Kraftwerk

 "We define ourselves as sound-scientists, or as musical workers. Every day we go to the studio, work on the instruments, talk to the engineers – it’s not a musician’s existence, in the way of rehearsing with instruments.”

This quote, from Ralf Hutter, is a perfect summation of the band Kraftwerk, the German term for "power plant" or "power station." The group started in the 1960s, and are known today as pioneers of electronica and pop, inspiring many artists to come, even being referred to by The New York Times as "The Beatles of electronic dance music." They are defined most strongly by their fourth album, Radio-Activity. This album was released in 1975, and was highly conceptual as well as experimental. The songs are incredibly intricate- for example, there's a Morse code message in the song Radioactivity, translating to "radioactivity is in the air for you and me" in English. This album had a strong political undertone, protesting the use of nuclear power, specifically under the circumstances of war. This is just after the end of the Vietnam War, so anti-war sentiment had bled into a lot of American music. As for German music, this was less common, but still, Germany had been in support of the US throughout the war and therefore was held responsible for parts of the damage done. There are references within the album to nuclear disasters and bombings, such as Hiroshima, Harrisburg, and Chernobyl.

The equipment used within the band was vital to the unique sound that Kraftwerk created, as they relied heavily on production and proper instruments. The Kraftwerk FQ documents amongst the assortment of equipment a Korg PS-3200 synthesizer. As for drums, kick, detuned handclap, and pitched up LM-1 tambourine, the LinnDrum snare #23, and the metallic clanky percussion was provided by the E-MU Emulator2. (Thank you equipboard.) It's these instruments that were so revolutionary for the time period, introducing the idea of "trippy" or "mechanic" music.

I'll probably post more on this band later, I've been pretty busy recently between enjoying the newfound freedom of summer whilst also attempting to study for my final exams.

Stay Loud (=