New Subscriber Playlist: “A Kosmische Pastiche”

During the ’60s and early ’70s, a group of West German musicians sought to liberate themselves from both American influence and conservative German culture, which they considered tainted by the nation’s Nazi legacy. Influenced by jazz, funk, and psychedelia, these musicians sought to break free from anything that smacked of tradition.

A subset of these musicians also drew inspiration from cosmic themes and space exploration, and employed analog synths to create vast soundscapes evoking the interstellar reaches. Not surprisingly, this music would come to be called kosmische musik (lit. “cosmic music”) and eschew pop and rock music conventions for long, meandering compositions filled with endless arpeggiation and ambient drift.

This month’s playlist, titled “A Kosmische Pastiche,” highlights this genre, which has influenced the realms of electronic, ambient, and techno music, of course, but also post-rock and even more extreme genres like death metal. Spanning nearly two hours, these ten songs highlight classic kosmische musik artists as well as the genre’s newer adherents, and will take you to the furthest reaches of space… and beyond.

Accompanying the playlist is the latest episode of my “Playlist Breakdown” podcast, in which I spotlight one of the playlist’s songs and why it’s so special, interesting, and/or meaningful. This month’s episode focuses on “Temporal Paradox,” an epic-length song of spacious electronica from modern German maestro Martin Stürtzer.

Both of these are little bonuses for subscribers who support Opus financially. If you’d like to get access to them (and more), subscribe to Opus for just $5.00/month or $50/year. (You can also subscribe for free and get my weekend newsletter.)