Michael Rother: Katzenmusik [GROENLAND]

Why you'll love it

Grönland's reissue brings back the third solo album from the co-founder of Neu! and Harmonia. AllMusic's Thom Jurek counts it among Rother's best work, and it was his last collaboration with producer Conny Plank.

About the album

Katzenmusik is German for cat music, a slang term for a terrible racket, which is a cheeky title for one of the most serene records Michael Rother ever made. By 1979 the guitarist had co-founded Neu! with Klaus Dinger, built Harmonia with Cluster, and settled into a solo career recording at his own studio in Forst.

He wrote it as a two-part suite: twelve pieces, all variations on four five-note melodies, that drift into each other across the two sides. Rother plays guitar and electronics, layering bright, chiming lines over the steady pulse of Jaki Liebezeit, the drummer from Can, whose motorik patience suits this music perfectly. Conny Plank produced and recorded the sessions between March and July 1979, partly at Conny's Studio, and part 9, backed with part 2, became the single. Some pieces last under a minute and others stretch past six, and the whole thing flows like one long, sunny drive.

It was the last time Rother and Plank worked together; he produced everything after himself. The cats, for the record, seem to quite like it.

Also at Kops: more Michael Rother on vinyl · browse Electronic

Tracklist

Listen

On Grönland, a reissue of the 1979 album.