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Kraftwerk: Future Music from Germany
'Highly stimulating ... Kraftwerk is a pleasure to read' Jon Savage, New Statesman
The story of the phenomenon that is Kraftwerk, and how they revolutionised our cultural landscape
'We are not artists nor musicians. We are workers.' Ignoring nearly all rock traditions, experimenting in near-total secrecy in their Düsseldorf studio, Kraftwerk fused sound and technology, graphic design and performance, modernist Bauhaus aesthetics and Rhineland industrialisation - even human and machine - to change the course of modern music. This is the story of Kraftwerk the cultural phenomenon, who turned electronic music into avant-garde concept art and created the soundtrack to our digital age.
The story of the phenomenon that is Kraftwerk, and how they revolutionised our cultural landscape
'We are not artists nor musicians. We are workers.' Ignoring nearly all rock traditions, experimenting in near-total secrecy in their Düsseldorf studio, Kraftwerk fused sound and technology, graphic design and performance, modernist Bauhaus aesthetics and Rhineland industrialisation - even human and machine - to change the course of modern music. This is the story of Kraftwerk the cultural phenomenon, who turned electronic music into avant-garde concept art and created the soundtrack to our digital age.
336 pages, Paperback
First published June 14, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
February 21, 2021
It’s become a cliché for people to say that when they first heard Kraftwerk they were struck by how “different” the group sounded, but I suppose statements like that become cliched because they contain an element of truth. The author of this homage to the band highlights that they not only pioneered electronic music, but also a sound that owed nothing to the jazz and blues rhythms that were the foundation of rock and roll. The book quotes Ralf Hütter as saying that Kraftwerk’s music belongs to industrial Düsseldorf in the same way that country music belongs to Texas. In their turn, Kraftwerk were immensely influential in the history of pop music, giving rise to the British synth-pop of the eighties, and influencing the House and Techno genres.
After the success of Autobahn in 1974, Kraftwerk released their albums simultaneously in German and English language versions, so the listener can take their pick. Since I speak English, I’ve used the English-language titles below.
The author makes it clear in his Foreword that this book is about the cultural impact of Kraftwerk, and it is a mostly thoughtful account of that. I say “mostly” because I felt he made some sweeping statements, particularly when he moved off the subject of music and on to wider social issues. Unsurprisingly, the author is a huge fan and gives the band the benefit of the doubt over any contentious matters, such as their reworking of the lyrics of Radioactivity from initial ambivalence to an openly anti-nuclear power stance. Cynics thought this change was motivated by commercial considerations, whereas the author credits it to a genuine political conversion.
The main argument in the book is that Kraftwerk must be considered not just as a pop group but as a Gesamtkunstwerk, a sort of integrated art project that combines audio, visual and theatrical elements. In their early years they drew inspiration from Italian Futurism and the culturally innovative aspects of the Weimar Republic, particularly The Bauhaus and the science fiction films of Fritz Lang. The group produced concept albums around the overarching theme of technology, and carefully linked the music with accompanying imagery, not just videos and album cover artwork but extending to things like typeface and the tickets printed for their concerts. Perhaps most famously, their concerts involve the group members dressing identically and standing rigidly on the stage, projecting a robotic image. When playing We Are The Robots , the band members are actually replaced on stage by robotic dummies.
Kraftwerk haven’t produced any new material since the nineties, concentring instead on reworking their classic tracks. Their video work is now however exhibited in prestigious art galleries, underlining the idea that they are a conceptual art project rather than a pop group.
I was interested in Kraftwerk during their “classic” period of the 70s and 80s. I hadn’t really thought about them much since those days, so this book opened up a lot of new information to me. It’s a decent read and a fitting tribute to the group.
Incidentally the book was first published in 2018 so doesn’t take account of the death of Florian Schneider in the summer of 2020.
After the success of Autobahn in 1974, Kraftwerk released their albums simultaneously in German and English language versions, so the listener can take their pick. Since I speak English, I’ve used the English-language titles below.
The author makes it clear in his Foreword that this book is about the cultural impact of Kraftwerk, and it is a mostly thoughtful account of that. I say “mostly” because I felt he made some sweeping statements, particularly when he moved off the subject of music and on to wider social issues. Unsurprisingly, the author is a huge fan and gives the band the benefit of the doubt over any contentious matters, such as their reworking of the lyrics of Radioactivity from initial ambivalence to an openly anti-nuclear power stance. Cynics thought this change was motivated by commercial considerations, whereas the author credits it to a genuine political conversion.
The main argument in the book is that Kraftwerk must be considered not just as a pop group but as a Gesamtkunstwerk, a sort of integrated art project that combines audio, visual and theatrical elements. In their early years they drew inspiration from Italian Futurism and the culturally innovative aspects of the Weimar Republic, particularly The Bauhaus and the science fiction films of Fritz Lang. The group produced concept albums around the overarching theme of technology, and carefully linked the music with accompanying imagery, not just videos and album cover artwork but extending to things like typeface and the tickets printed for their concerts. Perhaps most famously, their concerts involve the group members dressing identically and standing rigidly on the stage, projecting a robotic image. When playing We Are The Robots , the band members are actually replaced on stage by robotic dummies.
