Carla and Brad Talk About Krautrock

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... in which Carla and Brad talk about Krautrock, album by album, umlaut by umlaut, für immer.

Carla and Brad


    • Jan 26, 2024 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 1h 26m AVG DURATION
    • 18 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Carla and Brad Talk About Krautrock

    Popol Vuh, In Den Gärten Pharaos & Hosianna Mantra

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 26, 2024 137:01


    It's a tale as old as time.  Boy meets Moog III synthesizer.  Boy drops a wad of cash to buy it.  Boy and Moog blissfully record two studio albums and a film soundtrack together.  Boy abruptly breaks up with Moog and finds religion.Boy is, of course, gifted and accomplished pianist Florian Fricke.  His project, and at times even his alter ego, is Popol Vuh.  In this episode we do some Before and After sampling: i.e., we talk through the records on either side of the Moog separation. **SPOILER ALERT**: we like one of these records a lot more than the other.Fricke died far too early, but his was a life *very* well lived.  Dig in deep with Popol Vuh in this latest, oversized episode of Carla and Brad Talk About Krautrock!  

    Ash Ra Tempel S/T & Schwingungen

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2023 114:35


    Schoolyard friends Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke loved the Beatles and the blues ... like everybody else in a Berlin rock band in the late '60s.  But then they got hold of Blue Cheer's record and some blow-the-doors-off British amps.   Soon wunderkind drummer Klaus Schulze was at their door, sniffing around the new equipment.  Things were gonna get LOUD.  Ash Ra Tempel's soundquakes and soundscapes show off a dynamic range that is unmatched in Krautrock.  Come join us as we talk about the band, with special attention given to their first two records.Enter a world of anvils and dream machines, of universal vibrations and floral mortality.  Enter ... the Tempel.

    **Special Conny Plank Episode**/ Moebius & Plank, Rastakraut Pasta

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 6, 2023 98:01


    No figure loomed larger over Krautrock, as a genre, than legendary producer/ sound engineer Konrad "Conny" Plank ... and we've been looking for an opportunity to talk about him.  Then we discovered the Rastakraut Pasta LP that he and Dieter Moebius recorded and released in 1980.  Problem solved!From behind the board in Cologne's Rhenus Studio and then his own converted farmhouse in Wolperath, Plank put on tape some (most?) of the best German kosmische and electronic music of the '70s.  From there he went on to develop the sound signatures of post-punk acts like Devo, Eurythmics, and Ultravox.Gone too soon at age 47, Plank is (and damn well should be) remembered as Krautrock's Midwife.  Join us as we explore his life and career and then go track by track through Rastakraut Pasta on Episode 16 of CBK!

    Carla and Brad Make a Playlist

    Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2023 96:46


    We interrupt this podcast's regularly scheduled programming for a SPECIAL REPORT:We've made a Krautrock Playlist.The original idea was to have a "song draft": having dug deep enough into Krautrock, we would take turns claiming songs for ourselves.  We figured this way we'd learn what each of us likes in particular, and what we like best.What happened is we came up with a list of 44 songs -- FORTY-FOUR -- that generally holds together not just as a cohesive cross-section of the genre (with apologies to Popol Vuh), but also as one hell of a mix to queue up on Spotify.Did we hit all the good stuff?  Hell, no, and we know we have much more to learn and explore.  But we made a good start.  Some stats, for those who are interested:Song counts by artist: Can (7!), Kraftwerk (5), Neu! (5), Faust (4), Harmonia (4), La Düsseldorf (4), Amon Düül II (2), Cluster (2), Guru Guru (2), Moebius + Plank (2), Agitation Free (1), Amon Düül (1), Ash Ra Tempel (1), Brainticket (1), Holger Czukay (1), Tangerine Dream (1), Xhol Caravan (1).Song counts by credited musicians: Klaus Dinger (11), Holger Czukay (10), Michael Rother (10), Dieter Moebius (8), Hans-Joachim Roedelius (6).

    spotify hell song playlist faust cluster neu lad kraftwerk forty four tangerine dream krautrock popol vuh amon d guru guru holger czukay ash ra tempel michael rother hans joachim roedelius dieter moebius
    Brainticket, Cottonwoodhill

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2023 106:15


    It's 1969.  Accomplished Belgian classical/ jazz/ R&B pianist Joel Vandroogenbroeck and English rock guitarist Ron Bryer have ditched their Basel-based blue-eyed soul band and will shortly link up with lysergic femme fatale Dawn Muir.  The result?  A square of light, a circle of thought, a triangle of NOTHING.  It's BRAINTICKET!Join us as we talk about Brainticket's wild and wooly debut record, Cottonwoodhill.  The band brings the organ crushes, guitar chucking, jackhammers, rapturous spoken-word poetry, and some freaking sweet flutework.  We meet them in the middle with Gil Scott-Heron, ChatGPT, and High Fidelity.STAY!  GO!  Actually, stay.  This one's pretty fun.

