Until recently the title of this box set was something that I was very likely to have uttered. But since I have started to explore the Krautrock genre I've become aware of the influence and input that Conny Plank had, both into that period of music and afterwards. If, like me a few months ago, you're asking 'Who's That Man?' when reading the name Conny Plank, then this 4cd selection will go some way to answering your question.
Collecting together just a small portion of the tracks he was involved in, the first 2 cds give a real feel of his musical vision. Plank was always much more than just a producer - in the Krautrock days he often received full song writing credits along with the bands he was producing such as Cluster. At the same time he was creating new recording processes and even new pieces of equipment to enable his vision to be realised. Whilst the track listing may at first appear a little odd and arbitrary (The Eurythmics next to Michael Rother?) listened to as a whole it really works, showing innovators and disciples all flowing together in the same stream.
Although most of the tracks on these two discs are already widely available, there are four rare tracks to hold the interest of those who already own much of Plank's output. I don't imagine that everything on these two cds will be to everyone's tastes (the prog-jazz styling’s of Ibliss are a bit much for me, and Streetmark's version of 'Eleanor Rigby' is well worth avoiding) but certainly the majority of the tracks are worth a try.
CD 3 brings things up to date with a brand new set of remixes from the original master tapes of Plank tracks. It's difficult to comment on remixes when you're not familiar with the original versions, but taken at face value there are certainly some tracks of note here. Walls' remix of 'Infiltration' doesn't sound much like his recent album or much like a Krautrock track but is still good, but the next two are even better, especially the version of Michael Rother's 'Feuerland'.
There's a lull with the Phew Remix, but then 'Farmer Gabriel' is vastly improved on the original by turning it into an ambient dance track. The Eye Remix of Neu!'s 'Fur Immer' is pretty radical and may well be what Krautrock would sound like if it had been born in the 21st century. The Crato remix of Phew's 'Doze' is OK once it gets started, but overlong, and the final track is neither here nor there.
That brings us to CD 4, which was recorded at a live show in
Overall then, an interesting if quite expensive box set - if you're thinking of buying it I suggest you get it direct from the Gronland label site, where it's at least £10 cheaper than anywhere I've seen it listed in the UK.
8/11
Russell
@thedjcull
