» Listings for 2023

1. 2023 Albums Thing 219 - Kraftwerk “The Man-Machine”

   Posted on 8:45am Wednesday 22nd Nov 2023

   The German music that I listen to most is that of Kraftwerk and Rammstein. One viewed as a cold, robotic, emotionless ensemble, the other as making brash, loud, hellscapes of sound from some Thunderdome style fiery, dystopian future. I find both to be making music with a wicked sense of humour.

   C’mon…d’ya think Rammstein aren’t sitting around thinking up the most ridiculous things they can do with fire (flame throwing guitars, face masks and Angels wings, cooking the keyboard player in a huge pot FFS) and having a good laugh about it ? Likewise you don’t think Kraftwerk weren’t wetting themselves about the idea of sending some showroom dummies out to sing “We Are The Robots” while they sat backstage and we paid to watch it ? Those pesky Germans do like a laugh after all.

   “The Man-Machine” (or “Die Mensch-Maschine” as they were now releasing German and English versions of their records) refines the sound developed on “Trans-Europe Express” and makes it more robotic yet more danceable at the same time. It is home to their best known song, “The Model” (“Das Model”). Although this album was released in 1978, in 1981 to promote the album “Computer World” (“Computerwelt”, you can thank us for the German lesson later) “The Model” was released as the B-side of the single “Computer Love” and that reached #36 in the UK chart. Later that year it was re-promoted in a new picture sleeve (red instead of the original releases yellow) with “The Model” designated as the A-side (although as EMI used leftover copies of the original release, they just changed the picture sleeves, the label still had “The Model” as the B-side) and it went to #1 in February 1982.

   “The Robots” sets the scene for what is to come. It’s one of Kraftwerk’s signature songs. The vocals are very affected to give a robotic feel that the music completely supports. That sense of humour is there in the lyrics too

    

   “We're functioning automatic

   And we are dancing mechanic

   We are the robots”

   Now if you don’t think that’s funny, well…there’s a section spoken in Russian and the slogan “We are the robots” is repeated over and over, giving a feeling that maybe the robots aren’t so clever after all, or are they ?

   “Spacelab” and “Metropolis” are two (almost) instrumentals. “Spacelab” very much has the feel of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” about it, although with less soul and more robot but just as much dancefloor about it. Like “Spacelab”, “Metropolis” only lyrics is the title repeated.

   “Neon Lights” is about as close to a ballad as Kraftwerk are likely to get and the title track brings things to a close with another of those almost instrumentals based a simple repeating figure and the ominous lyric

   “Man Machine, pseudo human being

   Man Machine, super human being”

   This album was recorded and released in 1978. It sounds fantastic, way ahead of its time production wise. I’d wager every synth-popper of the 80’s knows it intimately and most certainly owes Kraftwerk a huge debt for giving them a career.

   The Robots - https://youtu.be/SaoBbCC66I4?si=2USCw2vffi7iTYEJ

2. 2023 Albums Thing 218 - Kraftwerk “Trans-Europe Express”

   Posted on 9:15am Tuesday 21st Nov 2023

   The French music critic Paul Alessandrini was drawn to Cologne because of the work of composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. Düsseldorf being close to Cologne, he also interacted with Kraftwerk who were in the process of developing a more sequenced electronic sound due to the availability of more sophisticated sequencing equipment. Alessandrini told Ralph Hütter and Florian Schneider that "the kind of music you do is like an electronic blues, railway stations and trains are very important in that universe, you should do a song about the Trans Europe Express”. They took up this idea. Kraftwerk’s famed Kling Klang Studio was at this time in Mintropstraße in Düsseldorf, next to Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof, the main railway station. Hütter and Schneider would go from the studio to stand beneath the railway arches and listen to the sound the trains made. They found that the rhythm of the trains was not suitable to dance to, so they changed it slightly and the idea for “Trans-Europe Express” was born.

   “Trans-Europe Express”s best known moment would likely be the single “Showroom Dummies” but its best would be the title track and the opening “Europe Endless”, adding up to a synthetic train journey across Europe in around 17 minutes.

