Düsseldorf Hbf.

Vodkang Flür

2011-08-07T22:58:00.001+02:00

The Shadow Buero - Bon Harris & Wolfgang Flür

2011-07-11T09:49:00.004+02:00

The Shadow Buero. I completely missed it when it was made public two months ago. It's the new project from Bon Harris (Nitzer Ebb), and features vocals of former Kraftwerker Wolfgang Flür.

Backing vocals come courtesy of Isabelle Erkendahl of child duo Peaches, later Pet Shop Boys cover band West End Girls, the daughter of Hans Erkendahl of The Mobile Homes.

Axis Of Envy - The Shadow Bureau - 2011 found on Electronic

The song is taken from an upcoming various artists album, with original songs inspired by Indomina Media’s theatrical film releases and this video is taken from the film True Legend. Can't say I'm overly impressed with it, but never mind.

Wolfgang Flür, by the way, is said to have translated the above Peaches song from Swedish to German in 2002. But I can't find the German version, don't know if it was ever released.

Kraftwerk – Elektronische Klangbilder in 3D

2011-06-03T13:58:00.005+02:00

Starting October 15th, the Kunstbau at the Lenbachhaus gallery in Munich will display an exhibition of Kraftwerk music videos and promotion clips, all now in glorious 3D. The exhibition will - according to this - later travel to Tate Modern in London and to MoMa in New York.

Art book publishers Shirmer/Mosel will publish the catalogue for the exhibition, also in glorious 3D. This is what they have to say:

Over the last 4 decades electro pioneers Kraftwerk have written music history followed by their worldwide success. They are considered innovators and inventors of many different musical styles such as techno, electro, hip-hop and synthie pop. Since their concert at the 2005 Venice Biennale the contemporary artworld has perceived Kraftwerk’s multimedia shows as a unique form of performance art. From their beginnings in the early seventies Kraftwerk have always been connected with the developments of modern technologies.

For the exhibition “Kraftwerk –3 D Sound Pictures”, to be shown at the Kunstbau der Städtischen Galerie im Lenbachhaus München in October/November 2011, the catalogue will also be published in 3 D by Schirmer/Mosel, with an essay by project curator Matthias Mühling.

Schirmer/Mosel. With 3-D glasses. With a text by Matthias Mühling. 96 pages, 60 colour plates. Size: 28 x 28 cm, hardcover. English/German edition.

The title of the book and exhibition differs, depending on where on the Internet you read it. It could be "Kraftwerk – Elektronische Klangbilder", "Kraftwerk 3D" or "Kraftwerk - 3 D Sound Pictures". Or something completely different.

Ralf & Florian - together again?

2011-05-10T21:26:00.005+02:00

Swedish tabloid Expressen reported just a little while ago that Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider had been spotted earlier in the day, walking together in Düsseldorf.

But it turns out they are mistaken. The well groomed man is in fact not Ralf Hütter but Uwe Schmidt (aka Atom™, Atom Heart, Lassigue Bendthaus, Senor Coconut). And this is possibly even more exciting. What are these two up to?

Craftwife

2011-05-10T21:12:00.004+02:00

Do yourself a favor and check out Craftwife, a project fronted by Takeko Akamatsu, the wife of Masayuki Akamatsu who developed Karl Bartos' iPhone app that we've previously mentioned here.

Craftwife - apparently a group of housewifes - perform using iPhone apps of their own making (developed by housewifes, for housewifes), all dressed up in the most typical of Kraftwerk attire - red shirt, black tie.

More info: craftwife.com, an interview at side-line.com and another one at gaite-lyrique.net.

Mini-Composer - another Kraftwerk related app

2011-03-28T19:56:00.007+02:00

Hot on the heels of Kling Klang Maschine No1 comes MINI-COMPOSER, another Kraftwerk related app for the iPhone and iPad. This one was developed by former Kraftwerk member Karl Bartos and software developer Masayuki Akamatsu.

The app, desctibed as a "simple music app for fun [that] implements the basic waves of a synthesizer with a 16 step sequencer", is available for free - with an urge to donate money to the earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan - from the app store.

Kling Klang Machine No1

2011-03-21T11:34:00.003+01:00

I'm sure everyone has read about the new Kraftwerk app for iPhone and iPad - Kling Klang Machine No1. If not, check out this video to see what it's about. Maybe this should be regarded as the new Kraftwerk album?

Get the app from iTunes here.

The Wire Salon - Performing Kraftwerk: Synthesizing The Man-Machine

2011-03-21T11:25:00.002+01:00

Held at London's Cafe Oto March 15th, the latest installment of The Wire Salon was entitled "Performing Kraftwerk: Synthesizing The Man-Machine".

