Search Results for: Kraftwerk
This one veers heavily into hip hop territory at the beginning but then into more rock and, inevitably, techno areas. I was using voice synthesizers to generate ‘lyrics’ over some tracks and it contains one of my favourite mixes: two versions of ‘Autobahn’ running concurrently in the left and right speakers.
Gorefest and The Balanescu Quartet had both done versions that I noticed were very similar in arrangement and tempo and, being that the track is so long, rather than play them separately I panned each one left and right and played them together, I like the fact that they’re just so opposite in terms of style. This one originally debuted on Solid Steel on 04/08/06
(and no, you didn’t miss pts. 2 & 3 yet, I’m just not putting them up in logical order)
I’ve posted this video before but I never tire of it.
Also on the subject of ‘Ralf & Florian’, the UK pressing on Vertigo had a different sleeve to the regular release (see below), much the same as ‘Autobahn’. Both are believed to be the work of designer Barney Bubbles, although this has never been confirmed.
Emil Schult designed a sticker for the German issue of ‘Autobahn’ (right) that used the blue and white road sign and this was adapted and added to for the UK sleeve. Hardformat ran a great piece on it, arguing for Bubbles as the layout designer and there is a discussion on the subject here but the jury is still out. Also, the ‘Ralf & Florian’ UK cover below had embossing around the title and circuit pattern as well as florescent inks on the back cover.
‘Taschenrechner’ (Pocket Calculator) (live) – I love Florian’s aside to camera near the end. One of the instruments they were playing was a Bee Gees Rhythm Machine painted black, another was a Stylophone and they sent a musical calculator out as a promo for the single.
El Lissitzky – ‘And on the black was established Red Clearly’
(above) UK promo triple gatefold 7″ cover for ‘The Robots / Spacelab’,
(below) 7″ front cover from Belgium and back covers from France and Italy for the same.
‘Highrail’ LP front and back cover, German compilation on Fontana from 1979.
I’ve decided to make March ‘Kraftwerk month’ on the site, which means I’ll be posting something Kraftwerk-related every day at least. This had been bought on by the recent news of the 8 night residency at MOMA in New York and the subsequent fact that no one I know has managed to get a ticket.
Volume 7 of my on-going Kraftwerk Kover Kollection mix series is way overdue so I plan to have that done by the time the group play their back catalogue (I should attempt vol.8 as well but back in the real world…). Volumes 5 and 6 are already on the web but, due to my old host site BosBos.net no longer being active, I thought I’d put the first four up here as well, one a week, starting with volume …1.
The one that kicked it all off in April 2004, some quite obvious choices here when you start to think of cover versions, don’t worry, they get more obscure as the mixes progress. I’m always on the look out for new versions so please send suggestions but don’t be offended if I don’t include them in future mixes as for every one that makes it, four or five won’t as I’m looking for the odd and left of center rather than the multitude of straight electro / techno covers that are also out there. Also included here is the original artwork I did for the mix: front/back and CD on-body.
Most Kraftwerk fans will have heard about their residency at New York’s MOMA this coming April. For those fortunate enough to go, there is unfortunately a 2 ticket/show limit.
Hitler took this particularly badly
This incredible photo popped up on Facebook today, the caption reads: “Kraftwerk at the Ritz. 1981. I was the Dj at this show. Amazing. I invited Afrika Bambaataa to the show. The rest is history.” Photo by Laura Levine who has taken photos of pretty much anyone who is anyone in music
After a couple of recent requests, and due to the fact that the BosBos.net URL that used to host these mixes is dead, I’ve uploaded vol.5 of my Kraftwerk Kover Kollection series to Soundcloud. Vol.6 is already there and 1-4 will follow sometime in 2012.
This lovely design was made by Stefanie Posavec, showing the length of cassette tape needed to record Kraftwerk‘s ‘Computer World’. Originally made as a one off for a friend’s club night she’s finally made them for sale.
It’s available as a 915 x 700mm 2-colour litho print (the yellow is fluorescent) on 300gsm, on Challenger Offset paper in a signed edition of 200. You can get it here and 25% of the profits go to the Ganet’s Adventure fund that helps a small primary school in Milawi.
Well I wasn’t expecting that, Ralf Hutter guest editing Wallpaper magazine and a multi-page preview of their forthcoming 3D book. Even more surprising is that Christian Marclay features as well (there is an alternate cover by him on some issues too). The issue comes with a free pair of 3D glasses and you can see some of the spreads above.
I’ve been waiting for this issue to crop up on Brian McClosekey‘s excellent ‘Like Punk Never Happened’ blog – the 1981 issue with Adam Ant on the cover – one that I strongly remember, being mad about anything with an Ant attachment at the time. Brian posts complete issues of Smash Hits, every two weeks, 30 years to the day they were first published and he’ll continue until his collection stops. The pages are viewable via Flickr and are slowly forming an excellent time capsule of late 70’s and 80’s pop, in context, as it happened. I was eleven when this was published and 1981 was Adam Ant’s year, he was everywhere, from the pop charts to TV to the daily newspapers. He looked and sounded great, gave good copy and they couldn’t get enough of him.
Another page in this issue caught my eye later on though, a half page advert for five Kraftwerk albums. They had a freak number one in the UK with ‘The Model’ in February 1982 – a traditional post-Xmas quiet spot for record releases. It seems Phonogram were eagerly flooding the market with reissues of their back catalogue at this point though because they’d just released the Computer World album. When I first saw the ad (obviously, re-reading the mag later) I thought, “What? how can they have five albums?”, little knowing that there were another four at least to add to this list. Unfortunately none of these made it to my local record shop but I did manage to get copies of ‘Computer World’, ‘The Man Machine’ and ‘Trans Europe Express’ – all on cassette – the latter of which I took back to the shop, complaining to them that the tape only had one track on side 2 when it listed four. Again, little did I realise all four tracks segued into one so there weren’t any breaks in between (!) I love the way they’ve spelt picture with a ‘k’ in the text and my god do I wish I’d been old enough to see them on that tour.
