"Krautrocksampler: One Head's Guide to the Great Kosmische Musik - 1968 Onwards, written by former The Teardrop Explodes singer, Julian Cope, is a book describing the underground music scene in Germany from 1968 through the 1970s. The book was first published in the United Kingdom in 1995 by Head Heritage, and was later translated into German and French. It has now been long out of print, with original copies exchanging hands for surprisingly large amounts. Despite this continued demand for 'Krautrocksampler', Cope has stated that the book will not be updated or reprinted.
Krautrocksampler gives a subjective and very animated account of the phenomenon of krautrock from the perspective of the author:
"I wrote this short history because of the way I feel about the music, that its supreme Magic & Power has lain Unrecognised for too long."[1]
The book comprises a narrative of the rock and roll culture in post-WWII West Germany, along with chapters focusing on individual major artists, including Faust, Tangerine Dream, Neu!, Amon Düül I and II, Ash Ra Tempel, Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser and the Cosmic Jokers and advocate of psychedelic drugs Timothy Leary. It also has an annotated appendix of "50 Kosmische Classics." Some chapters appeared previously in the UK music magazine The Wire and in the German music magazine Spex.
The cover is an edited version of the cover of Amon Düül II's album Yeti."-Wikipedia
Very out of print. I know that there are pdf's of this floating around elsewhere on the internet but I figured another one couldn't hurt. This is incredibly essential for anyone even remotely into Krautrock. Cope writes like the total fanboy he is (a good thing) and the passion for these bands flies off the pages. He has got amazing stories to tell and does an excellent job of filling details on what the hell was up with those weirdo kriegskinder Germans. Essential read.
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