 |
Business | Industries | Finance | Tax |
| Index: > A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
|
|||||
| First Prev [ 1 2 ] Next Last |
Originally called Organisation, the band had as its principal members Florian Schneider and Ralf Hütter. Long time members Wolfgang Flür and Karl Bartos also collaborated in Kraftwerk, as have Emil Schult, and Kling Klang personnel such as Fritz Hilpert and Henning Schmitz .
The input, expertise and influence of producer/engineer Conny Plank was also significant. Planck worked with many other leading German acts (including members of Can) and largely as a result of his work with Kraftwerk, Planck's studio in CologneThe article about perfume can be found at Eau de Cologne. Cologne ( German: Koln [ˈkœln]) (population 965,954 as of December 31, 2003), is the fourth largest city in Germany and largest city of the North Rhine-Westphalia state. It is one of (Köln) became one of the most sought-after studios in EuropeFor the band of the same name, see Europe (band . Europe is a continent forming the westermost part of the Eurasian supercontinent. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Se in the late SeventiesMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Years: 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Events and trends.
Kraftwerk's lyrics dealt with postwar European urban life and technology—travelling by car on the AutobahnThis article is about the German road system. For the Kraftwerk album, see Autobahn (album). Autobahn (pronounced OW toh bahn, SAMPA "A to bQn) is the German word for a major high- speed road usually linking one or more cities and towns, similar to motorw, travelling by train, using home computers and the like. The lyrics are usually very minimal, but reveal both an innocent celebration of, and a knowing caution about the modern world, as well as playing an integral role in the rhythmic structure of the songs. Many of Kraftwerk's songs express the paradoxical nature of modern urban life -- a strong sense of alienation existing side by side with a celebration of the joys of modern technology.
After several early experimental albums their breakthrough came in 19741974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). Events January-February January 5 Dungeons & Dragons officially released. February 4 Patricia Hearst, the 19 year old granddaughter of publisher William Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped ( 1974 in musicSee also 1973 in music, other events of 1974, 1975 in music, 1970s in music and the list of 'years in music' Events February 10 record producer Phil Spector is badly injured in a car accident. Details of the accident are kept secret. February 12 New York') with the AutobahnAutobahn by Kraftwerk, released 1974, is considered one of the most pivotal albums in music history. The 22-minute single (curtailed to around 3 minutes for radio) went to #25 on the US Billboard charts and charted even higher around Europe. The album is album and the 22-minute title track (see ), which was a worldwide hit and demonstrated their increasing reliance on synthesizers and electronics. This was followed by a trio of albums that were to exert a huge influence on popular music -- Radioactivity ( 1975), Trans-Europe Express ( 1977) and their masterpiece, The Man Machine ( 1978).
Kraftwerk were certainly one of the first, if not the first "pop" act to record using pure electronic (or electronically processed) instruments and sounds exclusively. Many of the vocals in Kraftwerk songs are processed through a Vocoder, or generated using speech synthesis software -- a Speak & Spell was used on their 1981 album Computer World. They also pioneered the use of backing tracks that were generated by the electronic sequencing of purely synthetic sounds.
Notably, all of their albums from Trans-Europe Express onwards have been recorded in two separate versions -- one with German vocals for sale in Germany, and one with English vocals for international sale. The single "Tour de France" featured lyrics in French.
Their music has been recorded by the classical ensemble the Balanescu Quartet . Five songs were arranged for strings for their album Possessed. Kraftwerk have also been extensively sampled by some influential musicians and bands including Afrika Bambaataa, Beck, The Orb, The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu/ KLF, Madonna, Depeche Mode, De La Soul, R.E.M., Meat Beat Manifesto, Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, the Bloodhound Gang, Carter USM, Aviador Dro and many more. In 2000, electronic musician Uwe Schmidt, recording as Señor Coconut, released an album of Kraftwerk covers called El Baile Alemán. The tracks were cleverly reworked in a Latin American music style.
Kraftwerk have impinged on mainstream popular culture to the extent that they have been referenced in The Simpsons and Father Ted.
Kraftwerk also pioneered the use of computer graphics as a backdrop for their shows. Their stage act involves the members standing behind minimalistic desks, controlling the various sequencers that drive the show. At times, mannequins built to look like the band members replace or accompany the live musicians, known simply as "the robots". They do however state that a reasonable fraction of the instrumentation is actually played live, and that they do improvise somewhat from show to show.
After years of withdrawal from live performance, Kraftwerk began to tour again in the late 1990s and in 2004, and stated that they were working on new material -- though speculation about release dates fell through several times. Like a number of other recording artists, Hütter and Schneider appear to have become increasingly perfectionist in their attitude towards recording and releasing their music.
The growing time between recordings, the rarity of live performances and the increasingly exacting and protracted nature of the recording process were major reasons behind the departure of Flür and especially Bartos, whose improvisations were an essential part of the earlier Kraftwerk recordings
The single Expo 2000, their first new song in 13 years, was released in December 1999 , and was subsequently remixed by contemporary electronic musicians such as Orbital. An announcement by their record company of a July 22, 2003 release also fell through, with the perfectionists delaying again for several weeks. The new album, Tour de France Soundtracks, was finally released in August 2003, making it the first album of new Kraftwerk material since 1986's Electric Cafe.
See also: Krautrock
| Politics | Business | Finance |
 |
 |
 |
|