Michael Rother

Neu! was a German band formed by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother after their split from Kraftwerk in the early 1970s. Though the band had minimal... commercial success during its existence, Neu! are retrospectively considered one of the founding fathers of Krautrock and a significant influence on artists including David Bowie, Brian Eno, Iggy Pop, PiL, Joy Division, Gary Numan, Ultravox, Simple Minds, Negativland, Stereolab, Boredoms, Radiohead, The Horrors, Electrelane, and much of the current electronic music scene. Neu! was formed in 1971 in Düsseldorf as an offshoot from an early line-up of another seminal Krautrock band, Kraftwerk, whose early works were also produced by Conny Plank. Drummer Klaus Dinger had joined Kraftwerk midway through sessions for their eponymous debut album. Guitarist Michael Rother was then recruited to the Kraftwerk line-up on completion of the album.
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Harmonia is a Krautrock supergroup from Germany. They formed as a collaboration between Michael Rother of Neu! and Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter... Möbius of Cluster and later included the British musician Brian Eno. As two-thirds of the original group were the entirety of Cluster, the first album, Musik von Harmonia, leaned more towards that band's ambient-tinged rock than Neu!'s Motorik rock. The second album Deluxe had much stronger beats and a more Motorik and arguably more commercial sound. With the addition of Brian Eno for the 1976 recording sessions the third album, Tracks and Traces, was again more ambient in style. In 1971 the duo of Moebius and Roedelius, also known as Cluster, moved to the rural village of Forst, West Germany. Michael Rother put his project Neu! on hold in early 1973 to form the band Harmonia with Roedelius and Moebius. Together they built their own studio in Forst and recorded two albums under the name Harmonia: Musik von Harmonia in 1974 and Deluxe in 1975, both released on Brain. Musician, writer, and rock historian Julian Cope places both albums in his Krautrock Top 50.
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Brain was a Hamburg-based record label prominent in the 1970s releasing several important Krautrock records by bands such as Neu!, Cluster and Guru Guru. Many of its more prominent records are currently being reissued on CD by Repertoire Records. In the middle of 1971, Rolf Ulrich Kaiser's... management style at Ohr caused two of his A&R men, Bruno Wendel and Günter Körber, to leave Ohr and set up their own record company, which they called Brain. Wendel & Korber brought Guru Guru with them from Ohr, and immediately signed Cluster, who had recorded one LP for Philips; they soon recorded and released Cluster II. Brain was rapidly a success throughout West Germany and much of western Europe, although had little presence in the US. Signings throughout the seventies and into the eighties included Neu!, Cluster, Harmonia, Klaus Schulze, Edgar Froese, Guru Guru, Grobschnitt, Novalis, Jane, Birth Control, Embryo, Popol Vuh, Curly Curve, Scorpions, Electric Sun, Accept and many more. A later reissue series called Rock On Brain saw many early Brain recordings reissued, although mostly with entirely different sleeves and even album titles.
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Sky Records was a Hamburg, Germany based independent record label specializing in Krautrock/Kosmische Musik and electronic music. Some of their releases could be classified as progressive rock or art rock, experimental music, industrial, ambient, or New Age. No new releases appeared after 1998. Sky... Records was founded in 1975 by Günter Körber after he left Metronome Musik, the parent company of influential Krautrock/Kosmische label Brain Records. Körber was able to sign several former Brain Records recording artists to his new label, most notably Cluster just as they began a successful collaboration with Brian Eno. The success of the albums Cluster & Eno in 1977 and After the Heat in 1978 helped put Sky on a solid financial footing. Other former Brain artists signing with Sky included Thirsty Moon and Michael Rother shortly after his departure from Neu! and Harmonia. Other notable artists who recorded for Sky Records include Nik Tyndall, Moebius & Plank, Conrad Schnitzler, Asmus Tietchens, Earthstar, Serge Blenner, Harald Grosskopf, Adelbert von Deyen and Dieter Schütz. Both Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius of Cluster released solo albums and collaborations on Sky.
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