Needle Time

  La Düsseldorf - Individuellos [6.24524 AP DEU 1980 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Ever so slightly out of sync and possibly fitting with the musical style ( Viva will follow next week), here is the third album by the Dinger Brothers ably assisted as always by Hans Lampe.  Individuellos fills the bizarre & twisted void between Deutsche-punk and schlager music. Slightly less accessible that the first two records, this album but in keeping with the brothers' direction, after all, when you find a formula which works, stick at it - The third La-D. album continues where the first two left off with more manic beats, catchy hooks and gibberish vox. I've ripped this from an original German pressing on Teldec, whilst the production value lacks those of the first two records - they missed Connie Plank in the studio, this is an entertaining listen for those who know how the Dingers work. We were now in the new wave era (this album was first released in 1980) and a euro-kitsch in...

  La Düsseldorf - La Düsseldorf [6.22 550-01 DEU 1976 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] When Neu! split in 1975, Klaus Dinger teamed up with brother Klaus and Hans Lampe to form La Düsseldorf. Where the Neu! albums had influenced the post-punk generation, it was the albums by La Düsseldorf which influenced the earliest British synthpop bands from the eighties.  This was their self-titled first album which opens with raw seventies jet noise from Düsseldorf airport (hence the sleeve image) and football crowd chants from the local team Fortuna Düsseldorf. Time now for a tenuous punk link as Fortuna were once saved from financial oblivion years later by a campaign championed by quirky German punks, Die Toten Hosen. Back to the story, Klaus Dinger didn't quite have the same eclectic skills with the guitar as Michael Rother (now working with Eno & Cluster, plus his solo work), however his trashy chord style did fit with the new punk sounds coming out of the UK. The...

  Neu! - Neu! [LPGRON 1 DEU 2010 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Recorded in December 1971 at Windrose Studios in Hamburg by Klaus Dinger, Michael Rother and Connie Plank. Originally released on Brain Records in 1972. Many, many music careers were built from what was contained in this record, and many of them had not even heard this album. The influence of  Hallogallo and  Negativland can be heard on artists as diverse as David Bowie and Joy Division, and many newer bands today. In fact, the roots of post-punk could actually pre-date punk itself. A1 Hallogallo A2 Sonderangebot A3 Weissensee B1 Im Glück B2 Negativland B3 Lieber Honig

  Neu! - Neu! '75 [LPGRON III DEU 2010 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released on Brain Records in 1975. If you know my previous blogs, then you'll know I have covered a lot of Neu! across a multitude of releases, including some obscure Japanese compact discs of the complex Dinger-derivatives. Neu! '75 is where it started for me, which although not their first album, it had the biggest connection to the music I was enjoying in my youth. Neu! original pressings are expensive, difficult to track down and almost impossible to find in good condition. For many years they remained officially out-of-print until Grönland Records picked up the reissue rights in the early noughties. Produced by the great Connie Plank, this particular reissue of their third album was very considerately mastered to vinyl by John Cremer who was charged with restoring the band's archive for EMI. I love the way Neu! put together a hook or a melody and use it as the basis for an album, building tra...

  Neu! - Neu! '86 [LPGRON 4 DEU 2010 24-Bit FLAC] The history of Neu! is rapped with disputes, fall-outs and general contractual disobedience. The fact that their important first three albums remained out-of-print for most of the late seventies and eighties was testament to this, and very much a travesty. The story behind their mid-eighties comeback album (originally Neu! 4 ) continues in that vein. I get the feeling Klaus Dinger was just a difficult guy for some, including for Michael Rother, to get along with. When Dinger died in 2008, in tribute to the former Kraftwerk, Neu!, La Neu! & La Düsseldorf  etc. drummer, Rother finished this album, which should have been released back in 1986. After all, Dinger was the man who seemingly the motorik style of drumming, which so many bands have borrowed since. His style is evident throughout this album, no more so than on the very-Neu! Drive - a track which wouldn't sound out of place on Neu! '75 . The track easily stands o...