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Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk

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Kraftwerk: Ralf Hütter – He's More 'Aaaaaah'

Interview by Simon Witter, Dummy, Spring 2006

2008 Note: When I met Ralf Hütter in London in early 2006, it was ostensibly to hear about the release plans Kraftwerk had for that ...

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Krautrock: Germany Calling

Overview by Ian MacDonald, New Musical Express, 9 December 1972

TIME WAS WHEN a sudden loud crash around West Germany was probably just an other F-One-Eleven. These days it's more likely to be the local ...

Krautrock: Germany Calling #2

Overview by Ian MacDonald, New Musical Express, 16 December 1972

BOMB BLASTS AND THE BEAT: PART TWO OF IAN MACDONALD'S DEFINITIVE SURVEY OF GERMAN ROCK ...

Kraftwerk et al: Germany invades U.S.!

Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 19 April 1975

Three years ago German rock bands like Can and Amon Duul took Britain by storm. Now Kraftwerk are spearheading an assault of new Kraut-Rock groups ...

Kraftwerk: Keystone, Berkeley CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 13 May 1975

German robots of sound ...

Kraftwerk: Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 19 May 1975

Kraftwerk — 'Fun, Fun' at Civic ...

Kraftwerk: Autobahn

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 19 June 1975

NOT TO TAKE anything away from Ralf, Florian, Klaus or even Wolfgang – who are probably real nice geezers once you get to know them ...

Kraftwerk: The Final Solution To The Music Problem?

Interview by Lester Bangs, New Musical Express, 6 September 1975

In the beginning there was feedback: the machines speaking on their own, answering their supposed masters with shrieks of misalliance. In the music of KRAFTWERK we ...

Kraftwerk: Mayfair Ballroom, Newcastle

Live Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 13 September 1975

FOR THE past couple of days Kraftwerk had been rehearsing in the pleasant and appropriate surroundings of Newcastle's City Hall. Yet, strangely, for the opening ...

Kraftwerk: 2 a.m. Newcastle Hotel

Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 20 September 1975

'We not only try to brainwash people... we succeed' ...

Kraftwerk: Synthetic Rockers

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 27 September 1975

Kraftwerk are happiest when surrounded with technology and artificial items. Karl Dallas reports ...

Kraftwerk: Radio-Activity (Capitol)

Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 20 December 1975

Kraftwerk: too mechanical ...

Kraftwerk: Exceller-8, Radio-Activity

Review by Miles, New Musical Express, 31 January 1976

EXCELLER 8 IS a 'best of album taken from the three Vertigo albums that Kraftwerk have released in this country and it's a good selection ...

Kraftwerk: Radio-Activity (Capitol)

Review by Richard Riegel, Creem, February 1976

DOES ANYBODY out there remember 1962's top ten screamer, 'Telstar', by the Tornadoes? I really loved it at the time. Not only was it one ...

Krautwerk: This is what your fathers fought to save you from...

Live Review by Miles, New Musical Express, 16 October 1976

Kraftwerk, National Health: The Roundhouse, London ...

Kraftwerk: Deutsche Disko

Interview by Glenn O'Brien, Interview, 1977

KRAFTWERK is Germany's top pop group, and that's saying something because plenty of original sounds have been emanating from Deutschland since the psychedelic era. But ...

Kraftwerk talks to Caroline Coon

Interview by Caroline Coon, Ritz, November 1977

KRAFTWERK: RALF HÜTTER (composer, vocalist, electronics). FLORIAN "V2" SCHNEIDER (lyricist, vocalist, electronics) KARL BARTOS and WOLFGANG FLÜR (electronic percussion). ...

Kraftwerk

Interview by Mark Bliesener, Rocky Mountain Musical Express, December 1977

FEW BANDS are as truly contemporary, precise, efficient, and emotionally controlled as Germany's Kraftwerk. The quartet's name aptly translates to "electronic power plant," and they ...

New Musick: Disco

Essay by Davitt Sigerson, Sounds, 3 December 1977

A CLUB; members are photographed, beam-screened at the door, automatically invoiced. Large, low-ceiling, air-conditioned. Bland diffused light. Gunmetal grey walls, carpets, couches. Easily-read digital clocks, ...

