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The Krautrock Trilogy

ROMANTIC WARRIORS IV - KRAUTROCK

WELCOME TO THE KRAUTROCK TRILOGY

 The Krautrock Trilogy is a mini-series of three feature documentary films that explores the classic German Krautrock bands that made music history in Germany during the late 1960s and early 1970s. This movement which involved inspirations from psychedelic, electronic, jazz, folk music, and noise music, came to be known as Krautrock. Krautrock 1 (2019) focuses on the bands that emerged in the Cologne/Düsseldorf region, Krautrock 2 (2021) focuses on the bands from the South of Germany and Krautrock 3 (2023) will focus on the bands from Berlin & Hamburg.

The music spectrum of the Krautrock bands is broad and ranges from post rock, space rock, jazz and  ambient electronica, to ethnographic raga and industrial noise. From today’s perspective, it should be emphasized that many musicians experimented with the then novel synthesizer technology and thus laid the basis for a music that was never heard before. The influence of the thoughtful, expansive compositions of these bands on Western pop music is obvious. They gave the key to the development of movements like Electronica, Techno, and minimalistic and directly inspired artists like David Bowie, Eno, Talking Heads and others. The German Krautrock scene developed in regions such as Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Munich.

KRAUTROCK 2 REVIEWS 

“Honest, personal but above all fun to watch. Essential viewing for every progressive music fan!Charles Snider, Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock

Krautrock 2 is essential viewing for anyone interested not just in the music, but also the history and culture behind it. It will, however, provide a rewarding viewing experience to everyone – even to committed fans of very different subgenres of progressive rock.” Raffaella Berry, Progmistress.com

“With both of these Krautrock documentaries to date, it’s important for the listener to understand the background and history of the music they enjoy in order to get a more complete picture of the complex puzzle that ties everything together, and Krautrock 2 certainly provides that in abundance. In addition to the main documentary feature film, a special feature DVD is also included titled Got Krautrovk 2? that features unabridged performances by several of the featured artists.” Peter Thelen, Expose.org

KRAUTROCK 1 REVIEWS 

There really should be a Prog award handed out to filmmakers Adele Schmidt and Jose Zegarra Holder for their incredible work in documenting progressive music’s origins and development.” Sid Smith, Prog Magazine

 “The film works both as an introduction for those who are still unfamiliar with the movement, and as a fascinating insight into its development for those who are already invested in it.” Raffaella Berry, Progmistress.com

 “No matter how much you thought you knew already about this vibrant movement that began in the 70s, ROMANTIC WARRIORS is guaranteed to reveal some of the long lost secrets that have been tucked away behind the scenes for many decades.” Mike Huhmann, Progarchives.com

No book or previous film on the topic comes close to the broad and insightful minutes of the KRAUTROCK Part I.” Lee Henderson, bigbeautifulnoise.com

 “ This is a long film, about two hours and ten minutes total, so have a good supply of popcorn ready, you are bound to see many clips and interviews that have never been seen before!” Peter Thelen, Expose.org

Fans of the many featured bands will eat it up, of course. But even newcomers lacking a palate for Krautrock’s enduring power and deep musical legacy should appreciate the aim behind the project: to preserve, before it’s too late, the personal testimony of influential artists who never received the historical recognition they deserved.” Mike Neumann, Progarchives.com

KRAUTROCK 2

KRAUTROCK 2 
(USA/2021/123 Min.)
A film by Adele Schmidt & José Zegarra Holder
Subtitles DVD: English, Spanish, French, Italian
 
KRAUTROCK 2 is the second film in The Krautrock Trilogy, and the sixth of the Romantic Warriors documentary series. KRAUTROCK 2 focuses on the classic Krautrock bands from the South of Germany and features the following bands:
 

GURU GURU • AMON DÜÜL II • XHOL CARAVAN • KRAAN • WITTHÜSER & WESTRUPP • POPOL VUH • ELECTRIC ORANGE

Among the musicians of the Krautrock Scene (that were active in the 70s), the following have been interviewed for KRAUTROCK 2:

SKIP VAN WYCK III • MANI NEUMEIER • RENATE KNAUP • CHRIS KARRER • DANIEL FICHELSCHER • HELLMUT HATTLER • JAN FRIDE • WALTER WESTRUPP

In addition, we’ll hear the opinions of Krautrock specialists and authors Alan Freeman and Steve Freeman, and experienced musicians such as Dirk Jan Müller, Dirk Bittner & Georg Monheim of Electric Orange. We’ll visit the Finkenback Festival in the beautiful German Odenwald. The festival has been running for over 40 years and was founded by fantastic Mani Neumeier of GuruGuru

KRAUTROCK 1

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KRAUTROCK 1 
(USA/2019/126 Min.)
A film by Adele Schmidt & José Zegarra Holder
Subtitles DVD: English, French, Italian
Subtitles Streaming: English, Spanish, French, Italian
 

KRAUTROCK 1 was released in 2019, and it covers the origins, Zeitgeist, and trajectory of the pioneering 70s German Krautrock bands from the Düsseldorf and Cologne region, and one singular band from Hamburg. K-1 received high acclaim in the international music press and it was screened in theaters across Germany by distributor Film Kino Text during 2020.

Part 1 highlights the following bands:

CAN • FAUST • KRAFTWERK • FLOH DE COLOGNE • NEU! • LA DÜSSELDORF • JAPANDORF •  

Among the musicians of the Krautrock (that were active in the 70s), the following have been interviewed for the film:

WOLFGANG FLÜR • DAMO SUZUKIIRMIN SCHMIDT •  JAKI LIEBEZEIT MALCOLM MOONEY • MICHAEL ROTHER •  EBERHARD KRANEMANN • HARALD GROSSKOPF •  JEAN-HERVE PERON • WERNER “ZAPPI” DIERMAIER • DIRK STÄDLER • THEO KÖNIG •  DIETER KLEMM •  VIDROLIN ENXING • HANS LAMPE

Celebrated underground, the legacy of Krautrock music continues to flourish today in the innovative work of contemporary bands such as:

  • KRAUTWERK • ELECTRIC ORANGE • WUME • DAMO SUZUKI NETWORK

In addition, we’ll hear the opinions of label owner Gunther Buskies (of Bureau B), legendary sound engineer René Tinner, experienced musicians such as Dirk Jan Müller & Dirk Bittner of Electric Orange, filmmaker Stephan Plank, and younger contemporary musicians such as Albert Schatz and April Camlin of Wume.

KRAUTROCK 3

Coming up in 2023!

Part 3 will focus on several bands from Berlin and Hamburg, including Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Günter Schickert, Agitation Free, Conrad Schnitzler, A.R. & Machine, Nektar and Embryo from Munich.

During the first half of the 1970s, a number of West German musicians escaped from pop’s three-minute straitjacket, and the results were out of this world (literally!). This movement—not just a branch, but a whole family of psychedelic, electronic, folk & rock styles fashioned without the radio in mind—came to be known as Krautrock. Its pioneering bands created eminently logical magic: They took the fierce, undomesticated essence of the old gods of rock and roll, and infused it with a truly progressive and revolutionary spirit.

Krautrock 2 and Krautrock 1 Trailers

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