A celebration of Butterboy’s Compilations, a music blog for diggers in search of brilliance.

You know your Kraftwerk. You’ve got the Can essentials. Faust, Neu!, La Dusselfdorf — you’ve secured copies of them all. So where to go from there if you’re looking to better understand Germany’s thriving music scene from the late 1960s through the 1970s? Julian Cope’s book Krautrocksampler is a great read on the bounty beneath the surface. Many online primers can offer direction.

But, obviously, you can’t understand the breadth of the movement without exposure to the music itself, and a lot of it remains unavailable on streaming services. Thankfully, Butterboy is doing the work. Over the past eight years, the anonymous blogger has operated Butterboy’s Compilations, where he offers downloads of self-created compilations, out-of-print gems and cost-prohibitive box sets from his obviously impressive record collection.

For example, Amorphous Androgynous’s epic series A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble is a mind-blowing 8 x CD collection. Per Butterboy’s post: “Since the late 90s, Amorphous Androgynous AKA The Future Sound Of London AKA Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans have been weaving together two-hour broadcasts of their favourite records that could be loosely classed as ‘Cosmic Space Music’. After ten years of messing with our heads via the wireless, they now pick their choicest mind-melting moments on what is a fine series of double CD’s. It’s a collection that perfectly runs the gauntlet from kitsch (Lord Sitar’s I Am The Walrus) to uber cool (Miles Davis or Can).”

In celebration of British label Harvest Records’ 55th anniversary, the site offered the astounding Halloween Harvest Festival: 55th Anniversary of Harvest Records 1969-2024 (Super Deluxe Edition), a 12 x CD set. Butterboy’s compilations, all available for download as MP3s, are so dense with heat that it’s a wonder they don’t set the server afire. He’s done more than 160 of them.

The compiler has gone deep with German sounds on any number of occasions. He’s highlighted the 8-Bit Operators’ brilliant 2007 tribute to Kraftwerk — you should buy it here, though — has offered a bounty of rare live and studio recordings from the band. He’s offered for download Bear Family’s extensive 2020 set Kraut! Die Innovativen Jahre Des Krautrock 1968 – 1979.

But his own Krautrock series, subtitled A Butterboy Compilation, is a beast. As outlined in his post, penned by Philippe Blache at ProgArchives, Germany was overflowing with talent.

The most consistent years of the Krautrock scene cover a relatively short period from 1970 to 1975. After their first spontaneous, hyperactive and psychedelic efforts, the bands generally split up or declined into other musical sensibilities, more in line with mainstream rock or with ambient soundscapes. Each region develops its particular musical scene, interpreting differently the Krautrock musical structure. For instance, the Berlin school focused on “astral” synthscapes, weird electronic experimentation and acid jams (Ash Ra Tempel, Agitation Free, Mythos, The Cosmic Jokers, Kluster…), The Munich scene offered fuzzed out (Eastern) psych rock mantras with some folk accents (Popol Vuh, Amon Duul, Gila, Guru Guru, Witthuser & Westrupp…). Cologne and Dusseldorf underground scenes focused on happenings, political rock, electronics, pulsating rhythms and clean sounding Krautrock (Floh de Cologne, La Dusseldorf, Neu! Can…).

Butterboy has compiled two “volumes” of tracks that total more than 140 songs, made available via .zip (more than 1.5 GB). It will not only provide you with hours of epiphanies, but it’s also a brilliant way to focus your vinyl pursuits.

More information/downloads can be found at Butterball’s Compilations.