The line became even further blurred with the follow-up, 's aptly titled The Man-Machine , a work almost completely bereft of human touches. By this time, the members of Kraftwerk even publicly portrayed themselves as automatons, an image solidified by "The Robots," a number 25 single in the group's home country. Having released their most influential albums, the group disappeared from view, the first of many extended absences to follow. They did not return to action prior to 's Computer World , a meditation on the new global dominance of technology -- a social climate their earlier music had forecast.
After achieving their second Top Ten placement on Germany's album chart and topping the U. However, their earlier works informed electro classics such as Afrika Bambaataa 's "Planet Rock" and Planet Patrol 's "Play at Your Own Risk," and in , they issued a single, the joyous competitive cycling homage "Tour de France," a number four U.
Kraftwerk ended a five-year wait between albums in with Electric Cafe , by which point pop music was dominated by synthesizers and drum machines. Just before the end of the '90s, Kraftwerk released their first original material in well over a decade, the "Expo " single. The group celebrated the centennial anniversary of Tour de France with a new version of their single, and followed it with a full album, Tour de France Soundtracks.
Minimum-Maximum , a live recording, arrived in An extensive box set, The Catalogue , pulled together their eight core albums with remastered sound in The group's steady touring culminated in the live release 3-D The Catalogue , capturing performances from through On May 6, , representatives of Kraftwerk confirmed that Schneider had died from cancer. AllMusic relies heavily on JavaScript.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to use the site fully. Throughout the melodies and methods, their vocal lines and lyrics, there is a touching innocence and simplicity. All change in society passes through a sympathetic collaboration with tape recorders, synthesisers and telephones. Our reality is an electronic reality. This forward-thinking spirit had already started to infect pop. African American DJs also found an odd kinship with the Germans.
Keen to find a new musical language, they were familiar with the urban sounds Kraftwerk were using; 's The Robots became particularly influential on the dancefloor, and in the burgeoning B-Boy and breakdancing scenes.
Afrika Bambaataa fused the melody of Trans-Europe Express and the rhythm of 's Numbers to create Planet Rock , one of hip-hop's pioneering tracks. Trailblazing electro group Cybotron used a loop from 's Hall of Mirrors; its founder, Juan Atkins, would create techno, and from there came modern dance culture.
Kraftwerk would even get a No 1 single, The Model, in February , four years after its first release. It was if the world was finally catching up with them. Ever since, using a Kraftwerk sample has been shorthand for credibility. Or across the pond, juke and footstep producers such as Traxman have shoe-horned Kraftwerk samples into songs such as The Robot.
Kraftwerk have been part of the lineage of dance culture since the late 70s — approaching it without them is impossible. Once the world started to catch up, Kraftwerk started to slow down. They have only released four studio records since 's disappointing Electric Cafe , remix album The Mix , Expo , a single for a German world trade fair, and 's Tour De France Soundtracks. The line-up has also changed radically.
The mystery continues. What Kraftwerk are about now is the souped-up live experience. Playing in galleries, they align themselves with art over pop. This notoriously mysterious space, where outside contact has always been forbidden, even by telephone, was moved 10 miles outside the city four years ago. Inside, Wood found an impeccable, minimalist office and a huge studio, with four robots against a wall, lit in glowing green lights.
He also talked about how music creates gods, but art doesn't. He then showed her some 3D films for the show, developed by Emil Schult , who has worked on their cover art since the 70s. This new sound was little short of a revolution. Kraftwerk took a radically different path with their music, using purely electronic sounds produced with synthesisers and rhythm machines, some of which the band built themselves. They combined these sounds with very basic melodies sometimes resembling just nursery rhyme tunes.
Thus Kraftwerk tied the image of a pop band to the principles of modern art. Many young British musicians, especially those with a background in punk, latched on eagerly to the idea that they no longer had to spend years learning an instrument but could create music by experimenting with cheap synthesisers.
In the USA, meanwhile, the first hip hop DJs used Kraftwerk tracks as a backing for rappers, and this electro-funk sound eventually featured on the pioneering hip hop albums played by DJs like Afrika Bambaataa.
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