Kraftwerk haven’t produced any new material since the nineties, concentring instead on reworking their classic tracks. Their video work is now however exhibited in prestigious art galleries, underlining the idea that they are a conceptual art project rather than a pop group.
I was interested in Kraftwerk during their “classic” period of the 70s and 80s. I hadn’t really thought about them much since those days, so this book opened up a lot of new information to me. It’s a decent read and a fitting tribute to the group.
Incidentally the book was first published in 2018 so doesn’t take account of the death of Florian Schneider in the summer of 2020.
March 13, 2020
Overall enjoyable, I never need to read the word “gesamtkunstwerk” ever again though
May 13, 2020
interesting book looking at the career of kraftwerk from their origins in dusseldorf to the modern day and looking at the cultural societial of the modern industrial music of the rhineland from experimental to the techno pop and the technological changes and the modern german sound of post second world war
June 14, 2020
More of an academic study or these than a new reference work (which is perhaps unsurprising given the author’s background) this is nevertheless an interesting read. It does however suffer from jarring bursts of the author’s own opinions (for example, he insults Daft Punk on more than one occasion) which are presented as facts.
April 13, 2020
Shame he dies in the end.
August 29, 2020
I picked this up on impulse just before closing time on a rare visit to a high-street bookshop. My Kraftwerk background before this book: fairly big fan, saw one of the 3D gigs in 2013, have quite a lot of their product and enjoy it, know the names and a bit of the story as well as the cliches about their influence on hip-hop and electronic music, their notion of making pop music that didn't draw primarily on US pop tropes, the cycling turn, etc.
Their story, on this showing, is not rich in hitherto unfamiliar event or anecdote (they made a few records and then re-released them repeatedly in 'updated' tweaked formats, and started touring a lot when they stopped making new music).
It is, on the other hand, positively overflowing with repeated use of the word 'Gesamtkunstwerk'. Schutte (apologies for the missing umlaut - limited keyboard skills) writes English that is careful, dry and often almost correct ("my biggest gratitude", to take the final example), but it certainly never sings and has all the rhythmic suppleness of a Schwarzbrot sandwich.
In short, it's a plodder. Schutte has put in the work, but come up short in terms of worthwhile material. His editors were much too gentle with him. I note that he credits his wife Antje with copy-editing - surely not a good idea to have a spouse edit your book, even if she is a native speaker of English, which both her name and the resulting text suggest is not the case. His proofreader is called Andreas Hagstrom, again suggesting he may not be best qualified for that particular job. I'm doubtful that shortening the book by a third or so would have made it much better, but it would have been a start. In fairness, poor editing is at pandemic levels in the 21st-century publishing trade, but that's hardly an excuse.
I'm sure Schutte worked hard on this, but really the best I can say about it is it encouraged me to enliven my reading sessions with a Kraftwerk soundtrack. However, for me the soundtrack was at least as good without the accompanying text. Not recommended.
Their story, on this showing, is not rich in hitherto unfamiliar event or anecdote (they made a few records and then re-released them repeatedly in 'updated' tweaked formats, and started touring a lot when they stopped making new music).
It is, on the other hand, positively overflowing with repeated use of the word 'Gesamtkunstwerk'. Schutte (apologies for the missing umlaut - limited keyboard skills) writes English that is careful, dry and often almost correct ("my biggest gratitude", to take the final example), but it certainly never sings and has all the rhythmic suppleness of a Schwarzbrot sandwich.
In short, it's a plodder. Schutte has put in the work, but come up short in terms of worthwhile material. His editors were much too gentle with him. I note that he credits his wife Antje with copy-editing - surely not a good idea to have a spouse edit your book, even if she is a native speaker of English, which both her name and the resulting text suggest is not the case. His proofreader is called Andreas Hagstrom, again suggesting he may not be best qualified for that particular job. I'm doubtful that shortening the book by a third or so would have made it much better, but it would have been a start. In fairness, poor editing is at pandemic levels in the 21st-century publishing trade, but that's hardly an excuse.
I'm sure Schutte worked hard on this, but really the best I can say about it is it encouraged me to enliven my reading sessions with a Kraftwerk soundtrack. However, for me the soundtrack was at least as good without the accompanying text. Not recommended.
March 19, 2020
Nothing particularly new in this book. A couple of daft assertions here and there.
September 1, 2021
This was like reading a college term paper on each of Kraftwerk's albums.
Read
February 20, 2023De e nice
May 29, 2021
Kraftwerk is a band I've always admired more than loved, especially compared to other German bands from the 70's like Can, Faust, Neu!, Amon Düül II, Ash Ra Tempel, etc. However, they're unquestionably the most popular of the "krautrock" bands and are one of the few bands from the subgenre still operating. This summer, a 50th anniversary tour was scheduled to take place but was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. I hadn't planned to go to the concert in my city even though I've listened to and enjoyed most of their albums. After having listened to this audiobook, I pray that the tour is rescheduled so that I can buy tickets immediately.