Disco Doesn't Have to Mean Dull

Overview by John Swenson, Circus, 16 March 1978

International Technical Geniuses Discover Disco's Possibilities ...

Kraftwerk: We ARE Showroom Dummies

Report by Jane Suck, Sounds, 22 April 1978

Kraftwerk's hottest platter gets poseur preview ...

Kraftwerk: The Man Machine

Review by Jon Savage, Sounds, 29 April 1978

SEE THE record cover. See the four men in red shirts and black ties. See them stand in line. See them in profile in the ...

Kraftwerk: The Man Machine (Capitol)

Review by Andy Gill, New Musical Express, 29 April 1978

IT IS RATHER unfortunate that Kraftwerk's current popularity is based, to a large extent, on the chic appeal of David Bowie's favour. True, such favour ...

Kraftwerk: Terminal Weirdness à Paris

Report by Andy Gill, New Musical Express, 29 April 1978

(Airport terminal, that is. Meanwhile somewhere up in some posey skyscraper, KRAFTWERK are boring everyone stiff...) ...

Kraftwerk: The Man Machine (Capitol EST 11728(1)

Review by Tim Lott, Record Mirror, 6 May 1978

KRAFTY KRAUTS REALLY WERK! ...

Kraftwerk: The Man Machine (Capitol EST 11728)

Review by Danny Baker, ZigZag, June 1978

Springtime for Kraftwerk ...

Kraftwerk: You're never alone with a clone

Interview by Tim Lott, Record Mirror, 29 July 1978

Tim Lott observes the kraft of Kraftwerk ...

Kraftwerk: The Man Machine (Capitol)

Review by Bruce Malamut, Circus, 17 August 1978

THE MAIN thing that separates Kraftwerk from the rest of its electronic German contemporaries is the band's sense of melody and rhythm. ...

Techno-Rock: Six Teutons And What Do You Get — A Programmed Sequencer And The Doppler Effect

Overview by Jeff Walker, Waxpaper, 15 September 1978

IN JAPAN, LOCAL bands copy both the look and sound of Western rockers – an imitative art form which thrives while the fans wait for ...

Kraftwerk: The Man Machine (Capitol)

Review by Stephen Demorest, Rock Scene, October 1978

MORE UNIVAC rock from the Berlin brainiacs. These geeks (you want a definition of 'geek', just look at this cover) nicknamed themselves "the man machine" ...

Kraftwerk: Computer World (EMI EMC 3370) ***

Review by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 16 May 1981

Deutschmark doublethink ...

Kraftwerk: Computer World (EMI)

Review by Andy Gill, New Musical Express, 16 May 1981

COMPUTER-WORLD is the first Kraftwerk LP for over three years, an inordinate period of silence for most groups, but no surprise in their case. Indeed, ...

Kraftwerk: A Computer Date with a Showroom Dummy

Interview by Chris Bohn, New Musical Express, 13 June 1981

And we'll fahr'n, fahr'n, fahr'n auf der Autobahn — until big daddy takes our Volkswagen away. Chris Bohn and Anton Corbijn do the Spanish hustle with Kraftwerk ...

Kraftwerk: Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 1 August 1981

WHEN KRAFTWERK played the Santa Monica Civic in 1975, the German quartet's electronic music seemed like an academic aberration from the rock norm, and the ...

Kraftwerk: Rock's Mad Scientists

Profile and Interview by Richard Harrington, The Washington Post, 2 August 1981

Kraftwerk Moves Electronic Music Out of the Lab and Onto the Dance Floor ...

Kraftwerk: Art & Kraft

Interview by Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, 4 February 1982

TWELVE YEARS OF PRACTICAL ELECTRONICS FINALLY PAY OF WITH THE SUCCESS OF 'THE MODEL'DAVE RIMMER TOURS THE WERKS ...

Kraftwerk: The Model Life

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 6 February 1982

"I'm not nuts," says RALF HÜTTER of mighty Germanic megastars KRAFTWERK. "Blimey," gasps MARK COOPER (PHD Engineering and Knitting) in disbelief. Well, is he or ...

