Neu! 2
| NEU! 2 | |||||
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| File:Neu2 albumcover.jpg | |||||
| Studio album by Neu! | |||||
| Released | 1973 | ||||
| Recorded | January 1973 | ||||
| Genre | Krautrock, ambient, proto-punk | ||||
| Length | 42:14 | ||||
| Label | Brain, United Artists | ||||
| Producer | Conny Plank, Neu! | ||||
| Neu! chronology | |||||
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| Klaus Dinger chronology | |||||
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| Singles from Neu! 2 | |||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| The Austin Chronicle | [2] |
| Pitchfork Media | 7.5/10[3] |
| PopMatters | positive[4] |
| Q | [5] |
| Rolling Stone | [6] |
Neu! 2 is the second studio album by the krautrock band Neu!. It was recorded in January 1973 at Windrose-Dumont-Time Studios, Hamburg, Germany, mixed in February 1973 at Windrose-Dumont-Time Studios, Hamburg, Germany, and released in 1973 by Brain Records. It was officially reissued by Astralwerks on 29 May 2001. Illegal bootleg CDs (with the audio taken from vinyl) from the Germanofon label were widely available in the late 1990s.
Contents
Overview
This album further focused the classic Neu! krautrock sound, with the 11-minute "Für immer" in particular being the archetypal example of their style—a seemingly endless forward-driving vamping, propelled by Klaus Dinger's 4/4 drumming and Michael Rother's layered guitar with its fluid lines and droning harmonic structure. It also features elements of ambient music and proto-punk.[7]
Side 2 of the record caused consternation at the time. Neu! had quite simply run out of money to finish recording the album, so side 2 is made up entirely of their previously released single "Neuschnee/Super", manipulated at various playback speeds on a record player, or mangled in a cassette recorder. Critics at the time dismissed this as a cheap gimmick and a rip-off. While it was indeed an experiment born of desperation and necessity, it was entirely in keeping with Neu's pop art aesthetics, taking a "ready-made" sound object and re-presenting it with a series of stylized manipulations, and also quite in keeping with the way Neu's music deconstructed and pared down the form of rock music. Dinger has since pointed to side 2 of this album as being a prototype of the now ubiquitous multiple remixes which typically accompany any pop single release.
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother.
| Side one | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Für Immer" ("Forever") | 11:17 |
| 2. | "Spitzenqualität" ("Top Quality") | 3:35 |
| 3. | "Gedenkminute (für A + K)" ("Minute's Silence (For A + K)") | 2:06 |
| 4. | "Lila Engel" ("Lilac Angel") | 4:37 |
| Side two | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 5. | "Neuschnee 78" ("Fresh Snow 78") | 2:32 |
| 6. | "Super 16" | 3:39 |
| 7. | "Neuschnee" ("Fresh Snow") | 4:07 |
| 8. | "Cassetto" ("Cassette") | 1:48 |
| 9. | "Super 78" | 1:36 |
| 10. | "Hallo Excentrico!" ("Hello Excentrico!") | 3:44 |
| 11. | "Super" | 3:11 |
Personnel
- Band members
- Michael Rother – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, zither, percussion, electronics, cassette recorder
- Klaus Dinger – koto ("Japanese banjo"), 11-string guitar, drums, percussion, Farfisa electronic piano, vocals, electronics, record player
- Additional personnel
- Konrad "Conny" Plank – producer, engineer
- Hans Lampe – engineer
References
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<references />, or <references group="..." />- ↑ Allmusic review
- ↑ http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2001-07-13/82355/
- ↑ Pitchfork Media review
- ↑ PopMatters review
- ↑ Q (7/01, p. 136) - 3 stars out of 5 - "... In addition to inventing the motorik beat... Neu! also invented the remix album.... these are completed tracks combined with a strategic hand on the turntable..."
- ↑ Rolling Stone review (web.archive.org)
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