The main aspect of the band that I had taken for granted, and the one that this book elucidates, is the conceptual unity guiding every facet of everything the band does. The music on Kraftwerk's albums is just one strand in a giant, decades long multimedia art project, a gesamtkunstwerk that incorporates music, video, graphic design, and live performance. Their pioneering use of computers and electronics is widespread in almost all genres of popular music today to such an extent that it's not unreasonable to compare their influence with that of The Beatles. The main difference, I think, is that the music of the Beatles is easily enjoyed by most people with no explanation or context needed. By comparison, Kraftwerk's music can feel be puzzling, ironic, and inaccessible. I think this is because they're actually a very weird avant-garde band, influenced by the Bauhaus movement, Joseph Beuys, Andy Warhol, and others, masquerading as a "normal" pop band. Their influence on not just electronic music but hip-hop and mainstream pop music (now made on computers) is incalculable.
Kraftwerk subverted the cliches of rock and embraced technology to engage in radical anti-normal worldbuilding. They loved their machines and knew that they were imbued with souls, like plants in a garden that need to be watered. Every detail of their album art, lyrics, and concert videos is carefully considered and adds up to a whole greater than the sum of its parts. None of this would matter, though, if their music wasn't extremely good. Uwe Schütte dissects each album in illuminating detail with track-by-track analysis. I have a new appreciation for Radioactivity as a concept album. The crushing funky beat of "Numbers" from Computer World cannot be denied. But my favorite song of Kraftwerk that I had never even considered before this book is "Metal on Metal" from Trans-Europe Express. Part of a tripartite suit, it merits attentive listening with headphones. Apparently, to imitate the sound of a track going over metal tracks on a bridge, Kraftwerk tried constructing a beat by with the sounds of different metal objects being struck. They finally achieved the perfect sound that you hear on the recording by using a hammer to strike a wheelbarrow and a cabinet made of zinc. Hell yeah.
I can now say I'm a fan of Kraftwerk. This style of book, a brief introduction to the work of a band, could be very helpful in appreciating many musical artists, and I encourage the music writers of the world to wholeheartedly embrace it. Five stars.
The main aspect of the band that I had taken for granted, and the one that this book elucidates, is the conceptual unity guiding every facet of everything the band does. The music on Kraftwerk's albums is just one strand in a giant, decades long multimedia art project, a gesamtkunstwerk that incorporates music, video, graphic design, and live performance. Their pioneering use of computers and electronics is widespread in almost all genres of popular music today to such an extent that it's not unreasonable to compare their influence with that of The Beatles. The main difference, I think, is that the music of the Beatles is easily enjoyed by most people with no explanation or context needed. By comparison, Kraftwerk's music can feel be puzzling, ironic, and inaccessible. I think this is because they're actually a very weird avant-garde band, influenced by the Bauhaus movement, Joseph Beuys, Andy Warhol, and others, masquerading as a "normal" pop band. Their influence on not just electronic music but hip-hop and mainstream pop music (now made on computers) is incalculable.
Kraftwerk subverted the cliches of rock and embraced technology to engage in radical anti-normal worldbuilding. They loved their machines and knew that they were imbued with souls, like plants in a garden that need to be watered. Every detail of their album art, lyrics, and concert videos is carefully considered and adds up to a whole greater than the sum of its parts. None of this would matter, though, if their music wasn't extremely good. Uwe Schütte dissects each album in illuminating detail with track-by-track analysis. I have a new appreciation for Radioactivity as a concept album. The crushing funky beat of "Numbers" from Computer World cannot be denied. But my favorite song of Kraftwerk that I had never even considered before this book is "Metal on Metal" from Trans-Europe Express. Part of a tripartite suit, it merits attentive listening with headphones. Apparently, to imitate the sound of a track going over metal tracks on a bridge, Kraftwerk tried constructing a beat by with the sounds of different metal objects being struck. They finally achieved the perfect sound that you hear on the recording by using a hammer to strike a wheelbarrow and a cabinet made of zinc. Hell yeah.
I can now say I'm a fan of Kraftwerk. This style of book, a brief introduction to the work of a band, could be very helpful in appreciating many musical artists, and I encourage the music writers of the world to wholeheartedly embrace it. Five stars.
July 6, 2020
Great look into the inner-workings and history of one of the most influential and fascinating artistic ensembles of all-time. Although it shares plenty of behind-the-scenes stories it feels like it lacks something exclusive and works more as a compendium of the band's story. No complaints from me though: the more Kraftwerk I can have in my life, the better.
May 8, 2022
Yeaaaaah, this book was a little hard to take at times. The author is clearly a huge fan, but the hyperbole is endless and eventually becomes very tiresome. Another reviewer said the book reads like a college paper on the author's favorite band - a very apt description indeed. I'd maybe even say it's college-level prose with high-school level objectivity and insight.
