On March 25, Grönland are set to release Japandorf (artwork above), the final album by La Düsseldorf, former Neu! and Kraftwerk member Klaus Dinger’s new wave group, in their final iteration as Klaus Dinger & Japandorf.
The final piece of work coming out of a second wave of activity for the band, following their first, late 70s/early 80s lifespan, Japandorf was sparked after Dinger was introduced to a group of Japanese musicians and fine artists living in his home town of Düsseldorf by Masaki Nakao. He consequently formed a collective, Klaus Dinger & Japandorf, featuring Kazuyuki Onouchi, Satoshi Okamoto and his wife Miki Yui, who produced the album between 2000 and 2007, with a few additions made by Dinger, Onouchi and Yui in 2008, before Dinger’s unexpected death from a heart attack that year. Onouchi and Yui consequently finished producing the album in 2010.
Yui told us about the album: "As Klaus started new La Düsseldorf productions in 2000, he aimed to make fresh music together with non-musically-trained artists, which resulted in a long process of creation. Three of us especially, Klaus, Kazu and me, were devotedly working on this album.
"I took part in the production from late 2000, took over the production after Klaus’ passing in 2008 and finished mixing the album together with Kazuyuki in 2010. It was a long and winding road, and now, finally, the time has come for its release. Dreams come true! It was our dream to release the album and, while we were practicing for the world tour, without Klaus, sadly it is not possible any more, it is still a big pleasure to bring our music to listeners all over the world.
"The album contains songs which Klaus had in his mind for a long time but were previously unreleased, as well as totally new songs which emerged through the process of working together. Not only because of these songs, but rather because of the process we went through during the production (the process of growing music from the seeds), I am sure that this album meant a lot to Klaus, as well as for me and for Kazu. Klaus worked seriously but joyfully, patiently and carefully on the album, because he knew that such extraordinary experience and challenge enriched the Japandorf artists’ lives and the results; the music is for the future generations of listeners to enjoy.
"’We need to change, "quantum leap" is necessary,’ Klaus often said. He was an artist who worked to create music and artworks ‘for the future’. Exactly as he sings, "dance to the future with me" in his song ‘Cha Cha 2000’."
We’ve got a first listen of opening track ‘Immermannstrasse’, accompanied by footage of the band on a 2006 boat trip on the River Rhein around the Kaiserswerth area of the city:
