Neu! and not so Neu!

CTD brought up Krautrock band Neu! this morning and it reminded me of the story about their second album Neu 2. Neu! formed when Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger of the original rockist Kraftwerk lineup left the group because of the increasing "machine" aspects of the band. Thier first self-titled album was regional success in West Germany, so they went into the second with high hopes, recording two stellar tracks "Super" and "Neuschnee."

Problem was, the duo started fighting and exhausted their recording budget, so they just remixed those two tracks at varying speeds to make enough songs to fill out the album.

Listening to it now, I can totally hear it on the blatantly titled "Super 78" where the easy glide of "Super" is ramped up Alvin and the Chipmunks style, or on "Hallo Excentrico!" sounds like when I would put the needle on my Blue Öyster Cult records, but turn off the speed, just moving the record with my finger so it would make demons howl from the grooves. It worked just as well (or even better) with my mom's Herbie Mann "Supermann" album.

Still, I think the record works in a Warholian/motorik mashed-up mindset, that if it once was human, it will remain human no matter what is done to it. Pretty ballsy for 1973.