August 14, 2022
Áhugaverð bók, hins vegar stærstur hluti bókarinnar eru frekar grunnar lýsingar á myndefni og tónlist (ekkert sem maður hefði ekki getað tekið eftir sjálfur), sem og upptalning á tónleikahaldi. Hefði frekar viljað lesa meira um hljóðfærin sjálf og tæknileg atriði í tónlistinni og meiri rökstuðning á því hvers vegna tónlist Kraftwerk var svona byltingarkennd. Vantaði einnig meira samhengi og almenna gagnrýni, Schütte talar um sögulegt samhengi í kringum upphafsár Kraftwerks og sjálfsmynd þeirra sem Þjóðverja strax eftir stríð, en það aldrei talað að nokkru marki um bakgrunn þeirra sjálfra né forréttindi. Bókin var mjög hvít, karllæg og heterónormatíf og nánast ekkert talað um stöðu kvenna, samkynhneigðra eða hinssegin fólks í þessu samhengi. Í seinasta kaflanum var rétt svo tiplað á tónlist Kraftwerks í samhengi við teknó tónlistarsköpun svartra í Detroit, og þar rökstutt að Kraftwerk hafi sýnt minnihlutahópum að kynþættir skipta ekki máli þegar kemur að tónlistarsköpun. Mér fannst þetta ansi djarft skrifað, sem og að áhrifin hafi farið í einstefnu yfir Atlandshafið, s.s. að Kraftwerk hafi eingöngu áhrif á minnihlutahópa, en ekki að þeir hafi sjálfir orðið fyrir áhrifum (eða jafnvel stundað menningarnám). Einnig er ansi langrækt að telja upp fólk sem altjént starfar undir áhrifum Kraftwerks, t.d. að platan Dirty Computer hennar Janelle Monae sé beint innblásin af ímynd Kraftwerks, fyrir það eitt að hafa orðið "computer" í titlinum.
Sem sagt, áhugaverð bók, áhugavert efni, hins vegar fannst mér höfundurinn ekki alveg gefa allri sögunni nógu góð skil.
Sem sagt, áhugaverð bók, áhugavert efni, hins vegar fannst mér höfundurinn ekki alveg gefa allri sögunni nógu góð skil.
December 26, 2022
The book had a lot of ups and downs. At some points I was completely sucked in to the world of kraftwerk, sometimes pretty done with the repeating of terms and accomplishments.
The book does show how influential kraftwerk actually is. They inspired a lot of my favourite artist (David Bowie, Brian Eno and obviously Gary Neuman) and single-handedly created the groundwork of all synthesised/electronic music. After all a really nice and interesting book explaining the immense impact of the Man Machines.
The book does show how influential kraftwerk actually is. They inspired a lot of my favourite artist (David Bowie, Brian Eno and obviously Gary Neuman) and single-handedly created the groundwork of all synthesised/electronic music. After all a really nice and interesting book explaining the immense impact of the Man Machines.
February 4, 2023
It is a very good summary regarding all things that entail the Gesamtkunstwerk that is Kraftwerk, however, it is also not working much with Theory except for the Gesamtkunstwerk aspect (there was an exciting hint to Mark Fisher in the beginning, but that did not go anywhere). I guess the book is good for people who are just getting started with Kraftwerk and who want to understand it more. Also a good resource to track artists who were influenced by Kraftwerk although it understates the influence on Daft Punk in my opinion.
April 10, 2023
An accessible academic study of Kraftwerk by a fan that's well worth reading if you're into electronic music. Personally I'm more into the modern minimalist end of the genre, so this book was worth reading for the context of Kraftwerk's place in the history of it. He covers the links to German cultural history going back pre 20th century, and obviously the aftermath and effect of Nazism on German cultural identity; the cross cultural effect Kraftwerk had on African American electronic music, pop music in general, and art and culture within the context of our contemporary digital age.
February 5, 2022
Fascinating account of how Kraftwerk became such a massive musical and cultural influence. Well written, and focuses on the conceptual thinking behind the their work and working methods instead of recounting mundane biographical details. Made me resistencia to their catalogue with fresh ears.
July 21, 2022
The cover art implies more emphasis on the actual technology used by Kraftwerk than the book delivers but still a satisfying read. Interesting info on their connection with art movements, the careful management of visuals and image, Kraftwerk as "music workers", and a famous sequence of concept albums - a "concept band".
May 27, 2023
pretty interesting history of Kraftwerk and its importance as "a complete audio visual package" or something like that that was said in the first chapter.
My fav parts were about Bernd & Hilla Becher (no surprise) and about Kraftwerk and Detroit
audioB00k
My fav parts were about Bernd & Hilla Becher (no surprise) and about Kraftwerk and Detroit
audioB00k
January 6, 2024
A very vibrant (if sometimes noticebly biased) account of the legendary German band. Documents not only their influence on modern electronic and popular music, but also how they successfully built a novel image for German culture post WW.
March 7, 2022
Drexicya koppeling nooit gezien dat was prachtig
May 6, 2023
More like 3.5
April 8, 2023
Rarely does excitement when writing about an artist transfer overly well across an entire article or book. You either get a piece that's overly emotional, or overly academic. Uwe Schütte here strikes a perfect balance - full of primary sources, explanations, interpretations, inspirations and yet Schütte's passion is completely omnipresent.
No matter if you're a long-time fan of the group, or someone with a passing interest, this is 100% essential reading.
No matter if you're a long-time fan of the group, or someone with a passing interest, this is 100% essential reading.
February 19, 2022
Lots of data. Felt a bit academic and long sometimes, but made me like the music even more.
