Who are KRAFTWERK ?
They are the original pioneers of electronic music, the "Godfathers Of Techno".Most people know them for their biggest pop hit, "The Model", but they have an expansive back catalogue of music which is innovative, eclectic, and has had a huge influence on electronic music today. They were always ahead of their time.
They are renowned for their "ROBOT" image- one which presented man as part machine, entwined with the music. They built robot replicas of themselves, and these were used on stage, in photo sessions, and sometimes even for photo sessions when the band were too busy to appear in person!
A Robot, yesterday
They are also unpredictable - their next move is always anticipated with bated breath, partially due to their lack of public appearances, and very rare interviews. This has also attached a great air of mystery to the band. When their first single in nine years was released in the year 2000, the band remained silent- no interviews or PA's, just a mysterious single and video!
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.
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.Just listen to the beautiful melodies on "Neon Lights" - they evoke the feeling of pure bliss!
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.
Their albums always have a particular theme, for example "Autobahn" was about the joy of driving on the Autobahns in Germany, Computer World was their vision of how computers would be integrated into society in the future - quite prophetic!
Their sound is evident in the music charts today - for example, the backing track on Madonna's Number One single "Music" sounds like "Numbers", and the whole techno scene has been heavily influenced by them, more about this later.
