Neu world order

Last Friday was the big Hallogallo show (ie Michael Rother playing the 'hits' from his Neu! and Harmonia days) at Lincoln Center's outdoor Damrosch Park. Needless to say, Songblague was exceedingly stoked about it. And it didn't disappoint. At first, I was wary about whether Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley could pull off the pounding, simple brilliance of the sadly deceased drummer Klaus Dinger. Could he capture the infinite pulse that's so central to the stuff without leaning on rock accents? Happily, yes! And the bassman was so nicely out of the way, I don't even remember his name.

I've already given some space to Neu!'s signature number, but I've never really tried to capture what makes this music so special to me. Yes, it's repetition and the magic drone and colors and the pleasure of hearing these Germans find the human heart of "mechanized" music. But more importantly, it's the utopian quality, and that was on full display in the beautiful evening air. People say the stuff sounds cosmic and futuristic (as conceived in the '70s anyway), but it's the idea of endlessness, and also begininglessness. You don't look for hooks or highlights. It doesn't sound like the music of an event. It's the hum and happy flowing groove of the everyday. For a world of better everydays. It's background music for reading, riding, or washing dishes. And also foreground music for congregating in the park and feeling part of the big, surging, patient motion.

So cheers to Michael Rother. You all should check out his catalogue. Today's tune comes from his third solo album, which is mostly variations on a simple theme. It doesn't swallow you up like his earlier work, but it does work those big guitars in its own way. As the album cover suggests, this is music for laying on the grass, looking up at the sky, dreaming triumphant dreams that don't even have to come true.

Michael Rother - Katzenmusik 2