Label Guide: Brutkasten

Brutkasten was a tiny German independent label based in Nürnberg. Peter Klimek owned a recording studio in the city, where he produced and recorded many, largely unknown German artists and bands between 1977 and the mid-1980s. The music was mostly in the Krautrock genre, but Brutkasten also released folk and blues albums.

The label now has an almost legendary status, and some of its releases (Carol Of Harvest, Black Spirit) command a very high price on the collector's market, both for their rarity and musical quality. But the quality of Brutkasten albums varies greatly, and it can also be quite tricky to identify an original pressing as there are many inferior and unlicensed pressings on the market, especially for the scarcer releases.