Year of the Tiger

AMG Review of Year of the Tiger

Vincent Jeffries
All Music Guide

After the brief intro, in which Klaus Dinger's La! Neu? work themselves up into a kind of punk-meets-world music lather courtesy of Bluepoint Underground, Year of the Tiger settles into more familiar territory. The two remaining tracks combine for over an hour of piano and sampler noodling by Dinger cohorts Rembrandt Lensink and Rudiger Elze -- Dinger's own drum work is also featured. The droning quarter notes of what the German musician likes to call his "Apache beat" are an interesting contrast to Lensink's improvised musings. Many side projects and associations fell under the La! Neu? rubric, as Dinger's own involvement in the group's studio recordings became more conceptual than anything else. Eventually, the ex-Kraftwerk/Neu! drummer/guitarist's contributions would almost entirely come from behind the recording console. Amid legal struggles with old business and musical partners, Dinger still managed to brandish a pioneering musical spirit on records like Year of the Tiger. Considering his decision to align this particular project's moniker with past successes, the actual music is wisely rooted in (what was then) the present and focused on the future.