Echo Neuklang (Neo-Kraut-Sounds 1981-2023)

Bureau Bs massive catalog includes box sets and extensive reissue campaigns of influential German experimental artists such as Cluster, Faust, and Conrad Schnitzler, as well as hidden gems by lesser-known artists like Gunter Schickert and Harald Grosskopf. Much of this music usually gets filed under the misleading and problematic term Krautrock, while other reissues on the label are by acts like Palais Schaumburg and Der Plan, who are generally associated with the Neue Deutsche Welle movement. Further still, the label puts out lots of contemporary releases by its legacy artists as well as newer acts creating music in a similar spirit, from motorik revivalists Camera to left-field techno producers like Tolouse Low Trax and Harmonious Thelonious. Compiled by journalist Christoph Dallach, storied musician Andreas Dorau, and producer/unhappybirthday member Daniel Jahn, Echo Neuklang (Neo-Kraut-Sounds 1981-2023) attempts to demonstrate how the music referred to as Krautrock during the 1970s influenced the generations of musicians that followed. First and foremost, the trio intentionally removed the word "rock" from the title, since moving away from the conventional tropes of rock & roll seemed to be the entire point of bands like Neu! and Can in the first place. A few of the tracks have been released by Bureau B before, including Deutsche Wertarbeits ecstatic, sequencer-driven synth tune "Deutscher Wald" and a steady, slowly rising track from a 1990 collaboration between Clusters Dieter Moebius and Karl Renziehausen. However, this isnt similar to one of the Kollektion albums, in which artists like Tim Gane and John McEntire will curate selections of favorites from the labels catalog. This release manages to pull from some far-flung sources, including a percolating instrumental by Bavarian world-pop group Haindling and a quirky epic by Harte 10, a new wave trio who were otherwise known as jazz musicians. Edging closer to the German techno scene, Burnt Friedmans "Platin Tundra" is a gently swinging dub-inspired piece filled with perky organ chords and squishy effects, and Workshops delightful "Eskapade" loops shuffling drum breaks and almost rockabilly-sounding tremolo guitar licks. Other indie electronic acts make appearances, such as Kreidler, whose "Winter" incorporates the spray of gunfire into intricate polyrhythms, and To Rococo Rot, whose gleeful, shimmering "Took" is probably the albums most ideal soundtrack for cruising down the highway. The release ends with "Strahlende Zukunft," a dramatic, nine-minute synth pop odyssey by Rheingold, produced by the legendary Conny Plank. Much like the acts associated with Krautrock itself, many of these artists dont necessarily have much in common, other than being creative musicians from Germany (or German-speaking countries). Even still, the album is a highly enjoyable collection of tracks that explore innovative approaches to rhythm, resulting in some of the more accessible forms of experimental music. ~ Paul Simpson