Jan Reetze

 

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TIMES & SOUNDS
Germany's Journey from Jazz and Pop
to Krautrock and Beyond

Halvmall Verlag
Bremen 2020

534 Seiten
ISBN 987-3-9822100-0-1 (Hardcover)
ISBN 978-3-9822100-1-8 (E-Book)

Buch in englischer Sprache!

Hier und in jeder Buchhandlung.

 

 

This book is a journey – a ride through the depths of Germany's modern musical roots:

At the beginning of the 1970s, experimental and progressive music in Germany developed far from the mainstream. Although few initially noticed it, it is now internationally celebrated as a cult phenomenon called "Krautrock". Today, bands like Kraftwerk, Can, Amon Düül II, NEU!, Cluster, and Tangerine Dream are considered pioneers of groundbreaking sound experiments.

In order to understand the Krautrock era and its impact, it’s worth delving deeper into the history of German rock music and taking a closer look at the overall picture.

Times & Sounds offers a comprehensive insight into the mechanisms of post-war Germany’s music industry and sheds light upon its diverse musical styles, as well as their mutual influences and connections, which have received little attention until now: From the onset of German Jazz and Swing orchestras to the first Rock'n'Roll bands around Hamburg's Star Club and electronic synthesizer pioneers. From the intact world of Schlager to agitprop and left-wing protest songs. From the avant-garde compositions of Stockhausen and his presumed disciples of Krautrock to the Neue Deutsche Welle.

This book is a journalistic diary tracing Germany's dynamic culture from the late 40s to the early 90s. Those who take this journey experience the ups and downs of five decades, thus developing an understanding deeper than any other of the Krautrock phenomenon.

  • Foreword by Hans-Joachim Roedelius (Kluster/Cluster/Harmonia)
  • Hardcover with coloured headband and ribbon
  • 536 pages including coloured endpaper with infographics

 

Contents

Foreword by Hans-Joachim Roedelius

What’s It All About?

THE BEGINNING

  • Rubble Years
  • Teenager Melody
  • Some Questions of Infrastructure

THE SIXTIES

  • Choo-Choo Trains and Telstar
  • The Star-Club: Where It All Started
  • Beat of the Wirtschaftswunder
  • Musician’s Daily Routines
  • Beat-Club & Co.: Music on German TV
  • The Misleading Magic of Sixty-Eight
  • Munich Riots and the Start of Krautrock
  • Angels of Chaos
  • Confounding the Ghosts

THE SEVENTIES

  • Future’s Calling
  • Amateurs and Professionals
  • Being Professional
  • Studios and Producers
  • Conny Plank, Dieter Dierks
  • Kaiser’s Reich
  • Stockhausen, Carlos, Sala & Co.: Electronic Revolution
  • Schoener, Fricke, Moroder: The Munich Moog Pioneers
  • Berlin School
  • Music From the Road of Fairytales
  • Düsseldorf School
  • Hamburg: The Hanseatic Way
  • Agitprop
  • Seventies in Bits and Pieces
  • Turn On, Tune In
  • Liberation

THE EIGHTIES

  • New Technology
  • Ice Age
  • Women’s Power
  • Silver & Screen

THE FUTURE

  • Retrotopia

THE END

Notes, Sources, Index

 

Press

The best book on German music. What makes it special is the way that the cultural and political fabric of Germany are woven into the story of the development of German music from the 1920s onwards. ... Reetze's knowledge, research and a wonderful writing style, laced with humour, make the 530 pages literally fly by.
(Ian Shirley, Record Collector)

 Has the best prerequisites to become a standard work.
(Stefan Trapp, Dierks Studios)

A well-grounded pageturner.
(Michael Engelbrecht, Deutschlandfunk)

Times & Sounds offers an extensive look back at the beginnings of German Pop, Rock and Jazz music as well as the nature of German society and role German music has played culturally over the past 50 years. ... Reetze also gets into the aspect of politics in that era, which in fact had a major influence on the music and big cultural changes in Germany (and elsewhere). ... Times & Sounds by Jan Reetze is amazingly detailed and researched. If you read between the lines, you'll also see how we got to where we are today, and where we may end up tomorrow.
(Archie Patterson, eurock.com)

Explores the Krautrock genre from it's beginnings in the roots of the German jazz scene and the influx of fledgling rock'n'roll to the arrival of pioneering acts.
(Jerry Ewing, Louder)

A great writer, with a terrific sense of humor. The Krautrock scene is detailed in depth, of course, with fresh interviews but, more importantly, fresh insights into both the musicians and their inspirations. There's good coverage, too, of the eighties industrial sound of DAF, Einstürzende Neubauten et al.
(Dave Thompson, Goldmine)

 

Full reviews here.

 

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