A recording of the event is now available online. Listen to the discussion with Sean Albiez and David Pattie, co-editors of Kraftwerk: Music Non-Stop, by clicking here.

Fernando Abrantes live video

2011-02-17T14:23:00.003+01:00

Former Kraftwerk member Fernando Abrantes goes native-american-Art-of-Noise-new-age-midi-guitar berzerk, with a female half-metal dancer and an applause added in post production.

Look at it. It's confusing.

Robot Emotions

2011-01-24T16:17:00.003+01:00

Looks like Fernando Abrantes' album, Robot Emotions, has been released. Haven't seen it anywhere but on Amazon as of yet. It's a cd-r, manufactured on demand, and the record label is Parisiana Entertainment.

After hearing the samples on YouTube earlier, 'm convinsed that I don't like it. But what the hell... I'm ordering a copy anyway.

There's also a new URL, robot-fernando.com, that does nothing but redirect you to the Fernando Abrantes group on Facebook.

More from Fernando Abrantes

2010-09-24T00:19:00.003+02:00

OK. Three tracks from ex-Kraftwerker Fernando Abrantes' debut solo album, Robot Emotions, have been uploaded to YouTube. And what the hell is going on here, really? Is that Kraftwerk theft in "Solo" really ok? And when was it all made -15 years ago? God, I feel so confused.

6'11''

2010-09-13T00:03:00.001+02:00

Sold out, unfortunately.

Fernando Abrantes - Robot Emotions

2010-08-28T13:26:00.002+02:00

This is, by appearance at least, a short teaser for "Robot Emotions", a solo project of former Kraftwerk member and portugese citizen Fernando Abrantes. Due out in 2011 on CD and DVD. Could be absolutely anything, but it might be worth checking out.

A Very Kraftwerk Summer

2010-05-27T18:56:00.008+02:00

Published late last year, Christopher Hutsul's "A Very Kraftwerk Summer" (Koyama Press) is a tiny little fictional story of a summer spent with Kraftwerk. We follow Geoffrey, a kid hanging out with Kraftwerk - getting haircuts, setting off firecrackers, and going to the movies throwing popcorn at Devo, sitting in front of them.

It's a beautiful little comic book, smaller in size than a typical cd case, with a front cover handprinted on japanese wood veneer paper. And it's "in full color", which in Kraftwerk terms - of course - means red and black only.

Kraftwerk comics

Waaalking!

DAF in Arvika, Sweden 2009

2010-02-02T11:23:00.009+01:00

Last year, Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft released a compilation album and decided to play a few shows to support it. I attended one of these shows, in Arvika, Sweden. DAF performed live, with everything on cd-r except the drums (played by Robert Görl) and the vocals (Gabi Delgado-Lopez), and it was surprisingly excellent.

A few days ago, approximately 30 minutes from this brilliantly minimalistic DAF show was broadcast by Swedish radio SR/p3. As they tend to take down the material from the web after a month or so, and as someone has been kind enough to upload a recording of the broadcast to the web, here it is:

Setlist:

1. Verschwende deine Jugend
2. Der Mussolini
3. Sato-Sato
4. Alle gegen Alle
5. Nacht Arbeit
6. Die Lüge
7. Als wär's das letzte Mal
8. Der Räuber und der Prinz

Images borrowed from Rockfoto.

Unboxing Der Katalog

2009-12-16T00:35:00.001+01:00

Sehr Gut Kommt Sehr Gut

2009-09-02T08:46:00.018+02:00

Here a release that I guess has confused a music lover or two over the years.

By appearance, this is a compilation featuring tracks by some of the greatest german electronic/ndw bands from 1980 and around. There's a Mittagspause track, and songs by Der Plan, Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft, Kraftwerk and others. But no, it's all one man's work, a man with - as it appears - tons of studio time. That man is Xao Seffcheque (whom we have previously mentioned here). And his "Sehr gut kommt sehr gut" is basically a critical parody of the german hits compilations of the time.

Seffcheque has mixed his own, very well performed, impersonations of more or less know bands with some made up artists and his own, real project Xao & Die Pest, who'se "Fortschrittsträume" here basically is some kind of funky new wave/ska interpretation of DAF's "Kebab-träume" (or it's predecessors, Mittagspause's and Fehlfarben's "Militürk", perhaps), with "Wir sind die Türken von morgen" (we are the turks of tomorrow) replaced by "Wir sind die hippies von morgen" (we are the hippies of tomorrow). And there are more musical references. Die Lemminge's "Why we Hate The Residents" is more or less a weird version of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby". And the same goes for fake band Not Mean Themselves' "Wrong Colours". "Eleanor Rigby" again.