    Guru Guru, Hinten

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 20, 2023 107:38


    Accomplished jazz practitioners hear the siren song  of psychedelic rock and find themselves a young, ripping guitarist to plug in with.  Hold on: are we talking about Can again?Not at all.  It's Guru Guru today: three amazing musicians laying down the soundtrack for when the aliens arrive.  Or put differently, "music that's intended to mess with the cerebellum."  (h/t David Stubbs)The Pep Boys were Manny, Mo, and Jack.  Mani, Uli, and Ax brought some pep of their own.  Come listen with us to their second LP, Hinten.  Might just be we'll talk a fair bit about the debut album UFO, too.

    Harmonia, Deluxe

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 6, 2023 101:27


    In the spring of 1973, guitarist Michael Rother looks on in two old acquaintances at their ramshackle farmhouse/ recording studio in Forst.  Rother hopes to tour the UK with his current band, Neu!, and he *thinks* Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius of Cluster might provide just the juice he needs for his live act ...Now what was it John Lennon said about life and making other plans?  The Neu! tour never materialized, and Rother's trip to the country yielded only Krautrock's preeminent supergroup, in the form of HARMONIA.  Harmonia introduced Rother's discipline, structure, and guitar to the Cluster duo's improvisational synth subversion, and boy, oh boy were the results terrific.  The clash of work styles meant it couldn't last, but for three years at least, Harmonia were arguably "the world's most important rock band"  (h/t B. Eno).Join us as we tell the Harmonia story, giving specific attention to the band's sparkling 1975 release, Deluxe!

    uk john lennon deluxe cluster neu brian eno forst eno krautrock rother michael rother hans joachim roedelius dieter moebius
    Michael Rother + Friends Play Neu! in London (**LIVE REVIEW**)

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 7, 2022 33:42


    Today we depart from our usual programming to post a LIVE SHOW ALERT.Turns out Brad sneaked off to London last month to catch surviving member of Neu! Michael Rother's live performance at the Clapham Grand!  Joining Michael on stage were Hans Lampe (of La Düsseldorf, on drums), Franz Bargmann (of Camera, on guitar) and electronic composer and recent Rother collaborator Vittoria Maccabruni.Special guests included Hot Chip, known Krautrock exponent Stephen Morris, of Joy Division and New Order, *and* Paul Weller.Join us for a deep dive on the show.  Tangents and digressions of course abound -- we are who we are -- but this episode's lodestar and our guiding light is Herr Rother: cracking musician, King of Krautrock, and lovely human being.Here's to you, Michael.  Get well soon!

    La Düsseldorf, Viva

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2022 89:55


    With Neu! in the rear-view mirror, Klaus Dinger stepped into his white overalls and reached for fame and fortune with his second act, La Düsseldorf.  And boy oh boy did he find it.Today we talk about LD's second LP, Viva.  Notable for its space-age guitars, synth washes, and of course "Dingerbeat," Viva serves up a shimmering blend of glam, punk, and electronica.  And that's not to mention the lyrics -- Klaus sings of life, love, the world, money, the birds, money again, and glorious revolution.  Is it corny?  Cheesy?  Maybe, but so are nachos, and they're DELICIOUS.The future is calling.  We're picking up on the first ring. 

    Kraftwerk, Autobahn

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 28, 2022 95:14


    Eight episodes deep, and still we haven't checked in on The Most Important Band of All Time (This Side of the Beatles)?  That ends today.It's time for Carla and Brad to talk about Kra[f]t[wer]k.  Kling-Klang, Ralf + Florian, "Precise and Maximum Expression."  Ruckzuck, Radio-Activity, Trans-Europe Express, The Man-Machine ... AUTOBAHN.It's 106 kilometers to Düsseldorf.   We've got a full tank of gas and a half-pound of white asparagus.  It's dark, and we're carrying Geiger counters.  Hit it.

    beatles iggy pop autobahn kraftwerk geiger precise omd radioactivity kra man machine trans europe express ruckzuck karl bartos michael rother kling klang kraftwerk autobahn
    Tangerine Dream, Electronic Meditation

