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Editor's Note: This blog was contributed by Christian Ihle, a German friend of mine. We once spent a long night at the 8mm Bar in Berlin discussing British and American bands.  In this blog, he guides us through the best contemporary German bands.

Kraftwerk! After more than 30 years since their first release, Kraftwerk are still the band everybody brings up when discussing German music. They almost singlehandedly invented a new genre while simultaneously fitting into the world's opinion on how german music would sound: precise, cold, machine-like.

In the years that followed Kraftwerk's debut, most German bands that found success or critical acclaim outside of Germany also had a very "German sound" in some way or another. Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft aka DAF (which translates as German-American-Friendship) took a hint of Kraftwerk's precise and cold electronic sound, but they added an abrasive quality to their electro songs. This was inspired by punk and - especially - the post-punk movement, especially bands like Suicide or Gang Of Four. DAF remain to this day one of the most important German bands of all time.

Significantly, DAF started gigging again in the last few months. Their first gigs on German soil in years took place this past January, and they will play London on March 28th.

But wait, you might ask. Are there any new bands in Germany who could follow in the footsteps of these godfathers of German music?

A young German band called Schwefelgelb were supporting DAF for those recent gigs in Germany, and if you take a listen to their songs on MySpace you'll know why. They sound like DAF for a new generation, swapping the homoerotic glamour of old for some metrosexual style of the noughties. In early January they released their debut album in Germany and will play gigs in UK and France in the months to come.

1000 Robota are another up-and-coming band from Germany. Contrary to most German bands who found some acclaim on other shores, they refuse to use any electronic instruments. They play a harsh, but still melodic post-punk that sounds more interesting than most of the pop-post-punk-bands the UK have been spawning in the last few years. Their songs are heavily indebted to Gang Of Four and the original German (post-)punk movement that originated from Dusseldorf in the early 80s and featured bands like Fehlfarben and DAF (yes, them again...). Singer Anton Spielmann and (the very talented) drummer Jonas Hinkerfort are sharing vocals on each and every moment on their record. This adds some weird touches to their songs as the lyrics are shouted in unison instead of being sung by the frontman. It doesn't matter if you don't understand the lyrics; they use their vocals more like an additional instrument.

One of the few bands who might cross over to other countries, but who try to steer away from "that German sound," (as opposed to the bands mentioned above who all share it to a certain degree) is Get Well Soon. They're not even a "real" band, but more like the project of German wunderkind Konstantin Gropper who wrote the album all alone. He sounds like a world-weary Conor Oberst on an especially bad day. He paints similar kinds of soundscapes as Zach Condon of Beirut fame.

Sometimes Gropper seems to have too many ideas at once but when he pulls it off on songs like "People Magazine Front Cover," which adds some early Muse or "No Surprises"-era-Radiohead to the mix, it's magnificient.  One of Get Well Soon's most outstanding works is a cover of "Born Slippy," Underworld's ode to hedonism that was made famous by the Trainspotting soundtrack. He turns Underworld's brillant original that celebrates the night out into into a hymn for the hangover. Somehow Get Well Soon manages to change the subject matter without losing an iota of its momentum.

Even if those bands won't ever get to the same level as Kraftwerk once did, they'll hopefully manage to get some interesting German music heard in other parts of the world. I don't mind talking about Kraftwerk 30 years on, but I'd prefer never to get asked about Rammstein again and talk about 1000 Robota instead.

Christian Ihle, 32, lives in Berlin, Germany and is writing for German newspaper TAZ. He is one of three founding members of Indiepedia.de, a German language-based encyclopedia for independent bands based on the wikipedia principle. Every second week he is DJing at 8mm, Berlins best bar.