Kraftwerk

75 articles
Free articles
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 ...
List of articles in the library
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 ...
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 ...
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' ...
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 ...
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). ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Interview by Mark Dery, Keyboard, October 1991
Keyboard: THIS IS your first tour in almost a decade. Why now? ...
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. ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
Live Review by Simon Price, Independent on Sunday, 21 March 2004
Automata for the people ...
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. ...
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 ...
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. ...
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. ...
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 ...
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
back to LIBRARY