February 6, 2024
Interesting. Learned more about the group and also how important it was to the formation of Detroit techno music scene
August 20, 2020
Comprehensive hagiography of Kraftwerk from an entirely uncritical author. While interesting and readable, it lacks humour and lets Kraftwerk off the hook in a number of areas. For example, their constant re-working of Radio-Activity is generously interpreted as lending weight to the anti-nuclear cause, whereas it could equally be interpreted as a cynical move by a bunch of upper-middle class Dusseldorf lads to ride a bandwagon and maintain their popularity.
August 19, 2023
Uwe Schutte's account of Kraftwerk and its influence has the advantage of coming from a native German who understands fully the cultural context in which the 'band' or rather the performance art group emerged in the 1970s.
I even forgave him the standard and rather silly Brexit comment which is 'de rigeur' now from miserabilist academics (and which usually loses at least one star from a rating) and his evident dislike of Rammstein who I still think are preferable all things considered.
But these prejudices aside, and the evident fact that he is a thorough fan boy, I cannot think of a better guide to the phenomenon, its origins, its cultural context, its achievement and its influence. The book is not just about music but about culture in its broadest sense and its sociology.
Kraftwerk is interesting (before we even get to the music) as an expression of the rather spoiled upper middle class youth of prosperous North-Rhine Westphalia, centred on Dusseldorf, whose Europeanism is presented as as logical as it is illogical for the English working classes.
Indeed, I recommend the book to any British Leaver as an exercise in understanding a mind-set so utterly alien to the British outside London and the university towns that it may as well be that of Shanghai or California. This is a Germany closer to France and Benelux than Berlin.
The work of Kraftwerk seems to go through three broad phases. I made the effort to listen to every album (as we used to call them) in sequence and in German versions to get a feel for this. Schutte provides a good background to each although more as critic than as musicologist.
The first is an experimental phase in which Hutter and Schneider produce interesting but not particularly good prog rock. Kraftwerk has refused to reissue these three first albums so far which is a shame because their experimentation does give important insights into their creative drives.
The second is the classic period of 'robot pop' from 1974 to 1981, arguably 1986 (Electric Cafe), although, as a non-cyclist (of which more in a moment), the later 'Tour de France Soundtracks' (2003) must count as the most boring concept album (bar a track or two) in musical history.
Still, few people have not heard and enjoyed tracks from 'Autobahn' (1974), 'Radio-activitat' (1975), 'Trans Europa Express' (1977), 'Die Mensch-Machine' (1978) or 'Computerwelt' (1981) or failed to see the lads doing robotic movements in identical suits.
The third phase is an almost cultic semi-reclusive phase belied by their constant touring where the creativity seems to be no more than a constant reworking of mostly old material in a nerdy, almost autistic approach, to their own history.
Schutte rightly considers the band to be more an art performance operation (I would say, a typically German small technical business) by this stage. This is quite consistent with their roots in the late 1960s and early 1970s Dusseldorf art scene.
Personally, I am in two minds about this. The constant refinement of an old body of work with a few new 'bits' actually works well by the time it is collected as '3-D The Catalogue' (2017) and relatively small groups of people clearly got a buzz out of the real world performances.
On the other hand, constant refinement of the past - the retro in their retro-futurism - does seem like an evolutionary dead end. Since the late 1980s, they may have been a darling of the art world but of a conceptualist art world that also seemed to be rapidly going up its own orifices.
The irony, of course, of all this is that Kraftwerk seems not to be able to decide which real world it is in. It does not exploit the contemporary transmission of the digital so much as take the digital to only semi-cultic fans constantly refined only for its followers in closed spaces.
The actual performance now looks quite old-fashioned. Middle aged men in silly costumes standing stock still working flat electronic keyboards and relying on admittedly increasingly sophisticated audio-visual equipment. Its repetition must be an acquired taste.
Nevertheless, no one can take away from them their influence. Although similar electronic work was inevitable simply because that is what the technology predicted and you have the likes of Joe Meek and Detroit Techno to look to, Kraftwerk distilled it for a mass audience early and powerfully.
The constant refinement of their work is a response to the constant refinement of the increasingly extremely expensive equipment they deploy. Given their other interests, ageing and touring (and the 'small business' nature of the band), it is no surprise that new ideas die off quite quickly.
Nothing comes out of nothing, of course. The Dusseldorf art and musical world was the world of Fluxus and of Stockhausen but also of a sleek industrialisation that could reflect with understanding on noise as music, an aesthetic that went back Luigi Russolo and Italian Futurism.
Indeed, Schutte is very good at describing the emergence of Kraftwerk as an aesthetic of retro-futurism that was distinctively European and which we would see a little later in the quasi-political aesthetic of Laibach.
This retro-futuristic ethic (as Schutte describes it) leaps back into the past before the horrors of mid-century. It re-boots culture as if the future of the past had become our present. Kraftwerk drop the violence of futurism to emphasise modernity and speed - cars, trains, cycles.
This got them into an interesting little pickle with 'Radioactivity' since it was initially a very inter-war positive view of nuclear energy that they hastily had to redraft to meet the expectations of their cult members as the young German middle classes turned against the technology.
