Señor Coconut, the maniac who dared to make an album of Latin krautrock covers
Here’s a poser for you: what music would you consider to be the complete opposite of krautrock?
I know, I know, it’s a weird one. The kind of thing that only the most friendless, hermetic and obsessive of music nerds would consider mulling over. You’re spending your sweet time on this website, though, so whether you want to admit it or not, that previous descriptor as accurately applies to you as it does to me. Sorry, chum! That said, there is always worth in treating music with the respect it deserves, so if there was going to be an opposite style of music to krautrock, what would it be?
For starters, it would be something looser. Something warm and passionate, rooted in centuries of tradition and history. A stark contrast to the radical, mechanical modernity of krautrock. After all, one of krautrock’s most iconic bands is literally called Neu! This new genre would likely have a strong female presence, where krautrock often leans rigidly masculine. And it would be music meant for dancing – not just moving to a steady motorik beat, but actual dancing, like ballroom steps and partner moves.
It would probably also represent a culture from the opposite side of the world as well, so maybe the diametric opposite music of krautrock is Latin music like merengue and cha-cha-cha? I’d love to take full credit for this discovery, but unfortunately, someone else got there first. What’s more, as if to make a mockery of my overthinking, he made an album that shows just how well these diametrically opposed styles of music blend together.
He made a Latin covers record of the krautrock legends Kraftwerk, and it absolutely rips.
Who was behind this Latin krautrock album?
It would be very interesting for a dyed-in-the-wool fan of Latin music to listen to El Baile Alemán (The German Dance in English) and see how legit it is.
To my unfamiliar ears, it sounds grand, but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone who grew up with this kind of music listens to it and hears a pretty cringe-worthy act of someone exoticising South American music. After all, since this was made by a man as German as the band he’s covering, that’s pretty much exactly what it is.
For full context, the brain behind this album is named Uwe Schmidt, a German techno producer who was among the first people to take rave culture into mainland Europe. Despite writing and producing some of the most popular and infamous tracks in the eurodance canon, by the mid-1990s, Schmidt’s eye was being drawn across the pond to music that was a little less rigid. He began experimenting with Latin music after living for six months in Costa Rica, taking on the moniker of Señor Coconut and recording a few records of it in the late 1990s.
One of which was El Baile Alemán, recorded in Chile in 1999 and released the following year. An album that proves that, despite all my talk of Latin music being the opposite of krautrock, the truth is that they’re more like both sides of the same coin. Very different expressions of very different cultures, but ones that can go hand in hand with a mind as mad and brilliant as Schmidt’s at the helm.
Next up, let’s see a death metal band make an album of Bhangra Black Sabbath covers! On second thought, probably not.