#92

Kraftwerk

The Man-Machine (1978)

I have an ill-defined but immeasurably large number of things to say about krautrock.  Let's say then, for the sake of clarity, that I totally have one bajillion things to say about krautrock.

Fortunately, Pitchfork likes krautrock as much as I do, so I get to plow this fertile ground over and over again, digging deep new furrows with the glistening edge of my mindplow, and nurturing the growth of fresh thought with mounds of steaming bullshit.

The Kraftwerk guys circa 1978 would probably like it if I included a bit more bullshit.  It is kind of their bag.

Out of the formless cloud of dust and gas and ideas that krautrock inspires in me, The Man-Machine is a good album for talking about the experiential nature of electronic music.  What I mean is the sense of being transported to the front cover of an old sci-fi paperback.  Of getting a taste of what a fictional 'elsewhere' might feel like, even if just for seven or eight minutes.

(Disclaimer: This might only work if you are a sci-fi nerd.)

The great thing about krautrock, as opposed to say techno (blerg) or even more recent electronic music like dubstep, is the quaintness of the technology and concepts involved.  The analog of it.  The picture of alienation and the future that it paints is now a retro one: a green cathode-ray monitor, giant board of blinking lights, Doctor Who*, CGI-free, pre-internet, Cold War-obsessed future.  

Hell, the first side of The Man-Machine has songs called "The Robots" and "Spacelab" for chrissakes.  It isn't relevant as modern commentary any more, but it is still relevant as a direct line into previous social paranoia.  "They who forget the past..." and all that.

This is a great album.  It isn't Trans-Europe Express, but it doesn't have to be.  It is transportive sci-fi paranoia in its own way, just not as fully as TEE.  If you have never gotten into Kraftwerk (and I understand if you haven't, given the goofy public image the group has picked up over the years) start with Man-Machine or TEE.  

You probably won't be disappointed, unless you played sports in high school.

MISCHUNGSLIEDE:

(right-click auf der Verbindung und öffnen Sie sie in einem neuen Vorsprung, um zu hören und zu lesen.)

The Robots

The first time I heard this was in Edinburgh, Scotland.  A man all in silver was dancing to it as a robot.  It was novel at the time: "Crazy Europe!" I said to myself.  I have since discovered that there are people who dress all in silver and dance like robots in touristy areas all over the world.  The song is nice, though.

Spacelab

I don't think you could spend an afternoon playing videogames to a finer song than this.

Metropolis

This is the song I am referring to above when I talk about getting transported to sci-fi heaven.  TEE does it better on the whole, but it couldn't do it better than this song.

ZUNÄCHST:

#91

Throbbing Gristle

20 Jazz Funk Greats (1979)

(time to take my medicine, blarg)

*a fun(?) aside, take a look at some of the Doctor Who theme song and title cards mashups on youtube for a perfect progression of sci-fi aesthetics through the years.  The leap from the early 90s to the contemporary one is really jarring.  Once we started living in the future, our concept of the future changed!