Who's doing a Transient, Random job of producing motorik pop these days?
November 27, 2011 8:22 AM Subscribe
I need to find many, many more current bands that produce hypnotic, melodic music in a motorik or krautrock-influenced vein.
I absolutely love early Stereolab, particularly long rhythmic jams like Exploding Head Movie and the ecstatic krautpop of John Cage Bubblegum. What are some current bands who mine a similar vein of guitar-based rock sublime, combining the "motorik" beat and interesting harmonics for hypnotic effect?
I'm thinking of songs like Deerhunter, Cryptograms (disturbing [but awesome] video, sorry), Cloudland Canyon, You & I, Black Angels, You On the Run, Death In Vegas, Head, Mogwai, Mexican Grand Prix, or Cul De Sac Doldrums.
I've been hitting the "krautpop" and "motorik" tags at Last.fm and Soundcloud, but without as much luck as I might have hoped. My Last.fm profile should give a fairly accurate indication of what is—and isn't (yet)—on my musical radar. Thanks!
I absolutely love early Stereolab, particularly long rhythmic jams like Exploding Head Movie and the ecstatic krautpop of John Cage Bubblegum. What are some current bands who mine a similar vein of guitar-based rock sublime, combining the "motorik" beat and interesting harmonics for hypnotic effect?
I'm thinking of songs like Deerhunter, Cryptograms (disturbing [but awesome] video, sorry), Cloudland Canyon, You & I, Black Angels, You On the Run, Death In Vegas, Head, Mogwai, Mexican Grand Prix, or Cul De Sac Doldrums.
I've been hitting the "krautpop" and "motorik" tags at Last.fm and Soundcloud, but without as much luck as I might have hoped. My Last.fm profile should give a fairly accurate indication of what is—and isn't (yet)—on my musical radar. Thanks!
Best answer: Do you just want current bands?
The Au Pairs
SOME Misson of Burma songs
Pinback
I could give you more if you aren't limiting it to modern bands.
posted by 200burritos at 8:51 AM on November 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
The Au Pairs
SOME Misson of Burma songs
Pinback
I could give you more if you aren't limiting it to modern bands.
posted by 200burritos at 8:51 AM on November 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
Also, you aren't going to find what you want from the 'krautrock' tag because none of those bands are. You list a lot of "indie" bands with a driving beat/post rock. Those bands may have been influenced by krautrock, but that doesn't mean that you should find them coupled with real krautrock bands. I answered the question based on the bands you listed, but if you wanted actual music that was in the true vein/spirit of kraut, I would have answered differently.
posted by 200burritos at 9:01 AM on November 27, 2011
posted by 200burritos at 9:01 AM on November 27, 2011
Response by poster:
posted by Sonny Jim at 9:56 AM on November 27, 2011
200burritos: Also, you aren't going to find what you want from the 'krautrock' tag because none of those bands are. You list a lot of "indie" bands with a driving beat/post rock. Those bands may have been influenced by krautrock, but that doesn't mean that you should find them coupled with real krautrock bands.Oh, absolutely. That's why I was careful to specify krautpop instead of krautrock, and to say I was interested in bands that are krautrock-influenced rather than "true" krautrock itself. I know where to look for that, and there are also past AskMe questions that cover the same ground. But if you wanted to suggest other bands to look into closer to the "root," that would be great too.
posted by Sonny Jim at 9:56 AM on November 27, 2011
Response by poster: ... and that Au Pairs track is perfect!
posted by Sonny Jim at 10:03 AM on November 27, 2011
posted by Sonny Jim at 10:03 AM on November 27, 2011
Under Byen
The Depreciation Guild
Ms. John Soda
Lali Puna
Soulwax
Uh Huh Her
Ratatat
posted by John Cohen at 10:12 AM on November 27, 2011
The Depreciation Guild
Ms. John Soda
Lali Puna
Soulwax
Uh Huh Her
Ratatat
posted by John Cohen at 10:12 AM on November 27, 2011
Best answer: The first band that immediately comes to mind is Turing Machine, who were the standards bearers for early-2000s krautrock and explicitly acknowledged that. They released two albums, A New Machine for Living and Zwei. Both are terrific; song samples on their MySpace page. I saw them a few times in NYC back in the early 00s and they were mind-blowing every time; it was incredibly easy to just melt into the groove.
They only got together infrequently in recent years, and I'm not sure if the band is continuing, owing to the death of their drummer, Jerry Fuchs (obit thread on MeFi). Fuchs was the key to their motorik sound; one of his bandmates—it escapes me who, exactly—described Fuchs' timekeeping relative to a certain model of drum machine: as good as the best production years of that drum machine and better than any of the other production years. He was also described as "robot built by cavemen" by another bandmate, John Pugh of !!!.
More recently, Fuchs was drumming for Maserati, who are possibly more "hypnotic" than Turing Machine. Fuchs drummed on two of their albums, Inventions for the New Season and Pyramid of the Sun, the latter released posthumously (again, MySpace). Both are also great albums, but my favorite Maserati work is their side of a 10" split with Zombi (the tracks are "Join Us, Mystic Sister/No More Sages" and "Monoliths/Thieves"). It's available as .mp3 on eMusic, for one, and is definitely worth seeking out.
posted by The Michael The at 10:48 AM on November 27, 2011
They only got together infrequently in recent years, and I'm not sure if the band is continuing, owing to the death of their drummer, Jerry Fuchs (obit thread on MeFi). Fuchs was the key to their motorik sound; one of his bandmates—it escapes me who, exactly—described Fuchs' timekeeping relative to a certain model of drum machine: as good as the best production years of that drum machine and better than any of the other production years. He was also described as "robot built by cavemen" by another bandmate, John Pugh of !!!.
