The Sound Projector KRAUTROCK KOMPENDIUM

The Sound Projector Krautrock Kompendium

Introduction

This is a compilation of all written reviews of Krautrock records that have appeared in the pages of

The Sound Projector

Music Magazine to date. It includes music that has been variously labelled as Krautrock, Kosmische, German electronicmusic, or German progressive rock.Two caveats to the reader. Firstly, the selection of music is not at all comprehensive and this is not a definitive guide tothe genre. For that, I point you in the direction of the many books and studies that have been already been published.Secondly, we have included many records that some scholars would not even call 'krautrock'. For some, the genre isstrictly bound by dates; anything issued later than the end of the 1970s, for example, simply doesn't count. For others,there are particular musical characteristics and stylistic qualities that define the genre. I mention this in case any reader'spurist tendencies are upset by references in these pages to the music of Limpe Fuchs, the Klaus and Thomas Dinger soloCDs from the 1990s, or the later incarnations of Faust. Similarly, I am aware that the authenticity of the records on thePyramid label (see pp) remain a matter of dispute among Krautrock aficionados.For the most part, the reviews appear exactly as they were originally written and published, but changes have been madeto the discographical details. Frequently, the original reviews were addressed towards reissue CDs. The catalogueinformation for these has been improved and expanded, to bring the descriptions in line with my current standards

.Theother addition has been the inclusion of original catalogue numbers and release dates, which I have taken from the veryuseful discography at http://www.angelfire.com/planet/krautrock/dg1.htm (consulted February-April 2007). In this Kompendium, the discographical details of the CD are given first, followed by the original release information.The reason for doing the

Krautrock Kompendium

at all is simply to make available previously-published extracts from themagazine. We decided to do it as an 'ebook', an online publication which can be downloaded from the website for free.At the same time, digital photography technology has made it easier to deliver photography and reproduction of entireLP sleeves. The visual element is an exceptionally important part of Krautrock history; the sleeve art is beautiful, andpacked with significance. For these reasons, we decided to render the KK in full colour. Thus, the layouts, cover art andpictures have been assembled especially for this digital edition; a 'normal' issue of

The Sound Projector

Music Magazine,with its black and white interiors, looks nothing like this.The scans and photographs of the CD and LP covers are, for the most part, taken from my own collections. I haveindicated in a caption where this is not the case.If there is any interest at all, I would consider publishing the

Krautrock Kompendium

in full colour as a small-run book,although the purchase price of such an item would be very high.Ed PinsentEditor June 2007

Written and compiled by Ed Pinsent, with special contributions by:Jennifer HorEdwin PounceyJohn BagnallWar Arrow (ie Lawrence Burton)Chris AttonRik RawlingMarc Baines

1 The descriptions are structured as follows: Country of origin (ie of the record label, not the product); name of record label; cataloguenumber; format; date of release (in round brackets).