Despite my curious and enquiring musical taste in the 1970s, Krautrock (or Kosmische Musik) completely passed me by. No one in my circle of friends had any interest, and LPs were too expensive for a punt (except for The Faust Tapes, which I heard and didn't get).
Coming to it later, Neu! have emerged as one of the most accessible to my ears, yet this is the first Neu! CD I've bought.
Another recent charity shop purchase (although understandably, a bit more than a quid), it starts to fill a hole in my collection.
Opening track Fur Immer delivers (for eleven glorious minutes) exactly what I expect from Neu! - a relentless drum beat, an electronic drone and pleasing guitar work. Things take a more experimental electronic turn with Spitzenqualitat, although the feel is similar, with drums more pounding and less guitar. There's a vocal interlude on Lila Engel, but those drums and guitars still flow.
Neuschnee 78 is a sped up piece, which doesn't quite work for me, then some electronica in Super 16, before Neuschnee returns at its intended pace, sounding like trademark Neu! and much better. In Cassetto it's back to electronic effects, then Super 78, another sped up version. Hallo Excentrico seems a meandering bit of electronica, while the album ends with the far rockier Super, which works better at this normal speed.
As with any experimental work, this sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. At its best (Fur Immer, Neuschnee) it's as good as anything else in the Krautrock oeuvre, but a lot misses the mark.
3* - some great stuff on this piece of kosmische 1970s experiment
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