Carla and Brad Talk About Krautrock

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We've talked about Harmonia, and we've talked about Cluster.  Time now to dig deep into the life and times of Brian Peter George St. Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno.
Join us as we talk art school, Roxy Music, and Eno's terrific '70s solo records ... all of this just stage-setting, as far as we Krautrockers are concerned, for Brian's first introduction to the Harmonia boys, Moebius, Roedelius, and Rother, and the collaborations that followed.  We call out specifically for discussion (1) Harmonia and Eno's Tracks and Traces sessions in '76, and (2) the Cluster + Eno record a year later.
Oh, what we wouldn't give to go back in time to visit with these four delightful men at the Harmonia estate in Forst!  Alas, you can't step in the same river twice, and the Weser is no exception.  Maybe this latest episode of Carla and Brad Talk About Krautrock is the next best thing ... ?
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Listen to previous episodes referenced here: 
Harmonia - Apple / Spotify
Cluster - Apple / Spotify
Conny Plank featuring Moebius & Plank, Rastakraut Pasta - Apple / Spotify
Michael Rother & Friends Play Neu! in London - Apple / Spotify
Neu! - Apple / Spotify 
"Flaut! Flaut! Let it All Out Playlist" on The Mixtape Diaries Substack. 
Find us on socials on Facebook and X. 
Send us an email at [email protected].
Listen to us over at The Mixtape Diaries! Apple / Spotify

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Today we talk about Krautfolk duo Bernd Witthüser and Walter Westrupp.  These two budding musicians met on the Essen basement hipster folk scene, became fast friends, fell out (yeah: a girl), and reconnected after the Essener Songtage in 1968.
After a first splash with their, um, Flipper the Dolphin single, W and W stole the show at Fehmarn.  (Some might say Hendrix never recovered.)  Tabs and joints and Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser soon entered the mix, and sessions with Dieter Dierks turned out Trips und Traüme in 1971.
We're saying these two *INVENTED* cosmic folk.  And we're holding the microphones.
These two Cosmic Couriers had gobs of talent, a wicked sense of humor, and a good deal to say.  Come sift through the zithers and trombones with us, as we dig in on Witthüser and Westrupp!

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Today we get our Swiss on, as we look in on the Cosmic Couriers' collaborations with Bernese scholar/ mystic Sergius Golowin and Yenish artist Walter Wegmüller.
First we depart this grim terrestrial plane and ascend to the mountain paradise of Goloka, where the vibe is chill and Lord Krishna reigns supreme.  Now Wegmüller takes charge of our party and walks us through the Tarot's Major Arcana.
With us on this journey are Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser and the Star-Maiden, Göttsching and Schulze, Witthüser and Westrupp, Dollase and Grosskopf.  Berkers, Mierke, Enke, Dierks, and would you believe Timothy Leary (?) round out the group.
How could this not rock?

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Eau de Cologne.
Floh de Cologne.
Oh, that Floh de Cologne!
Blending old-time cabaret tradition and '60s radical left-wing politics, the Flohs brought biting wit and considerable musical range to bierkellers and Uni stages all across West Germany.  And it wasn't long before they laid a concept album/ beat-show down to tape.  That record, Ohr Records’ first release (!), was Fliessbandbabys Beat-Show.
Rock along with your two favorite middle-aged Gen X Conveyor Belt Babies, as we explore the life and work of Floh de Cologne!
NOTE: We urge listeners to look in on these transcriptions and translations of (some of) the Fliessbandbaby song lyrics.  Having them handy certainly made this astonishingly good record more accessible to us, and we expect they'll enhance your listen of this episode, too.

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We were overdue to check in on Krautrock's unwitting supergroup, the Cosmic Jokers.  But we weren't gonna do it without first going *deep* on Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser and Gille Lettmann.  
At various times visionary, provocateur, entrepreneur, programmer, pamphleteer, carnival barker, and snake oil salesman, Kaiser was an essential figure in the Krautrock project.  His life-partner-in-crime, Gille, brought a Star-Maiden's magic dust--and some wicked vocals--to the many delicious records Kaiser's Ohr, Pilz, and Cosmic Couriers labels issued in the early 1970s.
The Jokers releases were peak Kaiser-Lettmann material, recorded over a series of acid parties in Dieter Dierks' studios and released (so the story goes) without most of the players' knowledge or consent.  We *love* these records and are grateful for the deception ... even if the resulting lawsuits ended Rolf and Gille's careers in the biz.
Come along as we survey the trippiest corners of the cosmos, with Krautrock's Power Couple as our guides.  This was a fun one!