Tag Archives: Kraftwerk

Isolation Viewing: Krautrock

Whether or not you are still feeling the isolation blues, it’s always nice to have something to watch. Especially in the way of interesting musical clips.

I sometimes scour youtube in search of enticing tidbits in the way of music. I quite often discover some quite interesting stuff.

Back in the ’70s, progressive music from Germany started to make inroads outside of the country and the British music press soon latched onto it giving it the name Krautrock. Some of the names which soon became familiar were Can, Amon Duul II, Kraftwerk, Cluster, Tangerine Dream and Neu! to name but a few.

Here are a few clips which I’ve collected for your viewing pleasure.

Kraftwerk on the German TV programme Beat Club ca. 1971. What is interesting here is that it is Florian Schneider accompanied by Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger who would later go on to be known as the duo Neu!

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Here is another German TV clip for 1971 featuring Ralf and Florian with Wolfgang Flur on his freshly built electronic drum set.

Now, here is Can ca. 1970 on the German programme Rockpalast. Nearly an hour and a half. The Damo Suzuki era.

A wonderful documentary which covers the band’s career. Another hour and a half of Can bliss.

Here is a groovy set by Amon Duul II from Beat Club in 1970.

A compilation of Amon Duul II material spanning 1969 to 1975. Over two hours!

Here is a very unique clip of Tangerine Dream live in Berlin, 1969. This was before they acquired synthesisers and were a psychedelic, freak-out group. Edgar Froese, guitar. Klaus Schulze, drums. “Happy” Dieter, bass (according to the video notes).

The legendary performance of Tangerine Dream at Coventry Cathedral in 1975.

Well, that should keep you busy for a while!

Kraftwerk: Future Music from Germany by Uwe Schütte

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The news that Kraftwerk co-founder Florian Schneider had passed away at the beginning of May was one of those announcements that seemed to strike a particularly resonant note for me. I had first heard their music long before their breakthrough album Autobahn courtesy of a radio programme featuring import albums back in the early ’70s. They were one of my personal inspirations to start making electronic music.

It was certainly a much more pleasant experience to learn of a new biography of Kraftwerk was being published by Penguin Books earlier in the year.

Kraftwerk: Music of the Future by Uwe Schütte is a rather succinct volume which covers the careers of co-founders Florian Schneider and Ralf Hütter. The pair met at school in the turbulent days of the late ’60s and immediately hit it off. In 1968, they formed a band called Organization who released a sole LP called Tone Float (only in the UK as German record companies had no interest in their work).

Keeping their base in their hometown of Düsseldorf, the pair then went on to create the concept of Kraftwerk (literally translated a Power Station). Their early work did include electronics but also guitar, flute and drums. Much of this work was based around improvisation and electronic sound manipulation.

Their first three releases were prime examples of their work at the time. It’s unfortunate that to this day these albums basically been written out of the band history and not been any part of a re-issue program for their recordings.

For Kraftwerk, it was their fourth album – Autobahn – that denoted the beginning of their recording career. It’s the album (and song) that brought the group to international attention (although, it was virtually ignored in their own country).

They subsequently built up their reputation with their next three releases of the ’70s – Radio-Activity, Trans Europe Express and The Man Machine. It was also at this point that their work started to reverberate into other forms of music. It became an influence in electronic dance music and what would develop into techno.

They brought in the ’80s with Computer World with it’s ubiquitous Pocket Calculator emanating from radios around the world.

After that, the space between album releases would become much greater. It was another five years before the release of Electric Cafe and another seventeen years until the Tour de France Soundtracks (with a stop-gap remix effort called The Mix in 1991).

But, that doesn’t mean that Kraftwerk were inactive during these long apparent silences. As the author points out, Kraftwerk were not really a “band”. They considered themselves to be a multi-media project. They spent a lot of time concentrating of visual elements to their work, as well. Stage presentations, museum exhibitions… you name it, they seemed to have their finger in it.

In the past twenty years, Kraftwerk were very active in the area of live performances. The miniaturisation of their music producing gear helped a great deal in this regard.

Throughout the book, Schütte puts the efforts of Kraftwerk in the context of the music, society and art of the times and also details how it affected the future of music. It is a good overview of their music and art helped to shape many things to come.

Future Days by David Stubbs

FutureDays-book

Subtitled “Krautrock and the Building of Modern Germany” this book takes the reader on a journey through the heady days of the German experimental music scene from the late sixties into the seventies.

Stubbs begins with a lengthy prologue which traces the social developments of the country through the 20th century. This is done to provide a perspective on what was to come after the Second World War.

After he has established the state of the minds of the German youth through the sixties, he then relates the stories behind the major groups who began creating experimental music.

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He finishes by discussing newer music as well as the influence of the German music on specific musicians (David Bowie) and musical scenes (post punk).

For those not intimately familiar with this music, it may serve as a good introduction to stir up some curiosity. For those of us who are already quite well-versed in the genre, there are still some facts that are revealed that may be new to us.