Kraftwerk: Autobahn

Review by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 6 July 1985

THOUGH NOT a patch on their four subsequent albums, Autobahn has enormous historical significance as the album that introduced the world to Kraftwerk, one of ...

Kraftwerk: Electric Café

Live Review by Biba Kopf, New Musical Express, 8 November 1986

IT BEGINS with a word that sounds like BOING! The BOING! Triggers a controlled BOOM!, blanketed by a downbeat TSCHAK! In case you didn't catch ...

Kraftwerk: Electric Café (Warner Brothers)

Review by Glenn O'Brien, Spin, March 1987

Platter du Jour ...

Kraftwerk: Robopop

Interview by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 6 June 1991

In Düsseldorf back in ’68, a clean-cut combo of besuited squares were unaware that they were destined to change the face of dance music forever ...

Kraftwerk Redux

Profile and Interview by Mark Dery, The New York Times, 16 June 1991

WHEN VOLUNTEERS are needed for the first brain chips – surgically inserted microcircuits that, the theory goes, will boost brainpower – Kraftwerk will be first ...

Kraftwerk: Barrowlands, Glasgow

Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 20 July 1991

THEY SMILE. That's the first surprise. Dressed in black, the four Kraftwerk-ers briskly stride on stage to take their places behind the giant computer consoles ...

Kraftwerk: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 23 July 1991

FOLLOWING THIS year's release of a remix album, a greatest hits by any other name, Kraftwerk fans have been forced to ask themselves whether this ...

Kraftwerk: Ralf Hütter

Interview by Mark Dery, Keyboard, October 1991

Keyboard: THIS IS your first tour in almost a decade. Why now? ...

Techno: Watts Going On

Retrospective by Stuart Maconie, New Musical Express, 18 January 1992

AND SO, we hear you say, tell us more about the origins and development of this exciting music you call Techno. ...

Kraftwerk

Retrospective and Interview by Andy Gill, MOJO, April 1997

Do the men play the machines? Or the machines play the men? How four humanoids with one vision revolutionised pop. ...

Kraftwerk

Profile by John McCready, The Independent, 23 May 1997

IT IS inevitable and happens to everyone. James Brown's new bag is now full of holes. David Bowie, a former ideas factory, is reduced to ...

Kraftwerk play Tribal Gathering

Report and Interview by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, December 1997

HOW ON EARTH DID UNIVERSE ENTICE THE TECHNO INNOVATORS BACK ONTO A STAGE? LET'S FIND OUT. ...

Kraftwerk: Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 1998

Techno-Rocking Kraftwerk Charges Up In its first L.A. concert in almost 15 years, the German quartet shows the influence of its ground-breaking circuit-driven music. ...

Various Artists: Dawn Of Electronica

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, July 2000

Founding fathers of technopop come together in electro land ...

Kraftwerk: Trans-Europe Express

Review by Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone, 22 October 2002

WITH THEIR 1974 international smash hit 'Autobahn', Kraftwerk had coolly demonstrated that an experimental electronic group from Dusseldorf, Germany, could kick out perfect pop on ...

Kraftwerk: Return of the Robots of Rock

Comment by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 4 July 2003

Kraftwerk are about to release their first album in a decade — probably. Stephen Dalton examines the mythical status of the men from Düsseldorf.  ...

Kraftwerk: Tour De France Soundtracks/Karl Bartos: Communication

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, October 2003

Kraftwerk's first "proper" album since 1986, plus ex-member's solo outing ...

Kraftwerk: Tour de Force

Retrospective by David Hemingway, Record Collector, October 2003

Kraftwerk regularly appear in lists of the most influential artists of all time. David Hemingway takes the digital pulse to find out exactly why. ...

Kraftwerk: Triumph Of The Machines

Comment by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 12 March 2004

KRAFTWERK'S MOST recent record, the long-waited Tour de France Soundtracks – their first album of new material since 1986's Electric Café, and a variation on ...

Kraftwerk: Academy, Glasgow

Live Review by Simon Price, Independent on Sunday, 21 March 2004

Automata for the people ...

