ELECTR_CITY Vol. II

»La Düsseldorf«, opening piece of the second Electri_city sampler, begins with a recording of cheering football fans, perhaps even from the Fortuna Stadium The sampled choruses of joy seem like the euphoric echo of the enthusiasm with which listeners and critics alike greeted the first Electri_city Sampler recorded far beyond the borders of the Republic. At the same time, he gives advance praise - and rightly so: Electri_city II is, from the very first moment, an intelligent and subtle rollercoaster ride through one of the most essential chapters of recent German music history. Then Klaus Dinger with his programmatic Neu! follow-up volume La Düsseldorf also in the motorik beat that was to become the signature of a multi-layered genre – and we are right in the middle of the musical innovations of that time. The first compilation Rudi Eschs The parallel oral history of the same name, which was sold out by Suhrkamp shortly after its publication and has since been reprinted several times, accompanies Electri_city II now the English translation of the book. This development also shows that the interest shown in the Düsseldorf sound from the 1970s and 1980s is great – and the work of the pioneers of that time is so extensive that it always allows for new discoveries. Or to put it with La Düsseldorf to say:»Look / Just look!«It's worth it. Electri_city II is to be understood as a continuation of a series: the one-hour compilation of well-known and completely forgotten pieces further differentiates how different the sound created in Düsseldorf could be – and which signature united it: The new instruments – Minimoog, Arp Odyssey, Roland System 100 and MC-4, the legendary Korg MS-20 or the Roland TR-808– allowed the musicians to develop a completely new hybrid between punk and classical training, who also moved spatially between the art academy, Ratinger Hof and the studio for electronic music (Cologne). In the synthetic organic music of the electronic scene, virtuosity met dilettantism, in the rehearsal rooms of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolis the motto was: try it out! Sometimes, as you listen, you get the impression that the machines also tried out the people sitting behind the buttons, keys and switches. In addition to the historicizing achievement, the compilation released by Grönland also has a clear value on the enjoyment level: Neu!`s »Isi«, Rothers »Carousel« or Wolfgang Riechmanns dreamlike “evening light” take you on a journey through the clouds, DAF, Dangerous Liaisons and The Krupps dancing simultaneously on the floor with heavy boots on the dirty floors of the Düsseldorf underground. Electri_city II brings together the eccentric protagonists of a turbulent time, glides through the electronic canon of the state capital of NRW in a panoramic view – and at the same time contains treasures long thought lost: Teja Schmitz The moaning that can be heard on his song "Studieren" is probably largely unknown to most listeners. It is all the more wonderful that the song by the Düsseldorf scene's then-regular hairdresser can now be heard again. Tejas This manageable work is a synonym for the period between 1970 and 1986. Things are bumpy here, the independent life of the music machines comes to light. In between we hear a person who turns the controls with devotion. It is a musical adventure to listen to.–Hendrik Otremba

Listen to a great radio special about the release here

Publication: 12.08.16

Tracklist (deluxe CD):

Wolfgang Riechmann_Abendlicht

NEU!_Isi

Rheingold_River

Robert Görl_Darling Don't Leave Me [vocals Annie Lennox]

The Krupps_Two Hearts, One Rhythm

Teja Schmitz_Studying

DAF_Kebabträume

Pyrolator_Max

La Düsseldorf_La Düsseldorf

Belfegore_Man or God

The Plan_Rubber Twist

Liaisons Dangereuses_Etre Assis Ou Danser

Topolinos_Mustafa

The Lemmings in Heaven

Michael Rother_Karussell

+ Special Hidden Track

ELECTRI_CITY Vol. I

Both the reality of the myth and the reality behind the myth become visible; the world metropolis of modernism as well as the village in Düsseldorf.

As well as Memphis for the Rock'n'Roll, this applies Düsseldorf of the seventies and eighties as a mecca of electronic pop music. Power plant in the legendary Klingklang studio classics like Highway or We are the robots, here Rheingold experienced their triad dimensions, and here brought DAF made the sequencers sweat. Without the influence of Düsseldorf music, there would have been groups like OMD, Heaven 17 and Depeche Mode never existed. They all referred to the pioneers of the electric city before they themselves became ambassadors of the new music. Rüdiger Eschs Book "Electri_City - Electronic Music from Düsseldorf"(Suhrkamp), which is accompanied by the compilation of the same name.

In addition to chart successes such as The model or Dr. Mabuse, it was scene hits like The Mussolini and True Work, True Reward which made Düsseldorf famous overnight. The greater the distance in years and kilometers, the more mythical this place appears. Rüdiger Esch is Düsseldorf and as a member of The Krupps himself part of this virulent scene. In his book, he examines the development from the beginnings around 1970 to the end of the analogue phase in 1986. He follows the trail as an inside view from exclusive original sound recordings of the protagonists Wolfgang Flür, Michael Rother, Bodo Staiger, Gabi Delgado, Jürgen Engler, Pyrolator and many others.

At the same time, there is an outside perspective through exclusive statements from the musicians of OMD, Human League, Heaven 17, Visage and Ultravox, as well as Giorgio Moroder and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Both the reality of the myth and the reality behind the myth become visible; the world metropolis of modernism as well as the village in Düsseldorf.

David Bowie recognized already in 1979 the soundtrack of the coming decade in the music of La Düsseldorf, and power plant, recently awarded a Grammy for their lifetime achievement, are considered more influential for modern music than the Beatles. The book has set itself the task of organizing and presenting this network of relationships, references and originalities. Electri_city Sixteen years of analogue electronic music that were to change the world of music. Musical highlights from these years can be found on this CD, including hits such as "Der Mussolini" by DAF, "Hero" by NEU! and "Los Ninos Del Parque" by Liaisons Dangereuses, as well as insider gems such as Wolfgang Riechmann's "Wunderbar" or "Säuren Ätzen" by Teja Schmitz, the former hairdresser for Kraftwerk, which was only released in a 500-copy edition at the time.

Release: October 10, 2014

CD tracklist:
La Düsseldorf – Düsseldorf
Wolfgang Riechmann – Wonderful
Harmonia & Eno – Luneburg Heath
The Plan – We are becoming more and more
DAF – The Mussolini
NEW! – Hero
Teja – Acid Etching
The Krupps – True Work True Reward
Liaisons Dangereuses – Los Ninos Del Parque
Wolfgang Flür – I was a robot
Rheingold – 3Klangsdimensionen 2010
Michael Rother – Flaming Hearts
MakroSoft – Electricity

Vinyl Tracklist:
A
La Düsseldorf – Düsseldorf
NEW! – Hero
The Plan – We are becoming more and more
B
Wolfgang Riechmann – Wonderful
DAF – The Mussolini
The Krupps – True Work True Reward
Teja – Acid Etching
Liaisons Dangereuses – Los Ninos Del Parque

The book “Electri_city – Electronic Music from Düsseldorf” by Rüdiger Esch is published by Suhrkamp. More information here.