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 14, 2022 80:13


    Well, it's back to the lab again, yo — that is, the Zodiak Free Arts Lab ... where today we find Edgar Froese, Conrad Schnitzler, and Klaus Schulze, banging out five-hour live sets in the first incarnation of Tangerine Dream.**SUPERGROUP ALERT****SUPERGROUP ALERT**Crackling raw acid rock with hammer-drop organs, shaken dried peas, and a train ticket read backward?  Klaus Schulze on drums?  Creation, cremation, rebirth, and a side journey through a burning brain?  Sign us up!MACHT DAS OHR AUF, listeners, as we talk about TD's debut album, Electronic Meditation!

    meditation electronic td tangerine dream alpha centauri klaus schulze coventry cathedral edgar froese conrad schnitzler
    Cluster, Zuckerzeit

    Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2022 87:30


    Conrad Schnitzler, Brian Eno, Michael Rother, Conny Plank.  All the cool kids wanted to hang with Moebius and Roedelius — so naturally we do, too. What time is it, listeners?  Is it time for the CBK  bus to take a turn "im Suden?"  Is it time to tap into Roe's pastoral Romanticism and Moe's sparky bleeps and blips?  Time to put Eric Clapton into "the Krautock meat grinder?"   Is it, indeed, time to check in on CLUSTER?   Damn straight, Brüder und Schwestern:  it's SUGARTIME.

    time roe v wade eric clapton cluster brian eno schwestern romanticism moebius fluxus kluster cbk roedelius farfisa michael rother conny plank conrad schnitzler dieter moebius
    Synth Sounds of the Seventies! (w/ Sean Rieger of File Transfer Protocol)

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 31, 2022 111:06


    In this special double-length episode (!), modular synth guru Sean Rieger talks to Carla and Brad about the many technical and electronic sound elements that Krautrock artists applied to enrich their music.If you want to know about oscillators, ring modulation, sequencers, analog synths, tape overdubs, and vocoders ...If you're asking what was in Faust's "black boxes" ...If you've ever watched Florian Schneider twiddle knobs on YouTube while simultaneously playing the flute and wondered what he was up to ...Then Sean, who writes and records electronic rock as File Transfer Protocol, is your man.  And ours, too.  Join us for Electronic Music 101 on this Episode 6 of CBK — and be sure to check out Sean's work on Instagram!  

    Faust IV

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2022 80:59


    Are you worried about losing your time?  Your teeth?  Well, fear no more, listeners, because Carla and Brad are here to talk about Faust.  Eclectic, unyielding, forward-leaning, and fun — Faust brought their A-game to the studio, time and again.  Today we focus on their manic and beautiful 1973 masterpiece, Faust IV.Irmler!  Sosna!  Wüsthoff, Zappi, Peron!  You're up!  FAUST FREAKING IV, PEOPLE!!!

    E4 - Agitation Free, Malesch

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 3, 2022 56:44


    Fresh off their tour of Egypt, Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus, Carla and Brad have landed in West Berlin!  In this episode we break down the synth-singed psych rock of Agitation Free's 1972 debut LP, Malesch.  Come for the wax figures, pyramids, and street recordings, stay (or not) for the Hammond solos.You might say we're doing it for "the Lüülz."  In any case, we play for you today.  Deal?

    E3 - Can, Tago Mago

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 30, 2021 61:53


    Did anybody see this snowman, standing in the wind alone?  Damo did ... and Holger, Irmin, Jaki, and Michael, too.Today we're talking about Can — and specifically, their 1971 double LP, Tago Mago.  John Cale, "I Am the Walrus," and Aleister Crowley get their due, but in this end this is all about the mad genius of five men jamming in a castle.We are all mushroomheads.

    i am lp walrus aleister crowley jaki holger damo john cale holger czukay jaki liebezeit tago mago damo suzuki irmin schmidt
    E2 - Neu!, Neu! 2

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 1, 2021 57:02


    In this episode Carla and Brad talk about Neu! ... and specifically their 1973 sophomore effort, Neu! 2.  (Spoiler Alert: we're big fans.)Order and chaos, beauty and aggression, Rother and Dinger.  Join us as we speed toward the horizon with Neu! 

    spoilers neu kraftwerk dinger rother motorik michael rother conny plank
    E1 - Amon Düül II, Yeti

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 8, 2021 45:04


    Today Carla and Brad talk about Amon Düül II -- and specifically, their signature 1970 double album, Yeti.Mind-mashing psychedelia sprung from a Munich radical art commune?  Virtuoso bongo play wrapped in otherworldly guitars?  Count us in.  (But don't call it prog-rock ...)Don't be left out in the cold!  Join us today, as we begin exploring the peaks of Krautrock.

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