Various Artists - BRAND NEU!
The motivation behind this tribute to NEU! is to convey their importance by demonstrating their continued influence on the bands of today. Like a musical equivalent of using background radiation as evidence for the Big Bang, inspired tracks are culled from B-sides, Japanese single versions, as well as specially recorded tributes, to convey how pop is still reeling from the impact of the Motorik beat.
Besides establishing NEU!’s place in the rock canon, the album also provides many an insight into the way in which some of these bands arrived at their own aesthetic; for example, Primal Scream’s rock ‘n’ psychedelia is always said to have been inspired by acid-house, but one listen to their version of Shoot Speed/Kill Light reveals the deeper influence of a certain Dusseldorf duet. Similarly, upon hearing Kasabian’s deftly executed version of Stuntman, all bubbling synths and pulsating beats, you realise that they’re more the heirs of Krautrock than Britpop.
In other instances, the revelation of these songs has transformed the band beyond recognition; with Liam muzzled, Oasis’s version of I Can See It Now is achingly poignant, and not in the maudlin, Wonderwall-strumming way we’ve come to expect from them. As refreshing as this is, it’s the less established acts that provide the most entertaining tributes; Foals tap into the Apache beat-aesthetic perfectly with their cover of Titan Arum, and LCD Soundsystem’s spiky Watch the Tapes reflects the schism that took place when Dinger began his flirtations with the British punk scene.
The two standouts, however, are surely Cornelius’s proggy Wataridori, which drags the listener off of the Autobahn and onto the Tokyo Bullet Train, and School of Seven Bells' Device Fuer M, which drenches the NEU! sound in heavenly femininity. Overall, BRAND NEU! isn’t the hyperbolic tribute you’d expect; it conveys their importance, for sure, whilst also providing a platform for some of the artists they’ve influenced to shine through in thrilling, unexpected ways.