Forum Home Forum Home > Progressive Music Lounges > Prog Bands, Artists and Genres Appreciation
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Kraftwerk
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Topic ClosedKraftwerk

 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <12
Author
Message
tszirmay View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: August 17 2006
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 6673
Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 03 2009 at 00:18
"We Are the Robots" and "Trans Europ Express" are incredible tracks , very moody, highly evocative and richly memorable. Again, litterally creating new genres 10 years ahead of its time, talk about pioneering!
I never post anything anywhere without doing more than basic research, often in depth.
Back to Top
superprog View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member


Joined: July 07 2006
Status: Offline
Points: 1354
Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 03 2009 at 23:40
saw em live last year bloody awesome show.   best thing abt em is that their songs were extremely meticulously arranged and conceived........they influnced dance music but they certainly werent dance music............
Back to Top
Mandrakeroot View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member

Italian Prog Specialist

Joined: March 01 2006
Location: San Foca, Friûl
Status: Offline
Points: 5851
Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 05 2009 at 11:05
This is my first Kraftwerk review:
 
 
Trans-Europe Express (Trans-Europa Express)
Kraftwerk Progressive Electronic

Review by Mandrakeroot

5 stars 1977... How to remember the legendary TEE train category and simultaneously present the first prototype of TGV? With an album and a legendary song (the video is beautiful... not just for those who like the railways, like me!)

This album is simple and legendary. The music is good example of electronic POP in Prog field... Also if 100% Prog. In TEE are good all songs but in particular: 'Showroom Dummies', great example of electronic Disco Music/ Rock with Proto Synthetic New Wave flavor and my first Krafwerk song that I listen to with 'TEE' ('Trans-Europe Express') my first Kraftwerk video that I watch. In 'TEE' is good to evoke a world now lost, where everything was fit for humans. Or rather... It was believed to be still and TEE were created for business people increasingly pressed by the commitments... But that ended up upsetting habits and killing off the TEE. The video highlights all of this: the slow Krafwerk traveling on a TEE (the mythical 'Rheingold') travels fast as the prototype driven by turbine (soon abandoned) of TGV! And the music? A steam train that runs fast (even the mythical 'Rheingold') that crosses the future high-speed trains (TGV? ICE? Thalys? Eurostar? ES?). Interesting is also 'The Hall Of Mirrors', electronics and hypnotic ballad example of Proto Industrial Music, 'Europe Endless', good song to use as a soundtrack for a documentary on European wildlife... Forests, lakes, mountains, rivers, seas, coasts... Another good song is 'Franz Schubert', naturally dedicated to Franz Schubert (1797- 1828), brilliant composer from Wien (Austria), that is a piece of electronic Classic Music.

In general the melodies are evocative and with poor arrangement because the level of melodies are great and not requiring superstructure. So the songs are very light and evocative.

In definitive 'Trans-Europe Express' is a great example of Electronic Prog and one of my preferred Prog album in my discography.

Back to Top
lodger View Drop Down
Forum Newbie
Forum Newbie
Avatar

Joined: March 16 2009
Status: Offline
Points: 2
Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 16 2009 at 19:46
i guess everyone in on this site really apreciates the impact of kraftwerk, even though not everyone knows it
The only heroic act is to enjoy life
Back to Top
tszirmay View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: August 17 2006
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 6673
Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 16 2009 at 21:57
^^^^ Exactly - subliminal influence but real
I never post anything anywhere without doing more than basic research, often in depth.
Back to Top
memowakeman View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: May 19 2005
Location: Mexico City
Status: Offline
Points: 13032
Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 17 2009 at 02:55
i've been lucky to see Kraftwerk yesterday and today as the support act of Radiohead (strange)
And despite it was the same set list, i truly enjoyed it both days, their music is great and their performance on stage, musically and visually is amazing.

Great band!

Follow me on twitter @memowakeman
Back to Top
moshkito View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: January 04 2007
Location: Grok City
Status: Offline
Points: 18005
Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 18 2009 at 13:20
Hi,
 
The "learning" or the "expansion" of the synthesizer ... went ... funny.
 
The first experiments were bad. Period. One could say that up until Beaver & Krause ... there was an attempt to make it an "instrument" so it would be added to the local symphony and sound like ... like .... "an instrument" ... (gotta love it !!!) ...
 
Well .. it never made it.
 
But a couple of things got through that helped ... they were Walter/Wendy Carlos doing Bach.
 
At the time, believe it or not ... no one took it seriously even though here was someone playing Bach ... and it came off as "a joke" ... most serious listeners of classical music thought of it as "cute" ... and did not consider it anything more than just ... a pop song ... let's say.
 
There was another scene ... the Terry Riley's, Beaver and Krause and folks like Heinemman and Stockhausen ... and their interest went a bit further than just ... music ... it went into that area that academic and popular magazines hate so much ... "experimental" ... or worse yet (later) ... progressive.
 
I think that the folks close to the Kraftwerk family never got the credit they deserved other than being a synthetic music making machine ... on the opposite end was Tangerine Dream trying to create more movie music for your mind. And of course, Klaus was trying to teach you meditation with the synthesizer ... or some sort of electronic raga concept ...
 
And that left one area open ... the one that is fun.
 
From the early days of Ralf and Florian, through the rest of their career, and even the likes of Reodelius and Rother ... and that whole family ... none of them have been taken seriously ... and they have a vast body of work that is ... very nice .... not a Mozart'ian library ... but very nice ... and they helped make the sound accessible without it sounding like all the other instruments ... notice how most synth work these days is about how you use the strings and make it sound like everything else ... like creativity and new things are gone out of existance.
 
It's like saying that Haendel is not good, simply because Vivaldi was ... it's bull sh*t in other words.
 
Always remembered here ... and I have the albums!
Back to Top
Rocktopus View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: March 02 2006
Location: Norway
Status: Offline
Points: 4202
Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 19 2009 at 05:24
Originally posted by moshkito moshkito wrote:

Hi,
 
The "learning" or the "expansion" of the synthesizer ... went ... funny.
 
The first experiments were bad. Period. One could say that up until Beaver & Krause ... there was an attempt to make it an "instrument" so it would be added to the local symphony and sound like ... like .... "an instrument" ... (gotta love it !!!) ...
 
Well .. it never made it.
 


The Theremin (almost) did. Its still used quite a lot in new avantgarde/classical music:



My theremin heroine, Clara Rockmore. Clip from te 70's, pic from the 30's.



Originally posted by moshkito moshkito wrote:

 
From the early days of Ralf and Florian, through the rest of their career, and even the likes of Reodelius and Rother ... and that whole family ... none of them have been taken seriously


I largely agree, but I think they are being taken quite seriously now.

Cluster just played in an Art Centre where I live who's been known for its legendary concerts with everything from John Cage to Soft Machine and electroaqoustic pioneers including Stockhausen in the 70's (and Fred Frith and Peter Brotzmann mm lately).
Over land and under ashes
In the sunlight, see - it flashes
Find a fly and eat his eye
But don't believe in me
Don't believe in me
Don't believe in me
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <12

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 0.102 seconds.
Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.