Kraftwerk

KRAFTWERK

Kraftwerk, once viewed as a quirky German electronic pop band, have gone on to influence countless genres and musicians.

Formed by music conservatory students Ralf Hutter and Florian Schnieder in 1970, the pair went on to form permutations with various other artists, releasing albums such as Kraftwerk, Kraftwerk 2, and Ralf And Florian. It was with electronic percussionist Wolfgang Flur and violinist Klaus Roeder that the band found their winning formula of mechanized beats and electronic melodies.

Their music is made at their legendary KLING-KLANG studio, a purpose built building in Dusseldorf. It apparently contains whole rooms full of synthesizers and custom made machines. This is Kraftwerk's Headquarters, but security is high, and activities inside are shrouded in secrecy.

Influenced by the Bauhaus school of German impressionism that existed before World War II, Their music has a high melodic content and can at times sound classical - probably due to their classical training. The track "Autobahn" is a prime example of this. Electronic music is normally associated with sounding cold and unemotional - but Kraftwerk proved that this need not be true. They also blended images of the past with modern sounds to produce evocative results, for example the video for "Trans Europe Express" contains footage reminiscent of the 1930's film "Metropolis", combining Art Deco with cutting edge technology.

Hutter, ever the group spokesman, talked of having a band of instruments that could tour without human control, leaving the band to sunbathe or read. Through the remainder of the '70s and '80s, Kraftwerk released Radio-Activity, Trans-Europe Express (which Bambaata sampled for his ground breaking "Planet Rock"), The Man Machine (the tour features robots on stage), Computer World (1981), Electric Cafe (1986), and The Mix (1991).

Of course, Kraftwerk have a website, at www.kraftwerk.com

It seems that many people, particularly younger Americans, haven't heard of Kraftwerk, so I think it's only right they should be given a chance to explore.

You can hear clips of their music (in mp3 format) below - the clips are mainly from their 'danced up' tour mixes. Just click on the logos below.