Rother and Moebius

Rother and Moebius ****

Cabaret Voltaire

THEY may have stopped short of laying beach towels on the stage, but German synth-art pioneers Michael Rother and Dieter Moebius did at least meet their country's stereotype for being very punctual.

As expected for what was the first ever Scottish gig from the Krautrock kings, there was an impressive turnout at Cabaret Voltaire - more than a few of whom, it has to be said, looked like they hadn't been anywhere near a concert in years. A bit like Jurgen Klinsmann, it's hard to convince some of these older folks to leave their comfortable houses these days, but they came out in force for the dynamic duo.

Hide Ad

That is understandable. In 1971, Michael Rother and drummer Klaus Dinger left an early incarnation of Kraftwerk to form their own band, Neu! During a brief spell as one of the generation of German bands collectively known as Krautrock, Neu! rewrote the rules of rock.

From his early work with the pioneering Krautrock band Cluster to his later solo recordings, Dieter Moebius (Rother's long-term live accomplice) became known as one of the most innovative and prolific voices in contemporary electronic music, anticipating movements from ambient to techno years before the fact.

Between them, the pair have released over 70 albums.

Despite the fact Moebius was sitting behind a bank of computers and Rother was meddling with innumerable electronic gadgets, the music on Saturday's gig was still very organic and a great deal more human than any number of guitar bands. And although the duo didn't utter a word from the stage, there was nonetheless a tangible connection with the audience.

Even in the most abstract moments, there was still a lot of melody to be had, and, if occasionally they sounded dated, it's understandable - the odd synth effect that seems a little 80s was probably something they were tinkering with in the early 70s. In many ways, however, they still sound ahead of their time.