Krautrock in the 1970s had many faces. It could be experimental, spacey, punky, noisy, hypnotic, melodic... Michael Rother was one of the few musicians who could switch from one mood to another and create music that explored almost every possible direction, and never sounded out of place. As a member of Kraftwerk, Neu! and Harmonia he was a key figure in krautrock.
But let's not forget his solo work. It was (well, is .... he's still active) more melodic and accessible and (obviously) focused on his delicate guitar work. Rother's mother played Chopin on her piano when Michael was a kid and you can hear it in his playing.
One of my favorite tracks of his solo career is Erlkönig from his 1982 album Fernwärme, with Jaki Liebezeit (Can) on drums. If this pristine, romantic melody does not touch your heart, you must be a cruel person. It's pure poetry in sound.
I'll write more about Rother in the future - he's a man you can never ignore for long on a krautrock blog.
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