"A rousing counter-narrative to the usual depictions of Krautrock." New book shines different light on the kosmiche genre

(Image credit: Ventil Verlag)

A new book exploring the Krautrock genre is to be published in March.

Krautrock Eruption, a 160 page illustrated paperback book, has been written by Wolfgang Seidel, who was a member of Eruption, alongside Conrad Schnitzler, and co-founder of Ton Steine Scherben.

The book is described as "a rousing counter-narrative to the usual depictions of Krautrock. As a fly on the wall, Seidel recounts the squats, demos and first concerts of bands such as Cluster, Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel. Just as precisely and vividly, he recapitulates the influence of minimal music composers such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass, the origins of many Krautrock musicians in jazz and the role of the synthesiser."

Krautrock Eruption is supplemented by a discography of the 50 most important Krautrock records, written by music journalist and Krautrock expert Holger Adam.

The book has been translated from German by Alexander Paulick, a member of Düsseldorf based avant-garde band Kreidler.

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.