Although I've been researching Krautrock for about two years now, there are still many loose ends and much music to explore -- quite amazing, for instance, the underwater music of Jürgen Müller that has just very recently come to the surface (pun intended): http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15696-science-of-the-sea/ -- and in the last few weeks I have been listening to a lot of Ton Steine Scherben, a group from the squatter movement I disliked when I was younger but that I have become very fond of, especially their less agitative but nonetheless deeply political album Wenn die Nacht am tiefsten ist.
I have so much more to say about the Scherben but I also wanted to mention that I've been listening to a lot of David Bowie. Strong connections exist between Bowie and Krautrock groups Kraftwerk, Neu! and Cluster. Some of Bowie's best music was heavily influenced by Krautrock as was the music of Iggy Pop and Brian Eno -- there are collaborations between Eno and Cluster (and Eno and Harmonia). Bowie recorded two albums in Berlin and one other that also, at least in spirit, belongs to the Berlin Trilogy. Heroes was named after the Neu! song "Hero" and name-checks Kraftwerk's Florian Schneider on "V2 Schneider." Low has instrumentals that would have made Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother proud. And Lodger, while not recorded in Berlin, owes much to Krautrock as well. Just one example: "Red Sails," which completely rips off Klaus Dinger's Neu! beat. See examples below.
Of course Bowie is fantastic but Neu! deserves some credit as well. I've been spending an entire month with them and I will get back to the details later...
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