Kraftwerk: OK Computer

Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, April 2004

KRAFTWERK's impact on electronic rock is incalculable, from Bowie's Low to Radiohead's Kid A. In this rare interview, mainman Ralf Hütter reveals all about this ...

Kraftwerk: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 2004

The virtual electronic museum that is Kraftwerk bring their Man-Machine to London. ...

Kraftwerk

Interview by Stephen Dalton, The Times, June 2005

FEW BANDS in pop history are quite as mysterious, elusive and maddeningly eccentric as Kraftwerk. But few remain as enduringly influential either. In 2005, even ...

"Kraftwerk Are The Catalyst"

Interview by Simon Witter, MOJO, September 2005

The band's art guru and oldest friend, EMIL SCHULT, gives a view from inside the Kraftwerk project. As told to Simon Witter. ...

Kraftwerk: Paranoid Android

Retrospective and Interview by Simon Witter, MOJO, September 2005

2009 NOTE: This is a 9000-word "Director's Cut" version of a 5000-word piece written for MOJO in September 2005. ...

Krautrock

Retrospective and Interview by John Doran, Record Collector, January 2009

In the early 1970s a revolution in sound occurred that was as influential in its own way as the birth of rock'n'roll or reggae. John ...

Kraftwerk at the Manchester International Festival

Report and Interview by Simon Witter, Daily Telegraph, 19 June 2009

The unlikely rock star Ralf Hütter talks about cycling and the Kraftwerk concert at Manchester. ...

Ralf Hütter: "I got a new head, and I'm fine"

Interview by John Harris, The Guardian, 19 June 2009

The bikes ... the robots ... the dream of man and machine in perfect harmony. How is the Kraftwerk vision of the future shaping up? ...

Kraftwerk: The Elusive Kings of Digital Pop

Report and Interview by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 25 September 2009

AFTER FOUR DECADES spent standing guard over one of the most secretive and enigmatic bands on the planet, it seems that Ralf Hütter is loosening ...

Kraftwerk: Album By Album

Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, October 2009

HE MIGHT have spent most of the past two decades cocooned in the Kubrickian perfectionism of his secret Kling Klang studio in Düsseldorf, but Kraftwerk's ...

Taxi zum Klo's Berlin is a sexual playground

Retrospective by Jon Savage, The Guardian, 21 April 2011

Bowie, Christiane F and Taxi zum Klo: these are the things that made Berlin so alluring to the British pop culture of the late '70s ...

"You Can't Escape Your Influences" Mark Lanegan's Favourite Albums

Interview by Julian Marszalek, The Quietus, 26 January 2012

In one of our best Baker's Dozens yet, Mark Lanegan talks Julian Marszalek through the most-played discs in his collection. ...

Kraftwerk: Ladies und Gentlemen, the future has arrived

Retrospective by David Stubbs, The Independent, 27 January 2013

To the unenlightened (i.e. most of us), they were just naff. Now, with good reason, they are hailed as prophets. David Stubbs hails synthpop pioneers ...

Why Kraftwerk Are Still The World's Most Influential Band

Retrospective by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 27 January 2013

Kraftwerk's fusion of art, beats and electronics has become a template copied by musicians everywhere. Now they plan to take London's Tate Modern by storm ...

Is Kraftwerk still a functioning pop group?

Comment by Ben Thompson, Daily Telegraph, 6 February 2013

On the eve of Kraftwerk's eight sell-out concerts at Tate Modern, Ben Thompson tries to give comfort to the ticketless. ...

Kraftwerk: Autobahn at Tate Modern

Live Review by Paul Morley, Daily Telegraph, 7 February 2013

WHEN I SAW Kraftwerk 38 years ago, as much as they were about the future, I didn't think they would actually make it into the ...

Conny Plank: The Soundtrack Of Our Youth

Profile by David Stubbs, The Quietus, 13 February 2013

As Gronland release a four-disc box set of the music of Conny Plank, David Stubbs remembers the "midwife of Krautrock"... ...

Richard Russell: Rich Pickings

Interview by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, March 2018

As Richard Russell's collaborative album, Everything Is Recorded, is released, RC's Jamie Atkins meets him to talk about the recording and the music that led ...

see also Neu!

see also La Düsseldorf

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