Eliza schneider violinist3/6/2023 They developed Kraftwerk into a precision-tooled mechanism for presenting their designs for a fresh musical language, looking into a new future and turning their backs on the wreckage of the post-second world war Germany in which they grew up, and in which such pop culture as there was comprised feeble imitations of Anglo-American originals.įlorian was born in Ohningen in the French occupation zone of the then West Germany. It was said that Schneider and Hütter had taken their cue from the British conceptual art duo Gilbert & George, having visited their exhibition at the Kunsthalle in Dusseldorf in 1970 and been enamoured with both their work and their carefully controlled image. This was epitomised by a 1998 interview with a Brazilian TV reporter in which he studiously supplied one-word answers to her list of questions. While Kraftwerk revelled in presenting a manufactured facade to the world, Schneider was particularly careful to cultivate an enigmatic persona. On Computer World (1981) they took a shrewd look at the dawning computer age, utilising gadgets such as the Texas Instruments Language Translator to create some of the vocal parts and concocting a tongue-in-cheek ode to the electronic calculator in Pocket Calculator – “by pressing down a special key it plays a little melody”. Kraftwerk’s 1978 album The Man Machine, with artwork by Günther Fröhling, crystallised the idea of the band as a conceptual project. “It’s a concept – ‘Die Mensch-Maschine’, the human machine. “Kraftwerk is not a band,” said Schneider in 1975. Its sleeve image, by Günther Fröhling, inspired by the Russian “Suprematism” art movement and depicting the group dressed like mannequins in red shirts and black ties, crystallised the notion of Kraftwerk as a conceptual project, not a mere pop group. The Man Machine, a precisely etched depiction of a society defined by cybernetics, robotics and fashion, was like a curtain-raiser for the imminent arrival of synth pop (it reached No 9 on the UK album chart). Trans-Europe Express drew inspiration from Bowie’s Station to Station, while Bowie’s track V2 Schneider, from Heroes, was a nod back to Kraftwerk. The albums Radio-Activity (1975), Trans-Europe Express (1977) and The Man Machine (1978) saw the group steadily streamlining their sound as they embraced technological innovations and refined their vision. They subsequently scored a UK chart-topping single, The Model, released with Computer Love (1981), but Kraftwerk’s influence was much further-reaching than mere chart positions would suggest.Īutobahn (1974), a euphoric electronic ode to the joys of driving on motorways This revolution in synthetic music earned Kraftwerk a spot on BBC television’s science programme Tomorrow’s World in 1975. The album reached No 4 in Britain, while the single version of Autobahn reached the the UK Top 20 and the German Top 10. With Schneider and Ralf Hütter proving the main creative impetus, Kraftwerk (German for “power station”) reached their pivotal moment with the release of their fourth album, Autobahn (1974), whose 23-minute title track – a euphoric electronic ode to the joys of driving on Germany’s high-speed motorways, delivered with a light and whimsical touch – became emblematic of the group’s sound and approach. In 1997 the New York Times described Kraftwerk as “the Beatles of electronic dance music”. The list of artists whose work is indebted to Kraftwerk, even if they did not always know it, is endless, but includes David Bowie, Depeche Mode, Simple Minds, New Order, The Orb, Madonna, Neil Young, Jay-Z, Afrika Bambaataa, Coldplay and Daft Punk. Where guitars, bass and drums had long been considered its essential building blocks, Kraftwerk paved the way for synth-pop, techno, hip-hop and electronica, in the process proving that microchips and machines could have not only soul, but a sense of humour too. As one of the chief architects of the electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk, Florian Schneider, who has died of cancer aged 73, helped revolutionise popular music.
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