Michael Rother - Biography
Michael Rother is a name synonymous with progressive German rock. From his participation in an early incarnation of Kraftwerk through his own legendary art rock band Neu! to his propulsive, ethereal solo albums, Rother has created one of underground rock’s most unique discographies. This music is defined by his glowing, lyrical guitar sound, attention to textural ambience, and love of motorik rhythm. Hugely influential, Rother’s work over the last four decades reflects a highly personal vision.
Rother was born in 1950 in Hamburg, Germany. He grew up and attended school in Munich, Wilmslow, England, Karachi, Pakistan, and Dusseldorf. In Dusseldorf Rother played guitar in a band called Spirits of Sound that also included Wolfgang Fluer, later of Kraftwerk, and Wolfgang Riechmann. Rother too would perform with the earliest incarnation of Kraftwerk, but sadly most of these recordings have not been released. His tenure in the band was short, as he and drummer Klaus Dinger left to form Neu! in 1971.
Neu! is one of the defining bands of German psych-rock from the 1970s. The groups playing at the time — Faust, Can, Cluster, Guru Guru, Agitation Free, Ash Ra Tempel, etc — that have since been branded “krautrock” all exhibit a daring sense of experimentation. Neu!, however, is perhaps one of the most sonically adventurous from this period. Rother and Dinger melded hypnotically minimal drumming with soaring guitar melodies, queasy synths, and atmospheric tape manipulation to create some kind of psychedelic, electronically enhanced proto-punk. To this day nothing sounds like the three albums the duo recorded with producer Conny Plank between 1971 and 1975. Neu!, Neu! 2, and Neu! ’75 are all stone cold classics of the most future forward art rock ever set to tape.
Concurrent to his work with Neu!, Rother joined with Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius of Cluster to form the trio Harmonia. The group formed in ’73 and released two excellent albums; 1974’s Musik Von Harmonia and 1975’s Deluxe. The records are defined by the Cluster duo’s use of synthesizers and electronics, augmented by Rother’s unmistakable guitar playing. Both records, as with all of Cluster’s releases, are landmarks of live electronics and hold great influence over ambient and techno music. The trio met with ambient pioneer Brian Eno to record in 1976. The tapes were lost for decades until Moebius discovered them and released the music as Tracks and Traces in 1997.
After the disbanding of Neu! in 1975 and of Harmonia in 1976, Rother embarked on a string of solo releases. Released under his given name, the first of these appeared in 1977. Flammende Herzen features the motorik, locked-in drumming of Can’s Jaki Liebezeit and recalls Neu!’s hypnotic groove, albeit presented in a crystalline production that speaks more to serenity and reflection than aggression. The following years brought Sterntaler and the glorious Katzenmusik, both again featuring Liebezeit on drums. Rother’s neon guitar rips through soaring, sky-high melodies and undulating ambience anchored by the mesmerizing pulse of the drums on these classic records.
Rother continued his solo work into the ‘80s, releasing the dense and slightly dark Fernwarme in 1982, Lust in 1983, Sussherz und Tiefenscharfe in 1985, and Traumreisen in 1987. Aside from a program that reissued his first four solo records, the ‘90s were largely quiet for Rother. He released only one new record, 1996’s Esperanza. More active in the 2000s, Rother released Remember (The Great Adventure) in 2004. It’s the first of his solo records to feature vocals. Other highlights include a live jam with the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2007, as well as tours with Moebius and a full Harmonia reunion that same year. In 2010 Rother teamed up with Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley and Tall Firs guitarist Aaron Mullan to perform the music of Neu!