A moment of ‘motorik’ silence

Billboard is reporting that Klaus Dinger, the iron-limbed drummer for Neu! and an early incarnation of Kraftwerk, died March 21 of heart failure. As odd as the time-lag seems between that date and today's sad announcement from Neu!'s label Grönland, it makes a strangly perfect kind of sense given the comparable lag with which most listeners came to hear of Neu! -- many years removed from their '70s heyday (I'm looking at you, Stereolab fans).

Blessed with lovingly remastered reissues on Astralwerks in 2001 (which are, of course, now out of print), a whole new generation became acquainted with Neu! and Dinger's signature, relentless "motorik" beat, which inspired crate-digging underground acts ranging from the aforementioned Stereolab to Tortoise to Wilco (remember "Spiders (Kidsmoke)"?). If you can get your hands on a copy of one of these Neu! reissues, particularly their debut, you'll be amazed not only at how contemporary they sound some 30-odd years later, but also how if anyone deserved to do something as unlikely as copyright a drumbeat, it was Klaus Dinger.

Naturally, there's limited to no video reference for Neu!'s work to post in tribute, but there's something beautiful about this fan-made clip. There's no wiggy camera work, no storyline, just the band's self-titled debut spinning placidly on a turntable as the driving, druggy weirdness of "Hallogallo" spins right along with it. Danke schön, Klaus.

-- Chris Barton