Neu!
Neu! were a German duo — Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger — formed in Düsseldorf in 1971 after both left the early Kraftwerk. Three albums on Brain Records — Neu! (1972), Neu! 2 (1973), and Neu! 75 (1975) — produced some of the most influential music of the rock era. Dinger's motorik drumbeat, a relentless 4/4 pattern, provided the rhythmic foundation for proto-punk, new wave, post-rock, and krautrock; Rother's guitar created shimmering textural landscapes above it. The collaboration ended in 1975. Their influence across punk, electronic music, and beyond is incalculable.