Motorik

Motorik is a term coined by music journalists to describe the 4/4 beat often used by "Krautrock" bands such as Can, Neu! and Kraftwerk (promoting the official CD release of Neu!'s back-catalogue, Klaus Dinger stated he called it the "Apache-beat"). The word "Motorik" means "motor skill" in German, although the word's use in music journalism may be derived from a punning modification of "motoric", a term long used by music critics to describe relentless ostinato rhythm, or simply from a combination of "motor" and the German "Musik".

The name perhaps derives from the repetitive yet forward-flowing feel of the rhythm, which has been compared to the experience of motorway driving – indeed, the motorik beat is in one section of Kraftwerk's "Autobahn", a song designed to celebrate exactly this experience. While The Velvet Underground's influence on Krautrock is often mentioned, Moe Tucker's drumming has specifically been characterized as "proto-motorik."

Apart from the krautrock bands, the motorik has also been used by newer bands like Primal Scream, Radiohead, Sonic Youth and Fujiya & Miyagi