Named for a sacred Mayan text, Germany's Popol Vuh (there was one from Norway as well) pioneered ambient electronica and, in particular, the use of the Moog synthesiser. Leader Florian Fricke would later abandon the electronic space music found here, sensationally driven by worldbeat percussive rhythms. A spiritual New Age precursor.
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Tago Mago Can 1971 [Spoon/United Artists]
In Germany early proponents of 'Krautrock' very much looked to the psychedelic 60s for inspiration. Can found the perfect psych-groove on the epic 'Halleluhwah', while elsewhere dabbling in the electronica that would become the hallmark of outfits like Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream. Still sounds fresh and eminently vibrant.
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Yeti Amon Düül II 1970 [Liberty]
Starting life as a radical art commune in Munich, Amon Düül II eventually morphed into one of the seminal early 'Krautrock' outfits. Originally a double-LP, fuzzy avant-garde dominates most of the proceedings with the closing 'Sandoz in the Rain' improvisation eventually proving to be protypical ambient space rock.
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Faust Faust 1971 [Polydor]
Faust used an advance from their record label to set up a recording studio in an old schoolhouse, allowing them the time and artistic freedom to virtually invent 'Krautrock'. The resulting cacophony of industrial noise came out on a clear vinyl LP in a transparent sleeve featuring a silkscreened x-ray of a human fist. The message was clear.
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Schwingungen Ash Ra Tempel 1972 [Ohr]
Although Krautrock purists often opt for the self-titled debut featuring Klaus Schulze, Schwingungen is a more accessible effort that struts some of the best space music around. Wolfgang Müller proves an able replacement, with the three extended tracks that make up the album featuring some sonically minimalist excursions into the ozone.
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NEU! NEU! 1972 [Brain]
After splitting from Kraftwerk multi-instrumentalists Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger became a highly influential Krautrock duo, although commercial success would elude them. The album is basically made up of electronic driving music - eventually influencing the likes of PiL, Joy Division, David Bowie and even Kraftwerk itself.
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Zeit Tangerine Dream 1972 [Ohr]
Before becoming the only serious commercial contender to Kraftwerk in the mid-70s, Edgar Froese's Tangerine Dream made a pair of wonderfully ethereal space music albums. Zeit is the standout, with Popol Vuh's Florian Fricke featuring on the Moog synthesiser. By 1974 the band had scored a UK hit with their outstanding Phaedra album.
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Trans-Europe Express Kraftwerk 1977 [Kling Klang]
This obsessively reclusive German outfit revolutionised modern music with their distinctive brand of pop electronica. A surprise US hit with 1974's Autobahn set the stage for a string of superb LPs, this one being the recognised masterpiece. Repetitive rhythms are occasionally spiced with minimalist vocals, often mixed to sound mechanistic.
