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Der Sound der Jahre: Westdeutschlands Reise von Jazz und Schlager zu Krautrock und darüber hinaus – Ein Trip durch fünf Musikjahrzehnte

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Die Entwicklung der Rockmusik in Westdeutschland ist eine Reise mit Hindernissen. Obwohl viele der progressiven Krautrock- und NDW-Bands wie Amon Düül II, Can, Kraftwerk, NEU!, DAF, Ideal u. a. heute weltweit als Kult-Phänomene und Klang-Pioniere gefeiert werden, halten die Hintergründe und Geschichten um ihre musikalischen Wurzeln große Überraschungen bereit.

„In Wirklichkeit war die deutsche Rock- und Schlagerszene ziemlich klein, jeder kannte jeden, und jeder wusste, wer welche Leichen im Keller hatte …“

Der Sound der Jahre bietet einen umfassenden Einblick in die Mechanismen der Musikindustrie des Nachkriegsdeutschlands und beleuchtet die vielfältigen Musikstile sowie deren bisher wenig beachtete gegenseitige Einflüsse und

Von den Anfängen deutscher Jazz- und Swing-Orchester über die ersten Rock ’n’ Roll-Bands rund um den Hamburger Star-Club bis hin zu den Pionieren des Synthesizers. Von der heilen Welt des Schlagers bis zu Agitprop und linken Protestsongs. Von avantgardistischen Kompositionen Karlheinz Stockhausens und seinen vermeintlichen Jüngern des Krautrocks bis hin zur Neuen Deutschen Welle.

759 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 18, 2022

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Jan Reetze

5 books

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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Profile Image for Jon Allen.
34 reviews6 followers
May 20, 2021
Loved this overview of the music scene(s) in 60s-80s Germany (not just krautrock) with lots of context and intimate details from someone who lived through the main portion of the book's focus. Most other overviews of krautrock in English tend to have far less context (being written by outsiders) and tend to end up being mainly comprised of chapters profiling the key bands of the era. I was glad to see the author instead weave the main players in and out throughout chapters focusing on different factors that had an effect on the music. Learned a lot. An essential read for anyone interested in krautrock. Maybe not the best place to start, but once you have read something like David Stubbs' "Future Days" to get your bearings this is probably the best place to expand your horizons.
Profile Image for David Palmer.
4 reviews1 follower
November 24, 2020
Truly fantastic book that takes you on a journey through the history of post war German music.
My only complaint would be the unusual and glaring omission of the mighty FAUST.
Profile Image for Bridger Fruth.
1 review
January 10, 2025
An incredibly valuable and centralized work that encapsulates much of the German music industry in the post-war era, delivered with insight and wit by an author that was directly involved in parts of it.

The personable and self-aware writing style in combination with beautiful graphic design makes for a particularly accessible read. I’d recommend Times & Sounds as the place to start for anyone interested in this cross section of music history.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews