I'm glad to have a reminder to put this on, because I don't play it as often as it deserves. I'd read about and known of Neu! for twenty years before I got to hear any of their music (that Ciccone Youth track aside).
Then their albums were issued on CD in 2001, and I bought this later that year from Polar Bear on Ecclesall Road, Sheffield. But at the time I was buying albums faster than I could properly listen to them — which is why I value the reminder to play it again.
You have to be in the right mood to enjoy this, but if you are it's a great companion for when you're on your feet, cooking or doing the washing up, or sitting back having a smoke. I've never tried it on an iPod, but I think it could make a lively soundtrack for walking the streets of London too.
At the end of 'Side 1' of the album the CD has the sound of a needle lifting off vinyl and then being replaced on Side 2. Was that also on the original vinyl album? I hope it was. I love the way the album draws attention to the material aspect of a vinyl sound recording: two of the tracks on Side 2 feature in speeded up versions, as if played at 78 rpm, and one also has a slowed down (16 rpm) version. I read that it was 'inspired' by the fact that they'd used their budgeted allocation of studio time and only had 30 minutes 'in the can', so they had to find a way to pad that out to full album length, but whether that's true or not, it's a beautifully dada idea.
I went to see Michael Rother from Neu! playing with Dieter Moebius (from Cluster) in March. The pieces were all fairly short and it took a while to acclimatise to them. I was just getting into it when it finished.
 MusicBrainz entry for this album |
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