Electronic Music

Florian Schneider (left) and Ralf Hütter (right).

 Kraftwerk is an electronic band from Germany.  Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider formed the band in 1970.  They are considered to be the pioneers of the electronic music.  They used synthesizers like the mini moog and the ARP Odyssey, electronic organs, flutes, electro-violin and drum pads to compose their unique music.  They also sung through a vocoder to create a more “computer sound” or generated the lyrics by a computer-speech software.  Kraftwerk used session musicians to record live guitars and acoustic drums.  Their image was different from the bands in the 70’s.  It was strange by that time to see on a stage four people with computers and synthesizers with no acoustic guitars, drums, bass or any type of band-instruments.  Although with their unusual stage “instruments” and their uniforms (mostly a combination of red, black and sometimes white) Kraftwerk “innovated and influenced modern pop music” (Coprano, 2009).

Between 1974-1981, Kraftwerk released five of their major albums in their catalogue.

“Autobahn” was released in 1974; it featured acoustic instruments like the violin, flute and guitars. (you can listen to some of those instruments in the 22 minutes song “Autobhan”). 

In 1975, the album “Radio-Activity” was released.  In this album you can listen to songs in English and in German.  In the song “Radioactivity” you can listen a mix of English and German lyrics when they say, “Tschernobyl, Harrisburgh, Sellafield, Hiroshima. Stop radioactivity. Is in the air for you and me”.

In 1977 and 1978 Kraftwerk released “Trans-Europe Express” and “The Man-Machine”, respectively. These two albums got good recognitions after they were released.  “Trans-Europe Express” was placed number 253 on the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” from Rolling Stones (Rolling Stones, 2003).  The single “The Model/Computer Love” from the album “The Man-Machine” was charted #1 for 21 weeks in the UK’s Single Charts (Colin, 2004).

“Computer World” was released in 1981. This particular album talked about the computers and its integration into society. This album was made entirely by electronic instruments (mentioned before) and processed vocals.  The success of this album implied the release of the single “Pocket Calculator” in German, English, French, and Japanese.

Kraftwerk influenced big bands of today’s society.  For example, the famous song  “Talk” from Coldplay is just a motif (musical idea) from the song “Computer World”.  Also, the minimalistic stage decoration influenced electronic artists like Deadmou5 and Tiesto.   

I did not know that Kraftwerk influenced that much popular music.  Personally I do not feel connected with their earliest albums, but not till after “The Man-Machine” I felt this band was contributing to today’s sound and music.  Even if you are not interested in experimental bands, Kraftwerk is a band that is a “must” to listen to, because I can assure you that in their song you are going to find samples or ideas used in today’s bands and artists.

See "Reference" tab for information about the sources.