I bow down to Kraftwerk

• Jun 3, 2005

• #1

Quigley Brown

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Any other Kraftwerk fans here? I saw them in concert down at a small club in DC the other night....I'd been waiting 20 years for this moment (a little overstatement). They are making a very short US tour. Amazing German musicians. They really had more influence on modern music than most people would realize. These four guys had to have been pushing 60 and they were pumping out the high energy techno tunes. The crowd was mostly mid-30s to mid-40s. The four basically stood motionless in front of lecturns with open laptops and keyboards, dressed in dark executive suits and ties, rarely looking up...but that's how I expected them to be....robotic.

Okay...I listen to a lot of old jazz, but I like to treat myself to a little techno once in a while.


kraftwerk pix

 

• Jun 3, 2005

• #2

B

Brad Bowers

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?????

Brad

 

• Jun 3, 2005

• #3

Quigley Brown

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Sorry....I was in the middle of editing it when you saw it....

 

• Jun 3, 2005

• #4

Quigley Brown

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This is the first time I did this 'photobucket' thing to show pix...kind of a nuisance....

 

• Jun 3, 2005

• #5

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Brad Bowers

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That's okay, I understand now. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be seeing, but I though Kraftwerk might be the name of the band.

I'll step out now, as I can't add anything to a conversation about techno music.

Brad

 

• Jun 3, 2005

• #6

Johnnysan

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I don't know anything about this band, Quigley, but I like the way you wear your hat!

 

• Jun 3, 2005

• #7

Quigley Brown

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Well, ya gotta have some fun with music once in a while. Even though my record collection is pretty much big band and early jazz it can get a bit dull after a while. The 1940s only lasted a decade. Its music may last forever, but I don't think I can listen to it for ten years. Kraftwerk's avantgarde and classically trained founders Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider were way ahead their time and Kraftwerk is considered one of the most influential pop groups of the late 20th century (remember, big bands were pop groups, too). I think I may have mistakenly referred to their music as techno, they just pioneered the use of what is recognized as the last true musical instrument. I like researching the stories of pioneers. The subject of pioneers in any field makes for good stimulating conversation in my book.

 

• Jun 3, 2005

• #8

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Kilgour Trout

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Great group My friend!

As someone who got pulled in progressive rock wasn't Kraftwerk in the genre of Tangerine Dream? There were some fantastic German Bands in the late 60's and early 70's that pushed the boundaries of synthetic music and have yet to be surpassed in terms of imagination and creativity. Listen to early synthesizer artists like ELP, Brian Eno, Robert Fripp and Vandergraf Generator and you wonder where all the terrific potential went to?

Ahhh...brings me back to when I had a huge "REALY WEIRD" record collection. Hey...does anyone have a used record brush I could borrow...
Now.....how exactly did I do this? Pick up record by the edges, turn on Amp, start turn table and Ahhh....Now this was music. Weird but real music.

Warm Regards
Kilgour Trout

 

• Jun 3, 2005

• #9

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HaraldTheSwede

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I too mix big band with Kraftwerk. They have made some wonderful music. Calling it techno isn't giving them enough credit though. This is high class electronic music that has both energy and ambience.

 

• Jul 13, 2005

• #10

F

fifi

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Kraftwerk is one of the greatest bands of all time! This may not be the forum in which to expound the virtues of this band, but I wholeheartedly agree that this is one of the great bands of all time. To put it "Fedora" context, one could compare Kratwerk to Django Reinhardt for their innovation and contributions to the music of the day. I love many forms of music, from '20s jazz to the big bands, bebop, lounge, early new wave, etc. I saw Kraftwerk last in 1998, and my husband went to the Greek Theatre show here in LA in June (sadly, I was on a business trip at the time). He said this show was better than the others. Did they play the 9:30 club in D.C.?

 

• Jul 14, 2005

• #11

D

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I'm a fan, just to add my support.
Where in DC did you see them? Everyone in this lounge seems to be from the LA area, so I feel a little out of touch sometimes. DC has some great venues.

 

• Jul 14, 2005

• #12

BellyTank

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Raymond Scott..

I'd think Raymond Scott would fit the bill as a Golden Era 'Kraftwerk'er.

He was trying to improve upon Swing music in te late '30s- he thought the genre had stagnated and was trying to breathe new life into it.
The famous theme from the cartoon 'Ren and Stimpy' is one of his tunes and the dtyle could be compare to Django. He composed for "Loony Tunes", "Merrie Melodies " too.
But Scott was a pioneer in electronic music, that's what's so interesting about him today.

http://raymondscott.com/

http://www.obsolete.com/120_years/machines/clavivox/

...have a look.

"What can you say about a man who inspired cartoon melodies and bebop, invented Frank Zappa and electronic music, and still found time to work for-Motown?"
- Andy Partridge, songwriter & leader of XTC

"Raymond Scott was definitely in the forefront of developing electronic music technology, and in the forefront of using it commercially as a-musician."
- Bob Moog, inventor of Moog synthesizers

B
T

 

• Jul 14, 2005

• #13

Quigley Brown

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carpecaligo said:

I'm a fan, just to add my support.
Where in DC did you see them? Everyone in this lounge seems to be from the LA area, so I feel a little out of touch sometimes. DC has some great venues.

Click to expand...

They played at the 9:30 Club...an old out-of-the-way warehouse building...small, no seating (45 bucks!). It was probably the most informal show of their tour. I really like to listen to old 30s-40s music, but I've also been picking up LPs and CDs of the stuff I listened to in college in the 80s (Police, Blondie, Robert Palmer, oh heck, even Flock of Seagulls...and Kraftwerk). The way I see it if it's got a good rhythm and beat I can swing dance to it....you don't have to restrict yourself to big band. That's just love of music.

 

• Jul 21, 2005

• #14

R

Royal

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I don't know a lot about Kraftwerk, but I used to listen to a bit of "industrial" music (Ministry, NIN) during my high school years. I know they influenced a lot of artists from the '90s.
I probably feel the same way about Pink Floyd that you do about Kraftwerk. I love the Floyd.

 

• Jul 21, 2005

• #15

Quigley Brown

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How often do you get to see 50-something year-old men dressed in designer suits and ties playing incredible electronic music?