Black Cat Bone

This type of thing not really being my type of thing, I don't have a great deal to say. But what I've heard from them is surprisingly funky for robotic German mannekins.

Favorite Album - Trans-Europe Express

Favorite Song - "Pocket Calculator" [hilarious song]

They were so fantastic on their tour in 2004.

Album - Minimum Maximum - all the hits
Song - Trans Europe Express, but in some ways the Model outshines them all.

Angel Heart wrote:They were so fantastic on their tour in 2004.

Weren't they just? I can still feel that bass reverberating around my insides!!!

Album - so tough to choose, but I'd probably plump for the DVD version of Minimum:Maximum if you held a gun to my head, as it's such a good overview and sounds (and looks) fucking amazing. Anyone who thinks 4 ageing Germans standing behind computers can't put on the best live show on the planet is sorely misguided.

Song - The Robots (from Minimum:Maximum - when the beats crash in at about 5:20, it's nigh-on transcendental)

..... must .... resist ....

funky_nomad wrote:

Angel Heart wrote:They were so fantastic on their tour in 2004.

Weren't they just? I can still feel that bass reverberating around my insides!!!

Album - so tough to choose, but I'd probably plump for the DVD version of Minimum:Maximum if you held a gun to my head, as it's such a good overview and sounds (and looks) fucking amazing. Anyone who thinks 4 ageing Germans standing behind computers can't put on the best live show on the planet is sorely misguided.

Song - The Robots (from Minimum:Maximum - when the beats crash in at about 5:20, it's nigh-on transcendental)

Cue me and My Son bumping into Funky and Jethro just before our insides got pulped in mush, MaaaaaaCCCHINNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEE, He is a lucky wee sod my son, thankly he does appreciate that I am the Best Dad in The World.

Oh and

Album - Trans Europe Express

Song - Neon Lights

Track: "Showroom Dummies"

Album - Computer World

Song - "Pocket Calculator"

album - Tour de France Soundtrack
song - Vitamin

last year's Brixton concert was one ofthe most astonishing things I have ever witnessed.
I am very pleased that I was there.

The Man Machine (TEE has Hall Of Mirrors, which tips the balance toward TMM)

Neon Lights

I'm off to see them again in Ghent in October. It'll be the 10th time.


LP - Difficult to choose. The sounds on Computer World are my favourite, but the double whammy of Europe Endless and T.E.E make sure that Trans Europe Express gets my vote, plus the cover is sublime.

Song - All of them.

Album - Trans-Europe Express

Song - Autobahn or Hall of Mirrors

I only have two of their albums, but surely....

Song: The Model

I enjoy their macaroni and cheese.

808 wrote: It'll be the 10th time.

But never the classic line up

album: Man Machine
song:
win: Europe Endless
place: Radioland
show: Boing Boom-Tshak

ten seconds of these guys and I'm under some sort of spell. I'm not responsible for my own actions. Please don't try to sell me anything.
I really like the early stuff cause it's so loose and has neat textures. Still, I've got no problem with the way they've decided to do things.

Album: Autobahn

Song: "Ruckzuck"

Album: The Man Machine

Track: Europe Endless
I just adore the sparkling 2 minute intro.

Album: hmmmm, probably Radio-Activity

Song: a tie between the shorter version of Autobahn and The Model

Kraftwerk's best stuff is strange in that it possess an almost knowing naivite to it, the joy in its own simplicity, particularly in terms of its humour. As for song, well it has to be Autobahn doesn't it, the way that the details all coalesce just through simple repetitions, its knowledge of how pop music works when you have something to hold onto (in their case, the utterly addictive "fahr'n fahr'n fahr'n auf der Autobahn" chorus). It's a beautiful piece of music, really.

Predictably, Trans Europe Express is my favourite of their LPs, because the whole sound and approach of it is so throughly precise- everything on falls into place and the segues are often as beautiful as they are expected. They find a lot of warmth in their love of machinery, don't they? And a lot of humour, too, ("Showroom Dummies" is a 3-minute joke, essentially mocking their entire image). Finally, its ultimate resolution: those faint, slightly disembodied voices on Endless Endless after the Franz Schubert motif again reveal the subtlety of their approach. Like finally coming out of the tunner to see the light, if that's not too hackneyed.

As for Man Machine, well I like it a lot- particularly the deeply cynical "The Model" (One of the strangest no. 1 singles ever? Certainly, in terms of its ruthless sarcasm and minimalism), but for some reason, it doesn't feel as artful to me as Trans Europe Express. I'm not sure what it is, I remember adoring something like "Neon Lights" the last time I heard it, but I don't think I can connect to it in quite the same way as its predecessor. That said, it contains many pretty resolutions.

Oddly, I think there are some parallels between Kraftwerk and Chic. Both were hugely influential (though I suppose Kraftwerk's influence is more obviously traceable) in future dance music are quite apparent in some respects. In fact, both produced songs that helped to directly influence rap, Chic's "Good Times" formed the entire musical basis for "Rapper's Delight", while Kraftwerk's "Trans-Europe-Express" became the backing track for "Planet Rock" (among others). Also, both dealt in incredibly pared-back styles (there's absolutely no extraneous material in Rogers's arrangements), and both used their populism to smuggle in a wilfully subversion at times.

Whereas Chic's outwardly funky and energetic music hid a scathing attitude to its approach, Kraftwerk's seemingly cold and minimalist aesthetic hides a warmth and almost childlike appeal. A lot of Chic's music is essentially about the perils of the crossover, and what it might do to you. Something like "Good Times" or "Le Freak" sound like it's forever on the point of collapse (the singing, in particular). But the music is so celebratory, almost inspite of this fact.