When I got the album a few years ago, it took me a while to locate the fake Kraftwerk songs, "Stalagmit" 1-12. They are listed as being the last songs on each side, but there's just nothing there. But when listening through the album, I noticed notice some short beeps or sweeps between each song - lasting about a second or two each. Well, it turns out these short signals are the "Kraftwerk" contributions. Excellent.

Tracklist, A-side:

1 Die Geldschweine - Sehr gut kommt sehr gut

2 Xao + Die Pest - Fortschrittsträume

3 Vielleichtors - Bring deinen körper auf die party

4 Mittagspause - Es hat keine disco hier

5 Sternhagel - King Kong

6 Not Mean Themselves - Wrong Colours

7 Kraftwerk - Stalagmit 1-5

B-side:

1 The Wirtschaftswunder - Hinweise zum neuen klang

2 Der Plan - Fehlplan (Wir sind so müde)

3 Siluetes 61 - Mannesmann

4 Die Lemminge - Why we hate the Residents

5 Die Nachdenklichen Wehrpflichtigen - Ist Free-Jazz Heilbar?

6 Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft - Sample & Hold

7 Residenz - Alles

8 Der KFC - Endlösung

9 O.R.a.V. - Punk Supermarkt

10 Kraftwerk - Stalagmit 6-12

Xao Seffcheque - "Der Plan - Fehlplan (wir sind so müde)":

Xao Seffcheque - "Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft - Sample & Hold":

Techno Pop, House Phone

2009-08-27T14:14:00.004+02:00

As we all know by now, Kraftwerk's Electric Cafe will have it's name changed to Techno Pop when re-released in october this year, as part of The Catalogue. If you don't know why, read the Wikipedia article on the subject. What we didn't know already, is that the tracklisting will also change slightly.

The tracklist for the original Electric Cafe edition looks like this:

Boing Boom Tschak (2:58)
Techno Pop (7:41)
Musique Non Stop (5:44)
The Telephone Call (8:03)
Sex Object (6:51)
Electric Cafe (4:17)

But in the tracklisting for the upcoming Techno Pop release, the tracklist contains an additional song:

Boing Boom Tschak
Techno Pop
Musique Non Stop
The Telephone Call
House Phone
Sex Object
Electric Café

The addition, "House Phone", is most likely the remix of "The Telephone Call", engineered by François Kevorkian, that was originally included on the 12" version of "The Telephone Call" single in 1986. My personal guess is that "The Telephone Call" will blend seamlessly into "House Phone", as that is the way Kraftwerk tend to do it. My guess is also, even though I strongly object to the changing of movies and records after they have been released (hello Star Wars), that this might be quite nice.

House Phone can be heard here, courtesy of YouTube.

Ralf And Florian: the Kraftwerk sitcom

2009-08-16T21:19:00.000+02:00

Money Mark

2009-08-11T16:22:00.001+02:00

Kraftwerk's "12345678 The Catalogue" - on Mute, on vinyl

2009-08-11T11:02:00.006+02:00

This new press release evokes hope.

Kraftwerk

12345678 THE CATALOGUE

FOUR DECADES OF MASTERWORKS
CD, CD BOX SET, VINYL & DOWNLOAD
Mute: 5th OCTOBER 2009

KRAFTWERK: Electro Pioneers, living legends and globally revered masters of electronic sound, celebrate the 35th anniversary of their landmark 1974 hit ‘Autobahn’ by releasing digitally remastered versions of eight astounding albums on 5th October 2009. Rolling back musical barriers with every forward-thinking phase of their career, Dusseldorf's Zen masters of electronic minimalism laid the foundations for four decades of computerised pop and dance music. By chain reaction and mutation, they have influenced generations of artists in all genres, mapping musical futures yet to come. From Bowie to Daft Punk, Aphex Twin to Portishead, Dr Dre to LCD Soundsystem, and almost everyone in between, the mark of Kraftwerk is endless, endless.

In 2009 Kraftwerk have upgraded their Kling Klang masters with the latest studio technology and these eight magnificent recordings still sound like nothing else in the history of music. Kraftwerk are unique, pristine, profound and beautiful. Decades may pass, but their streamlined synthetic symphonies stand outside time, as fresh as tomorrow, transcendent and sublime.

12345678 The Catalogue will be released across the following formats;

8 x individual CDs presented in special slipcases featuring newly expanded artwork, including many previously unseen images all of which have been reproduced to the highest technical standards.
CD Box Set containing 8 x CDs in ‘mini-vinyl’ card wallet packaging, plus individual large format booklets.
8 x individual heavyweight vinyl LPs with large format booklets.
Digital downloads.

