Kraftwerk

One of the things that I enjoy about following the doings of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is that each year with their nominations and inductees, it makes me focus on artists I may have overlooked. Naturally I know who Kraftwerk is and I know why they are important. I’ve owned their seminal Autobahn for awhile, and found it interesting without falling in love with it. But once they were nominated for the class of 2013, it reminded me that I had wanted to explore a bit more. So this last week or so I’ve been on a Kraftwerk binge, a strict diet of the Aryan digital pioneers.

For those readers unfamiliar with them, they are one of those groups who get name dropped a lot as influential, yet a relatively few casual music fans are familiar with their material. That is a shame, I have recently discovered. Formed in 1970 in Germany, they use only electronic instrumentation. Their music leans heavily on repetitive synthetic rhythms and melodic, often atmospheric, keyboards. The list of bands and genres that they have influenced is ridiculously long, from their direct electronic progeny like Depeche Mode, Thomas Dolby and Gary Numan, to other artists as diverse as David Bowie, Coldplay, New Order and Franz Ferdinand (hell, what is Neil Young’s Trans other than an attempt at a Kraftwerk album?) They are also one of the most sampled groups for rap and hip hop music, and are considered the pioneers of modern house and electronic music. (Funny that this most Aryan and stiff of bands is one of the most important elements in a modern black artform in hip hop and rap). It is difficult to overstate their influence, so on that alone, they deserve induction into the Rockhall.

Aside from giving Autobahn a fresh listen, I also grabbed their other most famous records, Trans-Europe Express, The Man Machine and Computer World. All are great, great records. I would also recommend the strong live recording Minimum-Maximum, which can also act as a solid introduction and overview.

My favorite has to be 1981’s Computer World. It may seem a bit obvious nowadays. A concept album about how computers and technology are taking over our lives and even effecting our emotions, but it was more of an astute observation in ’81. It is probably their most minimalist recording, with early 80’s computer bleeps and blips darting all over the soundscape, alternating between acting as sound effect and actual notes and melody. The bouncy “Pocket Calculator” is Kraftwerk at their most silly and whimsical. I don’t know how to verify this, but I read that the jerky and infectious “Numbers” is one of the most sampled songs (by rap and hip hop artists) in history. Give it a listen and you can see the early 80’s break dancers having a field day with these beats and blips. But “Computer Love” is the real treat. Not only does it predict isolated digital lives that we can lead nowadays (as well as online dating), but the music is simply lovely. People forget just how melodic Kraftwerk could be, and this song is so pretty, especially in the second half. I was listening to it and it was immediately familiar, and then I finally placed it. Coldplay’s “Talk” takes this beautiful melody and adds muscle with guitars and full band. I looked it up, and indeed Coldplay got permission from Kraftwerk to rework the music of "Computer Love."

What sets Computer World apart as one of the great concept records is that everything works towards the concept. Obviously the songs (“Computer World,” “Pocket Calculator,” “Numbers,” “Computer Love,” “Home Computer,” etc.) and the lyrics. But most concept records stop there. As in, they are “concept albums” because the songs are all lyrically related or tell a story, but the music is like any other rock record. Here, the entire sonic structure works for the concept along with the lyrics, creating a completely electronic-based music about a new electronic world. Brilliant.

Add Kraftwerk’s Computer World to my five star (*****) records list. As for the others…

Autobahn ****

Trans-Europe Express ****

The Man Machine ****

Electric Café ***

Minimum-Maximum (live) ****

They have a few others, but these are the most notable releases and the ones that I have been focusing on. Radioactivity and Tour de France are also available.