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Kraftwerk
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electronic, electronica, german, electro, krautrock… see all
Germany
Kraftwerk is an electronic band from Düsseldorf, Germany. They pioneered electronic music in the 1970’s and are considered one of the most important and influential bands of their genre -often described as ‘the godfathers of electronic music”. Ralf Hütter (b. 1946, Krefeld, Germany; organ) and woodwind student Florian Schneider-Esleben (b. 1947, Düsseldorf, Germany; woodwind) met while they were studying improvised music in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The first album is called “Tone Float”, with Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider as members of the group Organisation. On “Tone Float”, the line up consisted of Ralf on organ, Florian on violin and flute, Basil Hammoudi on vocals, Fred Monics on drums and Butch Hauf on bass. The LP features repetitive percussion and bass drum patterns embellished with guitar, flute, violin and organ. Sections of the music are clearly ’60s influenced and have an almost eastern feeling with scratchy violin and bongos. “Tone Float” was the last time that Ralf and Florian would rely on unrestrained expression and improvisation. With Organisation being a democratic five piece band, it was difficult to develop a disciplined approach. Any comparison between “Tone Float” and the later Kraftwerk sound is hard to draw.
Originally a krautrock group along the lines of Neu!, Can and Tangerine Dream Kraftwerk opted for a more minimalistic approach in their music.
The first album is called “Tone Float”, with Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider as members of the group Organisation. On “Tone Float”, the line up consisted of Ralf on organ, Florian on violin and flute, Basil Hammoudi on vocals, Fred Monics on drums and Butch Hauf on bass. The LP features repetitive percussion and bass drum patterns embellished with guitar, flute, violin and organ. Sections of the music are clearly ’60s influenced and have an almost eastern feeling with scratchy violin and bongos. “Tone Float” was the last time that Ralf and Florian would rely on unrestrained expression and improvisation. With Organisation being a democratic five piece band, it was difficult to develop a disciplined approach. Any comparison between “Tone Float” and the later Kraftwerk sound is hard to draw.
Originally a krautrock group along the lines of Neu!, Can and Tangerine Dream Kraftwerk opted for a more minimalistic approach in their music.
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Tangerine Dream, Karl Bartos, Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, Neu!, Cluster, Art of Noise, Gary Numan… see all
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Shoutbox
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QuantumMystic wrote:
Minimum-Maximum is one of the best live albums ever, imho.
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Scarper1 wrote:
Without them.... there would be nothing! (electronically speaking).
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Lady_Bjork wrote:
I work in a research laboratory and no music complements that atmosphere better than Kraftwerk!
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AxYoung wrote:
In Defense of German Music: http://consequenceofsound.net/2008/08/27/court-of-the-ginger-king-in-defense-of-german-music/
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Lhamu wrote:
One of my first loves....and I keep on lovin it
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TerminatorAx wrote:
yes, I think so too. and maybe in taschenrechner also a hint on the "yellow magic orchestra", a japanese band who, in the early 1980ies, released an album where they showed photos of their bills for instruments and music stuff on the back of the cover
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LisuLisu wrote:
I know English better than German, but I prefer the German versions... It's natural for me, the language fits so well.
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LisuLisu wrote:
The Russian phrase "ja twoj sluga, ja twoj robotnik" means: "I'm your servant, I'm your worker(labourer)". The word robot has the same meaning in Slavonic languages (Polish, Czech etc) as it has in English. You are right about the roots of this word though ("The word robot was introduced to the public at large by Czech writer Karel Čapek in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)" from wikipedia).
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Voyeur76 wrote:
The russian line is one meaning "I'm your robot, I'm yor servant", isn't it? And the Japanese lines are on the piece chained together w/ "Pocket Calculator" / "Taschen Rechner", I think. The word robot is a Czech word (constructed for use in a sci-fi play in the 1920's) derived from the word for labor, said to be related to german "Arbeiter". I used to think this was a referance to Russian society at the time, and the attitude the workers were supposed to have. And Japanese makes sense w/in a concept centered around technology that mainly came from Japan. Or am I way off here?
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TerminatorAx wrote:
I guess the idea behind the bilingual albums was to get their message spread with the music (there are also russian or japanese phrases in some songs), so maybe your native language (if available) would be best. but there may also be people who like the german sound and would prefer the german versions as they are the bands' native lyrics
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Voyeur76 wrote:
To me the bilingual albums feels more like Kraftwerk in german, but definitely get both versions for at least a few of them. Try starting out w/ "The Man Machine" & "Die Mensch Maschine" or "Trans-Europa Express" & "Trans-Europe Express" and see what works best for you. If I only had the extra space and money to waste I would have acquired both for all of them years ago.
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Sanctified wrote:
Kraftwerk in Sydney? Oh my pants. I've been waiting a while!
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franco_wonka wrote:
Hahaha... that quote from The Simpsons is the only thing a friend knows about Kraftwerk!
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tidabliu wrote:
I must get back to Dancecentrum in Struttgart in time to see Kraftwerk.
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Nicast wrote:
It's scary when you realize how much they foresaw our era... "Man machine", "Computer world", "Computer LOVE", "The robots" etc.
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K-songs wrote:
http://www.last.fm/user/K-songs/journal/2008/08/18/24c846_global_gathering%2C_kraftwerk%2C_ecstatic_beyond_belief?success=1 they are coming to Perth! Oh my heavens. I can't stop dancing! *sniffs*
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maromee wrote:
These guys were way ahead of their time.
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N3croyeti wrote:
Regarding the bilingual albums, should I be getting them in English or German? (or both)
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alfapp wrote:
Only early Kraftwerk (1970-76) is true Kraftwerk !!!
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GabberScum wrote:
Masters...
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Events
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Sep
13
“A Day in the Life”
Luggala, Co. Wicklow, Ireland
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| 12 attendees -
Sep
13
A Day In The Life Festival
Luggala, County Wicklow, Ireland
3 shouts
| 52 attendees
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Sep
14
Sacrum Profanum 2008
Kraków, Cracow, Poland
94 shouts
| 422 attendees
Recent Activity
- lauermachine and Akira1111 added Kraftwerk to their libraries. 18 minutes ago
- sarajill tagged Kraftwerk with ‘sitrc: let the machines sing’. 37 minutes ago
- ultimat, UndeadPrincess, LarrikinLes and 31 other people added Kraftwerk to their libraries. 46 minutes ago
- muserock7997 connected Kraftwerk to the group Ronald McDonald. yesterday morning
- md_69, fullgrip, DJSumowax and 1 other person added Kraftwerk to their libraries. yesterday morning
- maulofsound connected Kraftwerk to the group MST3K. yesterday morning
- flavioboschi, emilYana, xtakasukex and 4 other people added Kraftwerk to their libraries. yesterday morning
- eagle42 tagged Kraftwerk with ‘electronic’ and ‘german’. 20 days ago
- nipplar, tvm300, skeleandmole and 6 other people added Kraftwerk to their libraries. 20 days ago
- drgk tagged Kraftwerk with ‘electronic’ and ‘electronica’. 27 days ago
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