Next week will mark 25 years since the untimely death of much-mythologized German producer Conny Plank.
Plank was a famously venturesome producer, importing elements of dub and novel multi-track technologies into the European musical idiom. Following on from an early association with electronic pioneers Cluster, Plank worked as an engineer and producer for just about every seminal act coming out of 1970s Germany: Kraftwerk, Ash Ra Tempel, Neu! and Holger Czukay all benefited from his expertise.
Before his death in 1987, Plank found time to work with Eurythmics, Echo & The Bunnymen, Devo and The Meteors. He also recorded his own music in various outfits, including Dieter Möbius team-up Möbius & Plank and Trioformation (with Möbius and Arno Steffen).
Grönland Records will commemorate the anniversary with a sizeable boxset in Plank’s honour. Who’s That Man will collect 22 examples of Plank’s best work, and features vintage material from Neu!, D.A.F., Eurythmics and others. Another disc will feature a series of previously unreleased live recordings, laid to tape during Trioformation’s tour of South America in 1986.
A supplementary remix disc is also included. A number of Kompakt regulars appear: Justus Köhncke takes on Feuerland, and dreamy production combo Walls and Jens-Uwe Beyer (aka Popnoname) both rework Cluster & Eno. Automat and Kreidler also feature.
Who’s That Man will arrive on February 11 2013.
Disc One
Arno Steffen – ‘Hörprobe’
Eno/Möbius/Rödelius – ‘Broken Head’
Phew – ‘Signal’
Eurythmics – ‘Le Sinistre’
Michael Rother – ‘Feuerland’
La Düsseldorf – ‘Silver Cloud’
Psychotic Tanks – ‘Let’s have a party’ [rare]
Möbius & Plank – ‘Conditionierer’
Möbius/Plank/Thompson – ‘Farmer Gabriel [rare]’
Möbius/Plank/Neumeier – ‘Pitch Control’
D.A.F. – ‘Alles ist Gut’
Neu! – ‘Leb Wohl!’
Disc Two
Ibliss – ‘Drops’
Rödelius – ‘Regenmacher’
Streetmark – ‘Eleanor Rigby’
Neu! – ‘Negativland’
Psychotik Tanks – ‘Security Idiots’
D.A.F. – ‘Was ziehst du an’
Möbius & Plank – ‘Automatic’
Fritz Müller – ‘Fritz Müller Traum’
Blue Point Underground – ‘Conny Plank’ [rare]
Konrad Plank – ‘Weihnachtssong’ [rare]
Disc Three
Cluster & Eno – Jens-Uwe Beyer remix
Le Sinistre – Kreidler remix
Broken Head – Automat remix
Cluster & Eno – Walls remix
Eurythmics – Take Me To Your Heart remix
Feuerland – Justus Köhncke remix
NEU! – Eye remix
Disc Four
Möbius/Plank/Steffen – live in Mexico 1986