   This albums influence spreads far and wide. After meeting with Kraftwerk and having his name used in the lyrics (“From station to station, Back to Düsseldorf City, Meet Iggy Pop and David Bowie”) Bowie wrote the song “V-2 Schneider” in tribute to Florian for his album “Heroes”. At Ian Curtis’ insistence Joy Division would play “Trans-Europe Express” over the PA before they took the stage. Afrika Bambaata famously used part of “Trans-Europe Express” on his seminal Hip Hop release “Planet Rock”. Madonna sampled sections of “Metal On Metal” for her “Drowned World” tour. Siouxsie & the Banshees' covered "The Hall of Mirrors" on the “Through the Looking Glass” album and there are many more instances.

   In 1977 this was music from the future, the very definition of the Futurism I’ve talked about previously. 

   Trans-Europe Express - https://youtu.be/i_85fUIRlmU?si=n19zJ03DdrFNVcGW

3. 2023 Albums Thing 217 - Kraftwerk “Autobahn”

   Posted on 8:50am Saturday 18th Nov 2023

   Kraftwerk were formed in 1970 by Florian Schneider and Ralph Hütter, two students at the Robert Schumann University in Düsseldorf. Both were interested in the experimental music scene that was developing in Germany through the late ’60’s and early ’70’s (jokingly referred to by the Melody Maker as Krautrock, and the name stuck). Although Kraftwerk are best known for their purely electronic music Schneider played flute and violin and Hütter piano. A careful look through the credits for this album reveals Organ, Piano, Guitar and Flute appearing, so not fully electronic yet.

   “Autobahn” has Kraftwerk honing their sound and moving closer to the fully electronic quartet we came to know but in 1970 they weren’t quite the ice cool robotic cats they are now known to be. Take a look at the picture of the band on the back of the sleeve, there’s long, lank hair and…beards, it could be a bunch of hippies on their way to a Grateful Dead gig! Bizarrely I’ve just looked at that picture on my copy (a 2019 Blue vinyl re-issue) and then compared it to the original German issue (don’t ask why it’s just the sort of thing I like to do) and, whichever band member is sitting far right (***) has had his head replaced…weird.

   The music however is a lot more familiar. Synthesizers throb and pulse and blip and blop throughout, interspersed with flute’s and other occasional acoustic instruments. The few lyrics there are, are not exactly passing on earth changing truths “Wir fahren, fahren, fahren auf der Autobahn” translates as “We drive, drive, drive on the highway”. It is the reach for a purely electronic music that is important about “Autobahn”. The full length version of the title song (almost 23 minutes and covering all of side one) is hypnotically masterful. That was somehow edited down to 3 and a half minutes for a single release which started to pick up airplay in the US which led to a worldwide hit (#11 in the UK in 1974) and a US tour bringing them to an audience they could only dream about a year or so prior.

   The rest of the album is instrumental ranging from the almost ambient to the more uptempo, electronic classical music, not yet having the pulsing, robotic style they would develop once Schneider and Hütter were joined in their best known line up by Wolfgang Flür and Karl Bartos, whence they fully embraced electronic instrumentation. Just to prove that music journalists are often stupefyingly wrong, “respected” US critic Robert Christgau felt the music of “Autobahn” was inferior to other electronic music of the time by Wendy Carlos (“Switched-On Bach” anyone ?) and Mike Oldfield !!! Kraftwerk were picked up on by the likes of David Bowie and Brian Eno giving them the reflected cool of such artists and becoming one of the most influential groups in modern music.

   Autobahn - https://youtu.be/vkOZNJYAZ7c?si=Br0MDeZk52cj_yyf

   (***)The picture of the band on the re-issue is the original picture, as it should be, and the chap on the far right is Emil Schult who appeared in the picture but did not actually play on the album. On the original German sleeve the head of newest member of the band, Wolfgang Flür, was superimposed on Shult’s body…mystery solved.