From Kraftwerk to Chicks on Speed, Digitalism to Booka Shade, Snap to Modeselektor, Sven Vaeth to Paul Van Dyk, Germany has been inspiring the international electronic music scene for half a century. This weekend, emerging indie krautrock trio Stabil Elite, dubbed ‘the grandchildren of Kraftwerk’, are abandoning their native Dusseldorf to make their first Cambodian appearance headlining at a new music festival, Made In Germany, by Meta House and the Goethe Institute. Their thing: ‘Playing guitar music that has transformed itself through electronic music and gone back to guitars; a new art aesthetic within rock culture,’ say the organisers.
Over then to Nico Mesterharm, the brains behind Meta House and himself a former lynchpin in Berlin’s underground music scene. “Julian Cope has championed it, new Nineties bands were ransacking it and the ageing German hippies that first created it are now packing in techno and indie converts. Word is out on krautrock, the Seventies trance underground that was the best kept secret in music history, up until recently. In the last few years, Lucas Croon, Nikolai Szymanski and Martin Sonnensberger have created a cosmos of driving bass lines, danceable rhythms, floating pads and shimmering electric guitars. Using repetitive lyrics with double meanings, analogue synths and icy cold clackering computers, Stabil Elite revive krautrock and the avant-garde moments of the German New Wave.
“As music critic Anika Hoge has noted, ‘They combine glamour and emotion and cosmic transcendence, which is well aware of its musical heritage yet doesn’t seem overly reflective for even a second.’ One can immediately hear where this stylish band comes from. Just think of that city on the Rhine, which has become a work of art in itself, and its electronic musical history, which has significantly influenced many styles, from hip hop to techno.”
Srabil Elite will be supported on the night by Phnom Penh-based Dub Addiction, featuring German sound wizard Professor Kinski (Jan Mueller), and the ambient trance outfit Electric Universe, featuring Cambodian drummers. There’s also a slew of guest DJs and musicians, including Cambodian singer/songwriter Jimmy Kiss, who will perform his hit single Baby, I’m Sorry.
WHO: Stabil Elite, Dub Addiction, Electric Universe, Jimmy Kiss
WHAT: Made In Germany music festival
WHERE: The Night Market, Street 108 & Sisowath Quay
WHEN: 5pm December 7
WHY: Behold, the spawn of krautrock!