The episode is trivial but it suggests a certain lack of philosophical authenticity in the 'business'. It is of its class, its location and its market. It seems to have no central core. It is hollow like much of its class and like the robotic humanity that its music consciously represented.
It could be said to be 'music for music's sake' which draws us to the personalities of the two founders of the group, close friends in their youth. Unfortunately, the book is not much of an in-depth biography. Their personal reclusiveness is preserved. Do they have sex lives? Are they having a laugh?
Schutte notes that it is probable that their public personae may have been influenced by the British artists Gilbert & George whose artworks are part of a package that includes the presentation of themselves to the public along consistent life-long lines.
There is, of course, both genius and hollowness in this. The question for the public is always just how much such 'models' are true to themselves (whoever they may be) and how much are they mere shadows created to hide themselves or because there are no selves there.
For those of us who clearly have strong selves, we can treat Ralf & Florian and Gilbert & George as peculiar entertainments, as arch manipulators or as insights into peculiar minds without ever being entirely clear which is the most appropriate response.
The best approach might have be to separate personae and work but Kraftwerk (and Gilbert & George) deliberately do not permit this. They exist before our eyes solely through carefully managed communications and imagery.
Perhaps an insight into Kraftwerk may come from the obsessive take-up of cycling (speed again) by the two principals which led to the interesting if dull (if you are not a cyclist) 'Tour de France'. Obsessive cycling is almost a personality trait, dictated by biochemical factors over time.
As to their place in popular music history, although Schutte may be talking this up a bit in his book, it is assured insofar (as he rightly points out) Kraftwerk finally broke out of the Anglo-Saxon rock trap derived from African-American music and created something authentically European.
European techno-pop has different roots (in the avant-garde of European classical music) and, as these things do, it moved across to become influential in American black music, perhaps subliminally sick of whites appropriating their roots and ready to appropriate the music of remorseful Aryans.
The book may not tell us everything nor may it be the last word on the matter but as a readable popular Penguin paperback, it is stimulating and informative. There is lots of meaty detail to back up assertions and it will be of interest (I believe) even to those not wholly enamoured of electro-pop.
June 3, 2022
Stumbled upon this book from a friend's recommendation. It piqued my interest because I love learning about music and because I've been reading about music, music history, musicians, scenes, publications, journalists, etc. etc., for decades. I instantly went for a book on Kraftwerk, a blind spot of mine. Like heavy metal, I love to learn about music I don't listen to. If the writing is good enough, everything is interesting.
But it helps to have a good story, and Kraftwerk's story is fascinating. I am drawn to artists of all mediums who refuse to explain themselves (see: David Lynch, as my most glaring example) and lets the art speak for itself. I am drawn to artists of all mediums who play with the mind of the audience. Kraftwerk operates on all levels of artistic control from not letting any outsiders in their Kling Klang Studio, to having no information aside from touring dates on their website, to using robot dummies, or models, as stand-ins for press photographs; at one point journalists were asked to interview the dummies instead of the band. Brilliant!
Hütter and Schneider were children of upper middle class artists, raised in Düsseldorf (which became an artistic hotbed for photography and architecture among many other mediums) and wanted to create a space for their generation to separate themselves from Nazi Germany's past and the country's former identity of nationalism as the first post-war generation "...[they were part of] a generation that broke with the nationalistic and chauvinistic tradition that had dominated Germany for the previous 200 years. ...They sought to define a new German identity." (Foreword XIII.)
Writing about and creating the sounds of radio communication and cross country and cross-continent travel was meant to inspire and highlight cooperation between nations, to inspire collective creation and adventuring into evolving cultures outside any comfort zone. Kraftwerk wanted no boundaries and pushed that idea onto audiences with limits; the ultimate exercise of art. (This reminds me of the color, design, and sound control of The White Stripes.) Here the medium is the message. Hütter and Schneider wanted to move away from their parents' philosophies and the world around them. "Our roots were in the culture that was stopped by Hitler; the school of Bauhaus and German Expressionism," Hütter declared.
Their 1978 LP The Man-Machine, iconic in its album design, photography, typography, and sonic content, Schneider, at this point in time, declared Kraftwerk a concept, not a band. The colors (red, black, and white) of their outfits and imagery on the LP were meant to imitate Nazi propaganda. Everything they did in look and sound "...served as a reminder that the crimes of the past were possible only because far too many Germans had been ...like robots without conscience or moral compass..." (p126). How do we start this conversation? Let's be robots. There are several steps to get to one from another but you must get there for yourself. This book will fill those gaps.
Their ambition was to create "future music." There is great dissection here about just how influential and groundbreaking Kraftwerk was as innovators in computerized sound, design, and concept. Uwe Schütte questions at the beginning and end if they are the most influential band since The Beatles and as an outsider who knew nothing other than a general "they're the proto-techno band" (which I now know is major trivialization of Kraftwerk) it seemed like the truth. There is still no other band like them and Schütte does a great job to argue that they were more influential than The Beatles. His work paralleling Kraftwerk's sonic inspiration on disco and the underground techno/dance scene in Detroit are fascinating. Kraftwerk's reach knows no bounds.
