Episode 10 (Fall 2026)
16:00 - 17:00 Sunday, October 4th, 2026
Hosts: Christian, Henry, & Jenna

This week we finished up our conversation on the development of West Germany's alternative rock - dubbed by the Brits as Krautrock.

While the first half of the hour focused more on some of the big names we missed in the previous week's playlist, the back half explored the many who ended up abandoning the analogue all together, becoming one with their machines (a la Kraftwerk). Manuel Göttsching's E2-E4 was foundational for so many different electronic genres that followed – Henry described the album as Göttsching "accidentally discovering house music."

By the time Krautrock fell out of favor with alternative spaces in Germany (replaced by movements that it influenced, like industrial and EBM), it was almost unrecognizable from its origins. Perhaps one thru-line was the trance-like state so many of these performances invoke.

We'll get into some of what replaced Krautrock in our next Episode!

Playlist - Selected by all 3 Hosts

"Jennifer (Edit)" (1973) by Faust
"Dizzy Dizzy" (1974) by Can
"Movements of a Visionary" (1974) by Tangerine Dream
"Am Rockzipfel" (1978) by Roedelius
"Damen-Eleganza" (1981) by Manuel Göttsching
"Computer World 2" (1981) by Kraftwerk
"Speed Display" (1983) by Moebius, Plank, & Neumeier

Sources / Further Learning

Krautrocksampler (1995) by Julian Cope (Book)
Under the Influence - Krautrock (2015) by Noisey (YouTube Video)