving in temporal conjunction with an experimental live show involving body tracking tech, fashioned by mixed media artist Arthur Schmidt, there are implicit themes of virtual reality and haptic sound control here. Way ahead of its time indeed.

Review: Neu! 75 was the third and final studio album from Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother, and many years on it stands proud as a great piece of electronic rock history. Released in, you guessed it, 1975, the album's signature insistent rhythms, phased guitars and propulsive drums continue to sound fresh and retain a vitality that feels futuristic even decades later. This official reissue is a great way to get back into the raw energy and precision that made Neu! 75 so influential with their groundbreaking fusion of motorik beats and experimental soundscapes. It was their finest work, frankly.