Uwe Schütte is conversational in all the right ways. The best music writing makes you turn to the music. Admittedly I did not spend that much time with it. Simply, it is not for me. But I appreciate it on every level. Hütter and Schneider's quoted predictions about the Internet, computers, and the global change both would bring sprinkled throughout these stories and concepts now read as "well, duh!" They knew long before anyone else. Early adapters are like that. Open minds are like that.
For any Kraftwerk fan, fan, or student of music and its origins. A brief, pocket-sized 280 pages was just enough. Had it been longer this book wouldn't be as approachable (see: me, a Kraftwerk outsider). I originally checked it out from the library and ended up buying it so I could make notes and keep it for my library. A unique story and book. Aces all around.
But it helps to have a good story, and Kraftwerk's story is fascinating. I am drawn to artists of all mediums who refuse to explain themselves (see: David Lynch, as my most glaring example) and lets the art speak for itself. I am drawn to artists of all mediums who play with the mind of the audience. Kraftwerk operates on all levels of artistic control from not letting any outsiders in their Kling Klang Studio, to having no information aside from touring dates on their website, to using robot dummies, or models, as stand-ins for press photographs; at one point journalists were asked to interview the dummies instead of the band. Brilliant!
Hütter and Schneider were children of upper middle class artists, raised in Düsseldorf (which became an artistic hotbed for photography and architecture among many other mediums) and wanted to create a space for their generation to separate themselves from Nazi Germany's past and the country's former identity of nationalism as the first post-war generation "...[they were part of] a generation that broke with the nationalistic and chauvinistic tradition that had dominated Germany for the previous 200 years. ...They sought to define a new German identity." (Foreword XIII.)
Writing about and creating the sounds of radio communication and cross country and cross-continent travel was meant to inspire and highlight cooperation between nations, to inspire collective creation and adventuring into evolving cultures outside any comfort zone. Kraftwerk wanted no boundaries and pushed that idea onto audiences with limits; the ultimate exercise of art. (This reminds me of the color, design, and sound control of The White Stripes.) Here the medium is the message. Hütter and Schneider wanted to move away from their parents' philosophies and the world around them. "Our roots were in the culture that was stopped by Hitler; the school of Bauhaus and German Expressionism," Hütter declared.
Their 1978 LP The Man-Machine, iconic in its album design, photography, typography, and sonic content, Schneider, at this point in time, declared Kraftwerk a concept, not a band. The colors (red, black, and white) of their outfits and imagery on the LP were meant to imitate Nazi propaganda. Everything they did in look and sound "...served as a reminder that the crimes of the past were possible only because far too many Germans had been ...like robots without conscience or moral compass..." (p126). How do we start this conversation? Let's be robots. There are several steps to get to one from another but you must get there for yourself. This book will fill those gaps.
Their ambition was to create "future music." There is great dissection here about just how influential and groundbreaking Kraftwerk was as innovators in computerized sound, design, and concept. Uwe Schütte questions at the beginning and end if they are the most influential band since The Beatles and as an outsider who knew nothing other than a general "they're the proto-techno band" (which I now know is major trivialization of Kraftwerk) it seemed like the truth. There is still no other band like them and Schütte does a great job to argue that they were more influential than The Beatles. His work paralleling Kraftwerk's sonic inspiration on disco and the underground techno/dance scene in Detroit are fascinating. Kraftwerk's reach knows no bounds.
Uwe Schütte is conversational in all the right ways. The best music writing makes you turn to the music. Admittedly I did not spend that much time with it. Simply, it is not for me. But I appreciate it on every level. Hütter and Schneider's quoted predictions about the Internet, computers, and the global change both would bring sprinkled throughout these stories and concepts now read as "well, duh!" They knew long before anyone else. Early adapters are like that. Open minds are like that.
For any Kraftwerk fan, fan, or student of music and its origins. A brief, pocket-sized 280 pages was just enough. Had it been longer this book wouldn't be as approachable (see: me, a Kraftwerk outsider). I originally checked it out from the library and ended up buying it so I could make notes and keep it for my library. A unique story and book. Aces all around.
February 14, 2023
I found the first half maybe two thirds of this book super interesting. Learning about the context behind how they started, what they were trying to do with all their classic albums was great. Especially the stuff about grappling with what it means to be German post World War Two. The last third was pretty dry to be honest. Long sections just describing in repetitive detail their live show over and over and at times literally just listing what came with the re releases of their albums. Like posters and shit like that.
I know that if you write a book about Kraftwerk you must be a superfan but parts of the book were a bit much. Lots of times this guy makes pretty tenuous connections between Kraftwerk and other artists and movements as if Kraftwerk are the SINGULAR influence on them. Off handedly implying they're a big influence on Aphex Twin just because he also preferred to stay out of the media? lol. Making out as if Janelle Monae also using robot themes makes her music much more indebted to Kraftewerk than it is if you actually listen to her music. Sort of implying they were the first artists to write concept albums? What?
