One of many compilations gathering highlights from the vast back catalog of reissue-heavy German label
Bureau B
,
Silberland, Vol. 2: The Driving Side of Kosmische Musik 1974-1984
focuses on more rhythmic, beat-driven material. Chronologically, the road begins with
Autobahn
, and the final destination is the release of
E2-E4
as well as the advent of Detroit techno. Half of the tracks on the unmixed collection are edited, providing a tight flow and a sense of continuity and fitting as many selections as possible within 80 minutes. The tracks veer between futuristic explorations, prog-rock shorn of its excesses, and proto-synth pop, drawing from a time period when the rules of electronic music were still being written.
Harald Grosskopf
's "Eve on the Hill," which opens the set, has a real-time looseness to its unsteady kicks, sparkling sequencers, and gradual changes, and it's carried by its exuberance and sense of discovery. A surprisingly funky and playful
Cluster
tune leads into
Conrad Schnitzler
's off-the-wall "Elektroklang," with its angular rhythms, robotic vocals, and flashing synths bouncing off mirrored walls.
You
's "Son of a True Star" is a mesmerizing space journey, while other upbeat cuts by the likes of
Tyndall
and
Pyrolator
are more like caffeinated daytime sprints.
Asmus Tietchens
' "Bockwurst a la Maitresse" is a murky, queasy bad trip, while
Heiko Maile
's clean, precise "Beat for Ikutaro (Tape 52)" predicts the scientific electro of acts like
Dopplereffekt
. The unhinged space boogie of
Faust
's "Juggernaut" and the fuzz-heavy rumbling of
Moebius & Plank
's "Feedback 66" are two of the only tracks present that seem to have any obvious roots in rock & roll, and even then it's a severely mutated version. Existing on a plane of its own is
Guenter Schickert
's "Puls," the dubby, aquatic opening piece from 1979's
Ueberfaellig
, possibly the best Krautrock album that isn't by one of the genre's major names like
Can
Neu!
, or
Kraftwerk
. The compilation ends on the highest note possible, with the ecstatic, hopeful "Auf Engelsfluegeln" from another must-hear album that
reissued, the self-titled 1981 effort by
Deutsche Wertarbeit
(
Dorothea Raukes
of
Streetmark
). If you've never listened to a
release before, start with this one. ~ Paul Simpson