Big Krautrock Book Due in Nov.

Esteemed Black Dog publishing house digs deep into the German archives.

By Fred Mills

First there was Julian Cope's delightfully eccentric and impassioned Krautrocksampler. Then came the Freeman Brothers' The Crack in the Cosmic Egg, rightly (if wordily) billed as a near-definitive "Encyclopedia of Krautrock, Kosmiche Musik & Other Progressive, Experimental & Electronic Musics from Germany." Close it its heels was Dag Erik Asbjornsen's Cosmic Dreams At Play, subtitled "A guide to German progressive and electronic rock" (somewhat less scholarly than the Freemans' tome, but in many ways more descriptive).

To date, fans and collectors of Krautrock - that indigenous and influential, if sprawling and genre-spanning, strain of Germanic music that included legends like Faust, Kraftwerk, Neu!, Tangerine Dream and Amon Duul alongside hundreds of lesser knowns (though no less worthy) - have been relatively well-served in terms of documentation for their passion. Yours truly counts himself among those fans. But as we all know, the more the merrier; an addition to the bookshelf is always welcome. Plus, the books listed above are out of print (the Freemans' was subsequently published on CD-ROM, however), so newcomers might not be able to access the material quite so readily.

So mark your calendars, all you kosmiche travelers, for Nov. 3: that's when Krautrock: Cosmic Rock and Its Legacy, edited by Nikos Kotsopoulos, arrives courtesy Black Dog Publishing (Oct. 20 in the UK).

According to the official product description:

"Krautrock charts the history of this influential music genre, from its roots in free jazz, psychedelia and the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen, to the groundbreaking experiments of Faust, Kraftwerk and Can.

"The late 1960s in West Germany was a period of profound breakthroughs, upheavals and reversals. Communes were spreading, protests organised throughout the entire country, the desire to begin everything anew permeating the young. Out of this climate, a music scene exploded that would forever change the face of Western rock; at times anarchic, at others mystical, and utopian, it pushed rock beyond any known limits.

"From the relentless drum beating of Amon Duul I, to the eastern tinged mysticism of Popol Vuh and the sonic assaults of Conrad Schnitzler, Krautrock: Cosmic Rock and Its Legacy traces the history of this complex and eschewing definition phenomenon.

"Illustrated with concert photos, posters, record cover art and other rare and previously unseen visual material, this book is the ultimate tour-de-force of a movement whose influence and impact is still being felt today. With essays by Michel Faber, David Keenan, Erik Davis, Ken Hollings, a foreword by Steven Stapleton of Nurse with Wound, and testimonials from Gavin Russom (Delia and Gavin), and Ann Shenton (Add N to (x)) this is an essential compendium to a music whose spirit and ideas still vibrate through contemporary music today."

Well, all right then! Find out more about the book, including ordering details, at the Black Dog site.

Black Dog, of course, has previously published numerous highly-regarded music books, among them histories of the Immediate and Ace record labels and an homage to independent record stores titled Old Rare New (which we discussed in-depth elsewhere on this very site). Expect quality stuff.

(Did we mention we have a 10,000 word interview with Neu!/Harmonia guitarist Michael Rother slated to run on the Blurt site soon? Teaser HERE.)