Established in 1998, Nostalgia Central is your one stop reference guide through five decades of music, movies, television, pop culture and social history

THE BAND

Michael Rother
Guitar, bass, vocals
Klaus Dinger
Drums, percussion, keyboards, guitar

Neu!

Formed in 1971 in Dusseldorf, the group was a duo comprising guitar wiz Michael Rother and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Klaus Dinger (both previously with Kraftwerk).

Dinger's mechanical, cut time drumming and Rother's two-note bass runs adorned with cleverly manipulated and dreamy guitar riffs and fills were the hallmarks of the "motorik" sound that would become the band's trademark.

By 1975 they were virtually at their White Album stage, with each member in full control of his own tracks.

Fortunately, although the music on the Neu! 75 album is borderline schizophrenic, it still stands as probably their most rewarding offering.

Rother's gently percolating opener, Isi, prefigures the beautifully structured music he would later make in his solo career, while See Land and Leb' Wohl are ambient gems. Then Dinger takes over, rocking out furiously and sounding remarkably like Johnny Rotten would a year later.