More recently, Fuchs was drumming for Maserati, who are possibly more "hypnotic" than Turing Machine. Fuchs drummed on two of their albums, Inventions for the New Season and Pyramid of the Sun, the latter released posthumously (again, MySpace). Both are also great albums, but my favorite Maserati work is their side of a 10" split with Zombi (the tracks are "Join Us, Mystic Sister/No More Sages" and "Monoliths/Thieves"). It's available as .mp3 on eMusic, for one, and is definitely worth seeking out.
posted by The Michael The at 10:48 AM on November 27, 2011
I wasn't trying to be rude...hope it didn't come off that way! I just know how frustrating it can be to get good music recommendations and wanted to help you hone your request.
If you like the driving force of that Au Pairs track, here are a few other things that might grab you (none of these are even close to modern except for The Field, The Organ, and Vitalic):
Polyrock (this is Phillip Glass's rock band)
The Organ (driving, but pretty basic)
Silver Apples (I think Stereolab also was very influenced by them)
Gold Panda
Gang of Four
Sex Gang Children
The Raincoats
Tubeway Army (less driving, but maybe it'll work)
Bruce Haack (no guitars, but driving beat and surreal lyrics/synths)
Magazine
The Field (give this track a little time)
Vitalic (definitely driving dance music)
Dan Deacon
posted by 200burritos at 12:57 PM on November 27, 2011
If you like the driving force of that Au Pairs track, here are a few other things that might grab you (none of these are even close to modern except for The Field, The Organ, and Vitalic):
Polyrock (this is Phillip Glass's rock band)
The Organ (driving, but pretty basic)
Silver Apples (I think Stereolab also was very influenced by them)
Gold Panda
Gang of Four
Sex Gang Children
The Raincoats
Tubeway Army (less driving, but maybe it'll work)
Bruce Haack (no guitars, but driving beat and surreal lyrics/synths)
Magazine
The Field (give this track a little time)
Vitalic (definitely driving dance music)
Dan Deacon
posted by 200burritos at 12:57 PM on November 27, 2011
Spectrum of course, as Pete Kember was in Spacemen 3, who were totally influenced by krautrock. Of course, they also have their motorik moments, but they are usually pretty fuzzed out.
Tortoise when they sound like this (starts at about 2:36)
Phish also have more motorik moments than some indie snob types would like to admit. Someone with a better knowledge of the group can find many more. I've heard them in jams, but I can't recall exactly where they are too quickly. Other jam bands, including Disco Biscuits also have their moments, although the newer jam bands sound to me that they are influenced more by techno that was influenced by Kraftwerk than by the original motorik stuff.
posted by shushufindi at 2:19 PM on November 27, 2011
Tortoise when they sound like this (starts at about 2:36)
Phish also have more motorik moments than some indie snob types would like to admit. Someone with a better knowledge of the group can find many more. I've heard them in jams, but I can't recall exactly where they are too quickly. Other jam bands, including Disco Biscuits also have their moments, although the newer jam bands sound to me that they are influenced more by techno that was influenced by Kraftwerk than by the original motorik stuff.
posted by shushufindi at 2:19 PM on November 27, 2011
Expo 70
Oneohtrix Point Never (little questionable, but it's got the sequenced kraut feel to me)
posted by solarion at 2:34 PM on November 27, 2011
Oneohtrix Point Never (little questionable, but it's got the sequenced kraut feel to me)
posted by solarion at 2:34 PM on November 27, 2011
Holy Fuck does this, although their drummer sounds like more of a rock guy.
Eternal Tapestry for sure.
posted by Adventurer at 3:33 PM on November 27, 2011
Eternal Tapestry for sure.
posted by Adventurer at 3:33 PM on November 27, 2011
It's probably not quite what you want, but since as someone mentioned this is sort of part of a general category of indie pop with nods to krautrock, American Analog Set comes to mind.
posted by ifjuly at 6:59 AM on November 28, 2011
posted by ifjuly at 6:59 AM on November 28, 2011
Oh, and I meant to say I totally agree about Electrelane, who I personally like more than Stereolab.
posted by ifjuly at 7:00 AM on November 28, 2011
posted by ifjuly at 7:00 AM on November 28, 2011
Damnit I borked that first AmAnSet link. Here it is.
posted by ifjuly at 7:01 AM on November 28, 2011
posted by ifjuly at 7:01 AM on November 28, 2011
Best answer: Disappears
More rocky, but they definitely bring the motorik.
posted by kpmcguire at 9:41 AM on November 28, 2011
More rocky, but they definitely bring the motorik.
posted by kpmcguire at 9:41 AM on November 28, 2011
Response by poster: Man, it's going to take me ages to work through all the great suggestions in this thread. But that can only be good, right? Thanks! In the meantime, I've marked a couple of tracks that appealed straight off the bat, and I'll try and listen to everything else over the next week or so. And please, don't stop with the suggestions!
posted by Sonny Jim at 3:13 PM on November 28, 2011
posted by Sonny Jim at 3:13 PM on November 28, 2011
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