Here’s something interesting I stumbled across whilst perusing the Kraftwerk Facebook page that’s been set up by fans. A limited edition of the band’s Tour De France 12″ that comes with a built in player like those cheesy birthday cards you can get that play a tune when you open them.
The designer’s name is Woes Van Haaften and there are 5 different sleeve colours to choose from but they don’t come cheap let me warn you! Full info and a little film here
Last weeks’ Solid Steel mix – the Kraftwerk Kover Kollection vol.6 – now up on Soundcloud. 1 hour of songs covering, sampling or influenced by the other Fab Four. The full 6 volumes + artwork and track lists are up for the download at BosBos.net too!
Absolutely my last Kraftwerk post for a while (I promise). Because ‘The Catalogue‘ is released today, here’s a couple of YouTuber’s attempting to play one of my favorite tracks – Pocket Calculator – on the original instruments used. Mattel Bee Gees Rhythm Machine? I want one!
Another Kraftwerk post (I’ll have to give them their own category) and time for the sixth installment of my Kraftwerk Kover Kollection to coincide with the final release of the remastered Catalogue box set on Monday.
It’s up for a week, streaming via the Solid Steel site and I’ll be making it available via Soundcloud when the next show replaces it.
For those unfamiliar, I do these hour long mixes every year or so featuring cover versions, sample-heavy tracks or songs that obviously owe a debt to the Dusseldorf quartet. I had the idea to string these sources together several years ago and the more I dug, the more I found, the amount of material out there is mind boggling. Not so strange for such an influential band who rarely release new material, I suppose fans have to fill the gap somehow. For anyone wanting to play catch-up, the first 4 are available here with full artwork and track listings and I’ll be putting 5 up with 6 next week too.
At a festival in Warsaw the other week, DK and I had the pleasure of seeing ex-Kraftwerk member Karl Bartos play. I was surprised at how much of the set was old material mixed with his solo stuff. His stage show pales compared to his former bands’ but he had full visuals and 5.1 sound all mixed live and hearing a new take on classic tracks was well worth the time we took to check him out.
When I started seriously researching these cover versions, I couldn’t quite believe how many there were and how diverse the bands were who were doing them. I’ve now completed my 8th Kover Kollection mix, each with an average of 35 tracks in it, that’s 280 covers and they’re just the good / weird ones that I liked enough to use. For every eastern European rendition on woodblocks there are five pumping euro trance versions that sound horrible. What I try to do is filter the best of these and find the weirdest, most leftfield covers because Kraftwerk’s songs are so simple that it seems they can be transposed into nearly any style you can think of. Balanese, gamelan, country, death metal, classical, rockabilly, even played by an orchestra of instruments made entirely of vegetables (see part 2 for this one). There seems to be no end to their influence over today’s music makers.
It’s that time again, my annual 45 Live mix over on Dublab for the fortnightly 45 Live show, hosted as ever by the mighty Greg Belson (whose unreleased 1995 album with Nick Faber under their The Hightower Set monikor finally came out last month). As ever I’ve been stockpiling those electronic 7″s from the acid house and rave era and this is a mostly techno and bleep-orientated mix, only occasionally straying into rave territory (believe me though, I have enough to make a stonking piano-led pop house set and probably two full-on rave/hardcore sets).
Kev’s 12th mix – House / Techno / Bleep ’88-92 – Aug 2025
Unknown – The Cimex Invasion promo advert
LFO – We Are Back (intro)
808 State – Cobra Bora (7” edit)
A Guy Called Gerald – Rhythm of Life
The Style Council – Can You Still Love Me?
A Guy Called Gerald – Hot Lemonade (Radio Edit)
Emmanuel – We Shall Overcome (Technogizer Instrumental edit)
Friends of Matthew – Out There (Technomix)
K-Klass – Rhythm Is A Mystery (Percussion mix)
Kraftwerk – The Robots (Single edit)
D-Shake – My Heart, The Beat
Rickster – Rickster Twister (Radio Mix)
Bassomatic – Attack Of The 50 Foot Drum Demon (Psycho Biker Mix)
Rhythmatic – Take Me Back (Robert Gordon Radio edit)
Kenny Larkin – Colony
GTO – The Bullfrog
Kid Unknown – Mayhem
Unique 3 – Rhythm Takes Control (Original Style mix)
Rhythmatic – Frequency
808 State – Open Your Mind
GTO – Listen to the Rhythm Flow
LFO – We Are Back
G.T.O. – Pure
Underground Posse – Hold Back
LFO – Nurture
Kid Unknown – Nightmare
Papillon – The Bully (Original Mix)
Orbital – Halcyon (Edit)
The Shamen – Phorever People (Shamen Dub)
Inner City – Unity
Beautiful poster by Victor Hubinon from Spirou magazine in 1968
A Bryan Talbot cover for Zig Zag in 1976
Ian Wright does the Damned for Zig Zag in 1981
Unknown artist for another Zig Zag cover of the Stones from 1977
One of Andy DOG Johnson’s first commissions – think I’ve shown this before but this is possibly better quality – Kraftwerk for Record Mirror in 1978
Savage Pencil covering Sun Dial, this poster was from 1995 I believe
Robert Crumb illustrates the Whole Earth Catalog’s Last Supplement – see what he did there?