Intuitive Music

Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk have been widely recognised as the defenitive pioneers of techno music and modern electronica.

The history of Kraftwerk –meaning Power Plant- begins in 1968, when Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider-Esleben met at the Academy of Arts in Remschied, Düsseldorf. Both of them were classically trained musicians and students at the Düsseldorf Conservatory, where they started their first avant-garde oriented project under the name of Organisation, taking part in various performances at art galleries and universities.

In 1969, the krautrock scene started being present in Germany with experimental bands like Can, Neu! or Faust. Most of these bands were primerly influenced by the presence of German composer and electronic music pioneer Karlheinz Stockhausen, who was at the time the leader of the Darmstadt school.

In early 1970, Florian and Ralph recorded their first Organisation album “Tone Float” for the RCA label, featuring the musicians Basil Hammoudi (vocals) , Butch Hauf (bass), and Fred Monics (drums), while Florian played flute and violin and Ralf played the organ. Ralf and Florian decided to carry on as a duo to work in their own vision of modern music and, in order to start it properly, they set up the Kling Klang studio in the center of Düsseldorf, in the same building as it is today. The new Kraftwerk band was formed by guitarist Klaus Dinger, drummer Andreas Hohman, plus Florian and Ralph. In 1970, Kraftwerk released their first album, “Kraftwerk 1″, which was produced by the legendary Conny Plank. After some successful gigs, Andreas Hohman left and Kraftwerk remained as a trio until the joint of Michael Rother (guitar) and Eberhardt Krahnemann (bass). But this ephimerous set-up only lasted for just one session after the depart of Krahnemann and Ralf Hütter himself.

During the following six months, Florian Schneider (flutes, synthesizers), Michael Rother (guitars), and Klaus Dinger (drums) worked in the embryo of the legendary krautrock band Neu!. The trio recorded a 35-minutes session at Conny Plank’s studio which was never released. However they made a performance on German TV in 1971 for “The Beatclub” that was signed before Ralph’s departure.

After Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger would form the defenitive Neu! project in 1971, Florian and Ralph decided to rejoin to record “Kraftwerk 2″, featuring a primitive drum machine and echo units which imposed rhytmic structures on their instruments. This way the track “Klingklang” shares with Sly And The Family Stone’s ‘Family Affair’ the distinction of featuring the first ever recorded drum machine in pop album, both albums released in 1971.

A year later, the two first Kraftwerk’s albums were reisued together by Vertigo, due to the increasing international interest in the krautrock scene. Kraftwerk played outside Germany for first time in Paris in February 1973, after changing their former policy anti-tours. The gigs were at a two-days festival of German music at the Théatre de L’Ouest Parisien, in the Boulogne-Billancourt suburb of Paris. Other German artists on the show were Guru Guru, Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel and Klaus Schulze.

At this time, Florian met the electric-violinist Emil Schult, who had spent some time at school in the United States. Schult was an art student at the Düsseldorf Academy and was in contact with some of the more revolutionary political student movements of the time, including the famous Red Danny. It was Emil Schult himself who gave them the idea to adopt a peculiar imagery to be recognized by the audience, in the same manner than German photographer Astrid Kirchherr did with The Beatle’s early look. During this period, Emil Schult was a regular visitor at Kraftwewrk’s studio, jaming with the band by playing guitar, flute and a home made electronic violin, and finally becaming a member of the crew.

In 1973, Kraftwerk embarked on a German Tour along with bass player Plato Kostic. After the tour, Ralph and Florian remain a duo again and recorded their third album “Ralph and Florian” with the help of drummers Karl Bartos and Wolfgang Flur. The album supposed the beginning of a new array of musical ideas that would bring the classic Kraftwerk works.

Kraftwerk

In 1974, the album “Autobahn” hit the world. The line-up in the album included Ralf Hütter (vocals, electronics), Florian Schneider (vocals, electronics), Wolfgang Flür (electronic percussion) and Klaus Roeder (electric violin, guitar). This record represents the first real milestone in the history of popular electronic music. First, because in this record Kraftwerk finally catalized all the elements that were about to ignite and make the pieces of a new and revolutionary form of music fit. Kraftwerk recorded a serie of “ambience” sounds in the city and then used them as templates for their synthetic approximations of car sounds, doppler shifts and the like to create sound-pictures of real environments, making the engines sing. Second, because it represented their first international exposure, reaching the Top 30 lists in UK and US with the track “Autobahn”. The album contained all the keys of the modern electronic music and is a wonderful work in the use of synthesizers, drum machines and sampling.

Kraftwerk worked with Emil Schult in the design of their image, inspired by a pre-war European culture, the Russian constructivist propaganda and the industrial art, in a conceptual work that included music, lyrics, album covers, and stage show. The following albums would use different subjects as a sound and visual concept : the radio, the train, the robot and the computer. In 1976, a new incarnation of Kraftwerk featuring Karl Bartos recorded the legendary album “Trans-Europe Express” which became one of the most influencial in the history of modern music. The album features minimalistic drum machines, synthesizers and robotic monotonal vocals. This futuristic fusion of electronica and pop was the shot gun signal to the synth pop era and subsequently influenced the following generations of new wave, hip hop, electro and techno artists. Later in 1982, Afrika Bambaataa would borrow the melody of “Trans-Europe Express” for his “Planet Rock”, bringing life to the electro sound.

Kraftwerk

In 1978, after the releasing of the “Man Machine” album, Kraftwerk introduced an incredibly original show by including in the show four robots which were exact replicas of each member of Kraftwerk. The robots (called showroom dummies) imitated the movements of the men, but going further, the musicians left the robots playing alone on stage while they imitated the movements of the robots. The image of the four Kraftwerk robots became a modern icon in modern music, and the band used this set in every tour till today.

The next Kraftwerk’s album, “Computer World” was nominated for the Grammys and internationally aclaimed, being one of the most influencing works in the modern electronic music. Two years later a single containing the jingle for the celebrated European bicycle race, Tour de France, was released after Ralph Hütler’s afittion to the sport having even run the French Tour himself. After this single there was a long long period of hiatus, and Kraftwerk reported that they were “under construction” in their Kling Klang studio, possibly the would be studying tons of new equipement after the birth of the brand new technologies. Another single called “Electric Café” was released in 1986, which was a big hit in USA.

Kraftwerk

In 1991, after 16 long years of silence, Kraftwerk came back with a brand new album “The Mix”, bringing remixes of their works influenced by the new dance and techno flavours. However, in 1983 an album called “technopop” was ready for release, but after several postponements, it disappeared completely from the release schedule, with no explanation. A track of the same title appeared on 1986’s Electric Café 12″, prompting speculation that it may be the same LP in different guise.

At this time, Karl Bartos ,who left Kraftwerk along with Wolfgang Flur during the recordings of “The Mix” because of the agonising slow process of production, started his own group Elektric Music, while Flur set up an interior design company with former Kraftwerk visual director Emil Schult. This way Florian and Ralph remained as the permanent basis of Kraftwerk, while Bartos and Flur just step in when their “live” services are required, as on the live tour that followed the release of “The Mix”. The band also played an aclaimed at the Tribal Gathering at Luton Hoo on May 24, 1997.

In 2000, Kraftwerk was commited to do the jingle for the Expo2000 in Hannover, releasing a 12″ CD. In 2005 was released the double live album “Minimum-Maximum”, which was the first official live release from the band ever, containing recordings from the 2004 world tour.