21/03/25

Black Vinyl

Agree to disagree: A selected Krautrock discography

Krautrock, what is it anyway? A genre, a derogative term, a song by Faust, … or: a welcome (and recurring)

opportunity to talk about all of this. The music associated with the term in question has eagerly been

canonized. From the enthusiastic and idiosyncratic ramblings of Julian Cope’s “Krautrocksampler” to

encyclopaedic approaches like Alan and Stephen Freeman’s “Crack in the Cosmic Egg”, there are plenty

of books to read and lists to discuss: Who’s in, who isn’t? The quarrels and disputes surrounding the terms

"Krautrock" and "Kosmische Musik" are a testament to their enduring relevance and fascination. I won’t

get into the weeds discussing how to separate one from the other – for all those who do want to, the book

“Krautrock Eruption” by Wolfgang Seidel addresses some of those questions. In this book, you will find an

annotated discography of fifty albums. Out of these fifty, we are presenting an even narrower selection

of tracks from twelve albums on this compilation. Lists and compilation track listings inevitably see tracks

missing and being left out. In our case, the compilation was produced in cooperation with the label

Bureau B and therefore has a partial focus on some of their back catalogue. That said, the list is meant to

inspire repeated or further listening, to spark discussions and – potentially – to provoke new lists, perhaps

your own! It’s all part of the fun. Music is made for enjoyment in the first and for friendly debate in the

second place, after all.

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Tracklist

A1 Conrad Schnitzler - Ballet Statique

A2 Faust - I’ve Heard That One Before/Watch Your Step

A3 Eno Moebius Roedelius - Foreign Affairs

A4 Harald Grosskopf - Emphasis

A5 Cluster - 21:32 (bureau b edit)

A6 Moebius & Plank - Rastakraut Pasta

B1 Roedelius - Glaubersalz

B2 Pyrolator - Minimal Tape 3/7.2

B3 Riechmann - Himmelblau (bureau b edit)

B4 Kluster - Kluster 2 (Electric Music) (bureau b edit)

B5 Günter Schickert - Apricot Brandy II (bureau b edit)

B6 Asmus Tietchens - Falter-Lamento