And then the constant positioning of certain artists as kinda rubbish compared to Kraftwerk was just a bit weird and lazy. This guy more than once completely dismisses Daft Punk in a way that seems almost personal. Calling them "Imitators" is pretty disingenuous and really trying to lessen their impact on electronic pop music. Whether or not you like their releases post Homework you cannot deny that album is a gigantic influence on pop music and dance music from then on.
Then right at the end for maybe 10 to 15 pages max he quickly throws in the really important stuff about Kraftwerks influence on the early days of hiphop, while also maybe overstating it's influence a little. That will happen though when you only write about it for a tiny section of the book. Then after writing an entire book implying Kraftwerk were the first and only artists to engage with ideas of technology and futurism he chucks in a few paragraphs about afro futurism, the movement that was dealing with just those themes years before Kraftwerk and all throughout the most prolific era of Kraftwerk. I fuckin love Kraftwerk and enjoyed big sections of this book don't get me wrong. I just found the attitude towards other artists and movements that were happening before or at the same time quite grating as the book wore on. Just a bit like boomer Dad rock guy that thinks Kraftwerk are the only innovative electronic pop artists. I want a book that's a little more balanced and more interested in the intersection with other art happening at the time.
I know that if you write a book about Kraftwerk you must be a superfan but parts of the book were a bit much. Lots of times this guy makes pretty tenuous connections between Kraftwerk and other artists and movements as if Kraftwerk are the SINGULAR influence on them. Off handedly implying they're a big influence on Aphex Twin just because he also preferred to stay out of the media? lol. Making out as if Janelle Monae also using robot themes makes her music much more indebted to Kraftewerk than it is if you actually listen to her music. Sort of implying they were the first artists to write concept albums? What?
And then the constant positioning of certain artists as kinda rubbish compared to Kraftwerk was just a bit weird and lazy. This guy more than once completely dismisses Daft Punk in a way that seems almost personal. Calling them "Imitators" is pretty disingenuous and really trying to lessen their impact on electronic pop music. Whether or not you like their releases post Homework you cannot deny that album is a gigantic influence on pop music and dance music from then on.
Then right at the end for maybe 10 to 15 pages max he quickly throws in the really important stuff about Kraftwerks influence on the early days of hiphop, while also maybe overstating it's influence a little. That will happen though when you only write about it for a tiny section of the book. Then after writing an entire book implying Kraftwerk were the first and only artists to engage with ideas of technology and futurism he chucks in a few paragraphs about afro futurism, the movement that was dealing with just those themes years before Kraftwerk and all throughout the most prolific era of Kraftwerk. I fuckin love Kraftwerk and enjoyed big sections of this book don't get me wrong. I just found the attitude towards other artists and movements that were happening before or at the same time quite grating as the book wore on. Just a bit like boomer Dad rock guy that thinks Kraftwerk are the only innovative electronic pop artists. I want a book that's a little more balanced and more interested in the intersection with other art happening at the time.
April 9, 2020
I had been planning to dive deeper into Kraftwerk music for a while. Therefore, it was marvellous that by accident, I saw this book on some records collector's instagram account the other day. It has caught my interest because of the publishing (I mean, how could Penguin make something that is not at least worth checking out?), because of the fact it is about the band I'm interested in and also because of the cover artwork that made it stuck in my head. When I realize it is available in my local bookshop online, I immediately bought it. It was the great choice. I got excited reading the foreword where Uwe Schütte highlights that there are no gossips and revelations about band member's private life, only an analysis and a story of workers, scientist, robots. During my read, I was listening to Kraftwerk's discography but also in other moments of the day. It has helped me understand (I suppose) the phenomenon of the band and I have also gotten into it. I cannot stop thinking how interesting, different, inspiring their approach on music (or rather on art because Kraftwerk members claim that music was never a reason why they have started doing it in the first place). As a performer trying to find my own style of expression meandering between (in)complete devotion towards music and spiritual passion towards performance as a concept, art, visual, allegory, I got struck by inspiration. I think, I will continue discovering Kraftwerk now.
I recommend this book to everybody who is interested in music theory, not only in the band. It might be correct that for die hard Kraftwerk fans, it is nothing groundbreaking in this book because they have already read about it in dozens of other publications but for me, rather new in all that jazz, it was a fascinating journey. Despite having loads of connotations to art history, cultural figures and having mentioned many artists that are not very well known for people who have never lived in Düsseldorf, the text here is really comprehensible and I have floated through it. Once it gets translated, I will definitely recommend it to non-English speaking fans of Kraftwerk. I hope this book will get many language versions and also wider recognition as I really cannot recall a better biography or anthology on music figures and I have read quite a few.
I recommend this book to everybody who is interested in music theory, not only in the band. It might be correct that for die hard Kraftwerk fans, it is nothing groundbreaking in this book because they have already read about it in dozens of other publications but for me, rather new in all that jazz, it was a fascinating journey. Despite having loads of connotations to art history, cultural figures and having mentioned many artists that are not very well known for people who have never lived in Düsseldorf, the text here is really comprehensible and I have floated through it. Once it gets translated, I will definitely recommend it to non-English speaking fans of Kraftwerk. I hope this book will get many language versions and also wider recognition as I really cannot recall a better biography or anthology on music figures and I have read quite a few.
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