After their recent jaw dropping 3-D show at the Manchester Velodrome, Kraftwerk’s next UK live appearance will be as headliners for Bestival on 12th September.

For further information please contact Caroline, John, or Nicki at Out Promotion on 0207 434 4525 or firstname@out-london.co.uk

www.mute.com / http://www.kraftwerk.com/

12345678 THE CATALOGUE

AUTOBAHN (1974)

With its iconic Emil Schult sleeve, Kraftwerk release their international breakthrough album. The symphonic title track, an epic ode to the joys of motorway travel, wraps a mesmerising motorik rhythm around a sampled collage of car horns, engine noise, whirring tyres and radio crackle. In edited form, it becomes a revolutionary hit single around the world.

Elsewhere, in wordless industrial folk music, the band reveal both their light and dark sides – ‘Mitternacht’ is all creeping midnight shadows, while ‘Morgenspaziergang’ is fresh with morning dew and birdsong. Two versions of ‘Kometenmelodie’, one a starkly gothic prowl, the other a sunny electro boogie, provide further instrumental sound paintings. Pure and strong and bold, Kraftwerk compose cinema for the ears. The pop world falls in love with them.

RADIO-ACTIVITY (1975)

Kraftwerk embrace the atomic age with mixed emotions. Surfing on sine waves, scanning the stratosphere for stray radio signals, they plug themselves into a buzzing grid of energy and communication. From the stately eco-angst anthem ‘Radioactivity’ to the synthetic Gregorian chants of ‘Radio Stars’ and the melancholy machine processional of ‘Ohm Sweet Ohm’, a sombre but engrossing monumentalism dominates.

With heavily processed vocals in both German and English, Kraftwerk go global with depth and majesty. If factories and power stations are the new cathedrals, they write liturgies for a new industrial epoch.

TRANS EUROPE EXPRESS (1977)

Kraftwerk celebrate Europe's romantic past and shimmering future with a glistening panorama of elegance and decadence, travel and technology. The infinite vistas of ‘Europe Endless’ and ‘Endless Endless’ bookend the album, which includes the unsettling Kafka-esque fable ‘The Hall Of Mirrors’ and the hilarious ‘Showroom Dummies’ - Kraftwerk's elegantly ironic reply to critiques of their deadpan manner.

But it is the streamlined rhythmic locomotive of ‘Trans Europe Express’ which dominates with its doppler-effect melodic swerves and hypnotic, pneumatic, piston-pumping rhythm. Along with its sister track, ‘Metal On Metal’ which New York DJ Afrika Bambaataa would re-construct five years later for his own seminal ‘Planet Rock’, this milestone in avant-pop modernism later becomes a crucial influence on the early pioneers of hip-hop & sampling, electro and industrial music. Poetry in motion.

THE MAN MACHINE (1978)

A bold new look, sound and concept for Kraftwerk. Over supple processed rhythms which predate the rise of European techno and trance, they address automation and alienation, space travel and engineering, the seductive allure of urban landscapes and the vacant glamour of celebrity. Clipped and funky, ‘The Robots’ adds another dimension to Kraftwerk's ultra-dry sense of humour. Behind its intoxicating melodic pulse, ‘The Model’ is a highly prophetic satire on the beauty industry, so ahead of its time that it only becomes a UK chart-topper by accident three years later. And ‘Neon Lights’ is Kraftwerk's most achingly romantic song to date, a sci-fi lullaby for cities at twilight. Pure magic.

COMPUTER WORLD (1981)

Kraftwerk beam themselves into the future by writing about home computers, online dating and globalised electronic surveillance years before these phenomena truly come into being. A journey into the bright hopes and dark fears of the booming microchip revolution, ‘Computer World’ is a serenely beautiful and almost seamless collage of sensual melodies and liquid beatscapes. Tracks like ‘Numbers’ and ‘Pocket Calculator’, with their weightless bleeps and elastic beats, predict the silky rhythms of Chicago house and inspire a generation of Detroit techno artists. Kraftwerk's fanfare for the silicon age still sounds ageless, timeless and throbbing with invention.

TECHNO POP (1986)

Kraftwerk return from five years of silence to reclaim their throne as leaders of a machine-pop revolution that they themselves began over a decade before. Their ‘Techno Pop’ album, first released under the name ‘Electric Café’ but now restored to its originally intended title, provides a 360-degree overview of a multi-lingual, multi-channel, musically diverse global village.
From the block-rocking beats of ‘Boing Boom Tschack’ to the electronic funk and computer animation of ‘Musique Non Stop’, Kraftwerk soar into the digital age. Their first excursion into digital recording finds both beauty and unease in a polyglot world of permanent media overload. Once again, Dusseldorf’s test pilots of the musical future effortlessly break new ground.

