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Unsung Forum » "new" Klaus Dinger finally coming out? |
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phallus dei 583 posts |
Edited Jan 15, 2013, 15:06
Jan 15, 2013, 15:01
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I have all of Dinger's stuff, except for "Mon Amour" which came out in 2006 and was just a resequenced reissue of "Neondian." "Live in Tokyo vol 2" is definitely a let down compared to the mighty "live in Tokyo vol 1", which I consider a high point in Dinger's career. That being said, it is still worth getting. "vol 2" is the first half of the same Tokyo concert. It is two discs, with the first disc being the stronger of the two. I would have loved to have been in the audience that night! The second disc was harder to get into. It consists of a long part where Dinger is just playing over the P.A. a recorded message a fan from New Zealand sent him! And then Dinger plays excerpts of that fan's music, which is predictably in a Dinger-style! At first I was like WTF? But now I see it as another example of the way Dinger was trying to highlight his fans within his own art of the 1990s. (Other examples being the fan letter reproduced in NEU! Live in Dusseldorf, the cover to La! NEU!'s "Year of the Tiger" and my own fan letter that he reproduced on the old Dingerland web-site). The only real weak section on the CD comes next, with surprisingly bland versions of "May Day" and "America." Totally unexpected that "America" lacks authenticity here, at least to my ears. All in all, worth getting, and more consistent than the La! NEU? live in Kunsthalle release.
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Popel Vooje 5373 posts |
Jan 15, 2013, 16:47
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I have both the "Live in Tokyo" CDs too, and I'd agree that Vol.1 is clearly the superior. Apart from that, the only post-La Dusseldorf stuff I have is "Neondian" (which I like a lot) and "Bluepoint Underground" (which I'm not so keen on). Was yours the fan letter that he replied to when you asked him what he'd been up to since the 80s? I also have both "Neu! 4" and "Neu! 86", and in my opinion, somewhere betwen those two releases lies a potentially good album, if not on a par with the 70s releases. Dinger's 1996 version is too chaotic and thoughtlessly sequenced (as you pointed out in your review on here), whilst the new version - although shorter and more coherent - misses out the Harmonia-like "Bush Drum" (which I'd have included) and is also a tad over-produced in places (alhtough it does contain "Drive (Grundfunken)" which was inexplicably left off the original. Still, if you have both you can always make your own composite CD-R like hardcore Beach Boy fans have been doing for years with "Smile".
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MC 638 posts |
Jan 15, 2013, 21:18
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Thanks PD! What's your view on Dusseldorf? I love that one. Rembrandt: God Strikes Back also has some good bits in it but I'm not sure how much Dinger is really on this one. So I might go for Cha Cha 2000 then, I've listened to various parts on Youtube but maybe they make more sense all in one go on something other than computer speakers.
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phallus dei 583 posts |
Jan 15, 2013, 21:34
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I agree, "Bluepoint Underground" is close to crap, as are "Die with Dignity" and "Rembrandt: God Strikes Back." Actually, these three albums are "La! NEU?" in name only - Dinger only produced these (not sure about Die With Dignity, as I only got that one off Soulseek) but does not play on them at all. I really like the other La! NEU? stuff a lot, although I do think the studio albums, as they are, are sequenced poorly. Back when I was in college and had a lot of free time on my hands I arranged mixes of these albums, taking tracks from different ones, to make what I thought were stellar CD-R's. I still listen to these mixes, and consider them to be worthy additions to Dinger's canon. Its unfortunate that most of Dinger's 90s work seems to be automatically written off. Back in the late 90s I wrote three letters to Dinger, the first of which he put up on his old website. (I was listed as "a fan from Ohio") Basically, I just told him how much I loved La! NEU?, which was my favorite band of the late 90s. He responded to me twice - the first note was basically "Be sure to buy my new album!" (Vol. 1 of Live in Tokyo) and the second time he encouraged me to run for president of the US! (I guess because I told him I liked his sentiment on "America"?) He never responded to the third letter... Weaker than La! NEU? but better than Bluepoint / Die With Dignity / Rembrandt are the five 1-A Dusseldorf albums, the first four of which feature Thomas Dinger. Thomas Dinger's solo album, "Fur Mich" is also worth checking out, especially if you like the 80s feel of Neondian.
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MC 638 posts |
Jan 16, 2013, 21:02
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Thanks PD. Can you drop me an email ([email protected]) if you're up for a cdr exchange of a few things? You in the UK?
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Popel Vooje 5373 posts |
Edited Jan 23, 2013, 16:53
Jan 23, 2013, 16:52
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Here's a preview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFb1lLZYvh4
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phallus dei 583 posts |
Jan 24, 2013, 15:05
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Thanks! Hopefully repeated listens will improve things a bit...
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Popel Vooje 5373 posts |
Jan 25, 2013, 17:30
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phallus dei wrote: Thanks! Hopefully repeated listens will improve things a bit... Well, yes - I'd be lying if I said I thought it was one of his greatest achievements. He does have a knack for making even the most throwaway of ideas sound infuriatingly catchy though. Like Hunter says it does indeed sound a tad unfinished and demo-like.
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