It was almost one year ago that I posted the wildly popular Julian Cope book Krautrocksampler on this hallowed institution I call my “blog” (I’m still waiting for the media to latch onto that word). Since then, literally tens of people have come here to read the long out-of-print text, BBS forums run by nerds in dimly lit basements across the world have link their members to this page, and I even received a thank you e-mail from someone. Today I’m upping the ante, friends. I’ve recently come across the companion text to Krautrocksampler, the collection of album reviews which originally appeared in the music magazine The Sound Projector known as Krautrock Kompendium. It is a must-read for both those who have read Cope’s fine book and also those who are new to Kosmiche music (one of my favorites, it falls between Andean New Age Electronica and Breakbeat Hardcore Boogie-woogie on my list of top music forms).
The various authors who lend their opinions to the roughly 110-page book have different tastes and quirks that they admire or dislike in various Krautrock bands, and whereas Cope tends to love everything across the board, and offers nice histories of the bands he discusses, the compendium reaches a variety of bands not mentioned in Krautrocksampler, and speaks specifically about the music contained on a large number of Kosmiche music released in the late ’60s and ’70s. The reason it is considered a “sister text” to Cope’s book is obvious. You can read about a band in his book, and then consult the reviews.
I guess after this I have to find a copy of Cracks In The Cosmic Egg, Cosmic Dreams At Play, or Kraftwerk: Man, Machine And Music. If anyone can clue me in as to where I might find those…well, I’m sure everyone who reads this would be thankful.
I’m going to post the following link in the hopes that you will use it wisely, and actually buy the albums that if you enjoy them. Somebody posted Julian Cope’s Top 50 Krautrock LPs on an online forum a few months ago, with codes to download all fifty albums. This can be found by clicking here. I haven’t checked to see if his download links are still fresh, but I imagine they are. Please enjoy, but do the right thing and buy those albums. They’re all fantastic.
Now, without any further ado:
KRAUTROCK KOMPENDIUM (.PDF)
