FLAMMENDE HERZEN

The first solo album by Michael Rother was a natural extension of his pioneering work in the Düsseldorf Krautrock combo of NEU!, but without the baleful influence of his proto-Punk erstwhile partner Klaus Dinger. What remained was simply some of the most beautiful guitar playing ever recorded, ranging from limpid acoustic picking to laser-beam electric sustains, all of it captured with remarkable, crystal-clear fidelity by the legendary producer and German music guru Conny Plank.

This is the lighter side of the sometimes schizophrenic NEU! canvas, as foreshadowed on the first half of their "Neu! '75" LP but with all the rough edges of the motorik blueprint ironed out smoother than an autobahn macadam. In classic Krautrock fashion the music makes a virtue out of simplicity, building uncomplicated, repetitive melodies over the steady metronome beat of drummer Jaki Liebezeit (the ace percussionist of CAN, moonlighting alongside an obvious kindred spirit), with discreet electronic enhancements adding an attractive, atmospheric sheen.

It's a sure-fire musical formula Rother would continue to fine tune, but never radically tinker with, over the course of his ongoing career. In an age when fleet-fingered guitar virtuosos were burning up their fret boards at 190 mph, Rother's style was a model of grace and economy, and like a lot of music from Germany in the 1970s it hasn't aged a minute in almost 30 years.

In his solo career Michael Rother exactly reproduced the most meditative and floating textures of Neu! music. His colleague Klaus Dinger launched L.A Düsseldorf for radical, abrasive pop electronic projections. "Flammende Herzen" directly announces Rother typical guitar instrumentation with all these elegant repetitions and evocative, almost romantic ambient melodies. This album is a collection of various slow moving guitar inventions. The title track introduces a nostalgic and mellow theme for guitar. After 3 minutes the main melody is took back in a much more punchy instrumentation, featuring almost metronomic drum parts and distortion; a very pleasant and accessible song. "Zyklodrom" contains a rather similar introspect and light repetitive melody but includes some synth arrangements. "Karussel" is an other floating track, featuring a mechanical pulse some very light keyboard sounds with a pop, simple melodic line. The less consistent song of the album. "Feuerland" is a dense, dramatic, moody composition with slide fuzzy guitars, hypnotic pulses. The last piece is made of electronic gadgets, rolling drums and tranquil synthetic ambiences. A colourful album and a good start to Michael Rother's intimate work.

There's nothing particularly wrong with this album, it's just not all that exciting. You have some decent guitar work over some rather plain percussion. The music is in the Oldfield vane but not nearly as good in my opinion. Whereas Oldfield can really rock out and explore some good jamming, this is like Oldfield on barbituates, just kind of plodding along in a new agey middle ground. Not bad if you're looking for some pleasant background music but it may be far less challenging than some of you are hoping for. And maybe that's the intention. Certainly good but hardly essential. 3 stars.

Lots of elegant guitar on this first solo release from the co-founder of Neu! In his former band, Rother was responsible for much of the melody while ur-punk Klaus Dinger added the gravel and punch. That division is reflected in this record, which is steeped in a European romanticism speaking more of rivers than autobahns. But though often pretty, it's not all languid. Jaki Liebezeit of Can provides the quintessential krautrock motorik beat while Rother does the rest. 'Karussell' could have been on Neu!75?superb. At a touch over 34 minutes, it feels too brief, yet remains a very satisfying instrumental record. (The CD re-issue of Flammende Herzen adds a couple of inessential remixes).