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Apr 19, 2010 NEU! By Kyle Lemmon

During the past twenty years, Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger’s music as NEU! was often greeted with hushed reverence. Rock and electronic outfits alike were greatly influenced by the Krautrock duo’s pioneering spirit during the 1970’s. Now Groenland will release the NEU! vinyl box set, a far-reaching retrospective of the Düsseldorf, Germany electronic-rock progenitors. First and foremost, the set will repackage NEU!’s excellent studio albums NEU!, NEU! 2, and NEU! ’75.

Also, two additional releases will appear in the limited box set, appearing officially for the first time: NEU! ’86, the most recent studio recordings of NEU!, as well as never before released material, revised by Michael Rother, and NEU! ’72 non-public test maxi-single, a rare live recording of the band in Düsseldorf.

Of course, the box includes the usual ephemera associated with these huge sets: a 36-page book about the history of the seminal group, illustrated with previously unpublished photographs by Anton Corbijn and Peter Lindbergh, a download code for the digital versions, a stencil of the NEU! logo, and a t-shirt (three different designs).

Rother issued the following statement regarding the release:

“I am very happy to know that with the NEU! vinyl box set our fans will for the first time have the opportunity to hear the whole bandwidth of NEU!. My partner Klaus Dinger sadly passed away in 2008 but he has been in our minds all during the work on this box set and his visual ideas for NEU! were our inspiration… Most of all I’m thrilled about the release of the album NEU! ´86 which Klaus Dinger and I originally recorded in 1985/86, but left unfinished back then and which led to some unfortunate problems between Klaus and myself in the 90s. I now completely reworked the album from original multi-track and master tapes, and unearthed a few yet unknown tracks, which are essential for a full understanding of what Klaus and I focused on for NEU! in the mid 80s. It was my aim to present Klaus Dinger’s musical strengths and visions just as much as my own ideas. The best musical result was to be my only guideline, not the ego. All during the emotional process of reworking our album Klaus was on my mind and I contemplated what he would think about my decisions.” —Michael Rother, February 2010

Limited Edition NEU! Vinyl Box Set:

NEU!
NEU! 2
NEU! ‘75
NEU! ‘86
NEU! ‘72 non-public test

(www.neu2010.com / www.michaelrother.de / www.groenland.com)