THE MIX (1991)

Kraftwerk's first fully digital album confirmed their clubland credentials and reworked 11 of their best-loved tunes for a new generation. Painstakingly reconstructed and sequenced in the band's Kling Klang studio, new versions of tracks like ‘The Robots’, ‘Trans Europe Express’ and ‘Home Computer’ now feature more funky rhythms and cleaned-up, liquid-crystal sounds. A stark warning about pollution at Sellafield is added to the glistening overhaul of ‘Radioactivity’, sparking a war of words with British Nuclear Fuels. But most of all, ‘The Mix’ is a career-spanning collection of legendary electro anthems and a classy acknowledgment of the two-way traffic between Kraftwerk and club culture.

TOUR DE FRANCE (2003)

The year 2003 marked the centenary of the Tour de France, the conceptual starting line for Kraftwerk's first album for over a decade. Although it features an immaculate new version of a 20-year-old former single, the exquisitely graceful ‘Tour de France’, pop nostalgia is not on the menu. From the chunky cyber-funk of ‘Vitamin’ to the restless metallic shimmers of ’Aéro Dynamik’, this is emphatically the sound of 21st century techno visionaries.

www.mute.com / http://www.kraftwerk.com/

Edit: updated with new album art.

"Go online, look up Kraftwerk"

2009-07-16T12:10:00.002+02:00

My idol KRS-One and Buckshot takes on the talent/autotune problem, while namedropping both Kraftwerk and Roger Troutman. Not bad at all, really.

The Catalogue

2009-06-25T15:29:00.005+02:00

Let the rumors start, again! The Dutch EMI site lists Kraftwerk - Boxset (8CD) in their soon to be released-list. The release date is set to September 7th.

Also on that same date, according to the same EMI list, these albums will be (re)released:

Autobahn
Radio-Activity
Trans-Europe Express
The Man Machine
Computer World
Techno Pop
The Mix
Tour de France

Fingers crossed that this means that we finally get to buy The Catalogue, the box set of 8 remastered Kraftwerk albums that was initially promoted back in 2004.

And after that, time should be right for the re-release of the first three albums.

Clock DVA - still losing it

2009-06-23T23:07:00.010+02:00

Again, I have been eagerly looking forward to the Clock DVA reissue box, to be released by Mute Records, and the possibilities of new material from both Clock DVA and T.A.G.C. But these guys are really doing their best to extrude me. On christmas eve (!), I received this message via MySpace. And today, there's another one. Again, it was sent by Jane Radion Newton, wife of Clock DVA founder Adi Newton, and currently a Clock DVA member in her own right. Here it is:

Paul Browse??? Please give myself, Adi, DVA,T.A.G.C the respect to delete our profiles if you wish to keep such "personalities" who without reason have exploited our work and caused untold personal problems by thier actions.Thankyou

We check all new friends requests before accepting to see if they have any of these EX-members profiles in your friends
Nohno/ Kibuka (Dean Dennis)
Paul.A.Browse.
(Bob Baker) Shadowranglers/Shadowranger
Andrew Mckenzie(Hafler Trio)

If you have any of these above profiles we are sorry but we cannot accept/keep profiles that consider these individuals as their friends, as they certainly are not ours and are NOT a welcome part of DVA/TAGC I have deep regrets ever inviting them into my work- oil and water do not mix.

You may feel that this is a strong response but we ask you to trust and respect that our decision is based on necessity and issues that cannot be resolved. We hope you continue your respect as their actions and activities have also affected buying fans being behind fake DVA/TAGC products taking money from innocent fans irrespective of any lie they care to invent to justify this, they were also behind a fake ClockDVA profile now deleted through our exposure of its exploitation; therefore this is not a personal issue and we hope you would empathize by reflecting back on this as if these forms of exploitation were the same abuses of your own work.

These profiles also usually follow on our heals to filch friends of DVA/TAGC after we have accepted them.

With Respect

Adi Newton – Founder/Creative director ClockDVA/TAGC 1978-onwards and Jane Radion Newton.

So, there you have it. Another attempt to keep the online community "in check", accomplishing nothing but proving their own complete comfusion regarding the purpose and meaning of online tools like MySpace. And the related issue of online "friendship".

Why does everyone have to fail eventually?

Related:
Clock DVA - losing it.