It does not limit itself to German artists but covers musicians from all over the world as long as their work is not just another variation on blues, country, folk or rock 'n' roll. Trying something new is key.
In other words, the interpretation of krautrock on this site is broad. Here it's music that...
- is not rooted in anglo-saxon rock culture
- experiments with sounds as well as song structures
- does not primarily focus on getting people to dance
The musicians didn't want to copy British and American rock bands nor go back to their German roots as these were commonly associated with the nazi period.
Despite that most were consciously doing something unusual, the outcomes were extremely diverse. Some created their own European version of psychedelic rock, others were influenced by jazz, tribal music or modern classical composers.
Many but not all experimented with electronics and made creative use of the growing technical possibilities of the recording studios, encouraged and assisted by producers like Conny Plank and Dieter Dirks.
Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze were the most successful artists of this generation, while bands like Can, Amon Düül II, Neu!, Ash Ra Tempel, Popol Vuh and Faust were highly influential.
The krautrock movement - if it ever was one - heavily influenced the post punk generation but also stoner rock, techno, hip hop and ambient music.
As such krautrock made a bigger impact on the history of rock and pop than any other musical movement, despite the fact that the commercial success of many of these German artists in the 1970s was limited.
Krautrock 21 is run by A.S. Swanski, a Sweden-based writer, producer and musician of Dutch-German origin.
