Kosmischer Läufer A Cosmic Hoax?

One of the most discussed "new" krautrock releases this year was supposed to be an old one: Volume One of Kosmischer Läufer. It is said to be the music composed by one Martin Zeichnete to be used in the training of East German athletes in the 1970s.

In an "interview" released by the record company Unknown Capability Recordings, Zeichnete says he was inspired by the krautrock music which he heard secretly listening to West German radio. The idea was that similar hypnotic music would help the DDR runners stay focused during training and improve their performance.

Don't believe the hype. The story's great, but there is every reason to believe this is a hoax.

The name Martin Zeichnete is suspicious enough: zeichnete means "drew" in German and according to the German phone book there's not a single person registered in the country with this surname.

While this could be a nickname or artist name, the music is also proof this is not what they say it is. The way the word "läufer" is pronounced in the first seconds of the opening track - by a vocoder voice - as well as "Zeit zum laufen" which we hear at the end of the first track, suggest this is not made by a German native speaker. 


The opening track is very much Kraftwerk, the second track Sandtrommel sounds like a blend of Kraftwerk, Harmonia and Cluster, and it's well done. Die lange Gerade builds on so many elements from Neu! that it's almost a parody.

Tonband Laufspur is also very Neu! but the rhythm section somehow sounds too clean to be recorded in the 1970s. There's so much musical variation in this track - and this goes for the whole album actually - that I don't believe this was suitable to "hypnotize" the runners. Which is something that doesn't add to the credibility of the story.

One problem when people stay so close to the originals, is that you start to compare them. Unfortunately, "Martin Zeichnete" was basically too much of a copycat to make this album a truly memorable listening experience, even when it's good fun the first time.

But it still is a good story.