Romantic Warriors IV: Krautrock (Part I)

Romantic Warriors IV: Krautrock (Part 1) begins with attempts to define the term "Krautrock" by members of Floh de Cologne, Electric Orange and Stephan Plank (Conny Plank's son). Next a history of the band Can is given by Irmin Schmidt, Jaki Liebezeit and Malcolm Mooney. Vintage performance footage is interspersed with discussions of their albums Monster Movie and Delay 1968. After Malcolm leaves, Damo Suzuki is interviewed about Tago Mago and the band's desire to create a music not based on American rock of the period. The albums Ege Bamyasi and Future Days are discussed, then Damo left and Can recorded Soon Over Babaluma without a vocalist. Can's engineer describes Landed, their first album in a multi-track studio and how this changed their sound. Rosko Gee and Rebop Kwaku Baah further added to Can's evolution. Next Damo Suzuki's Network is featured, with live footage and a discussion with Damo on how he works with different musicians wherever he tours. A portrait of Floh de Cologne follows, where they claim they were not musicians but actors pretending to be musicians. Next Kraftwerk is profiled, with Wolfgang Flür and Eberhard Kranemann interviewed. Michael Rother and Stephan Plank talk about Kraftwerk, and their albums Autobahn, Radio-Activity, Trans-Europe Express and The Man-Machine are shown and described. Krautwerk, a contemporary duo of Harald Grosskopf and Kranemann is featured next, with interviews and performance footage. A brief return to Floh de Cologne is followed by the story of Neu!, with Rother and Plank describing their respective roles. Neu!'s three albums are described, and this leads into a profile of La Düsseldorf. Hans Lampe describes the albums and the tensions that led to an early breakup. Next the band Faust is extensively profiled, with Werner "Zappi" Diermaier and Jean-Hervé Péron interviewed at length. Their history, and the influence of their producer Uwe Nettelbeck, are detailed. Collaborations with Slapp Happy and Tony Conrad are described, along with their passing from Polydor Records to Virgin Records to Table of Elements Records. Finally performance footage and interviews with the contemporary Krautrock-influenced duet Wume is shown. A final goodbye from Floh de Cologne closes this first episode of the Krautrock trilogy. A companion DVD, entitled Got Krautrock? Romantic Warriors IV: Special Features DVD, was released May, 2019 with additional interview footage and unused performance footage.