> From the late 60s through the 70s, German underground bands were allowed to flourish in glorious isolation from their American or British counterparts, and issued forth a mighty clang that was equalparts educated, intellectual experimentation and instinctive, primal rock'n'roll.

Now the big names of the once - forgotten 1970s German scene are joining Bowie, the Byrds and The Beatles as accepted members of the critical canon, and independent record shops are shifting dozens of CD reissues from ancient Teutonic groups that two years ago seemed only irrelevant and oddly spelt footnotes in rock's history. <