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LP
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RLL 022LP
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$17.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 2/14/2020
Founded in 1970 in Dusseldorf, Kraftwerk was the only German band to rise from the so-called "krautrock" scene to true international stardom. Of course, it was partially their distinct look that set them apart. At a time when long hair and scruffy clothing was the norm for musicians, Kraftwerk cut their hair short and wore handmade suits. And at a time when guitar rock reigned supreme, Kraftwerk did not even have a guitar player -- in fact they soon did away with instruments altogether, becoming one of the first truly electronic bands. With the release of their fifth album Autobahn in 1975 (which mocked the glorification of the shiny modern world that had been built upon the rubble of post-war Germany), Kraftwerk finally achieved major stardom. "Kometenmelodie 1" and "2" was recorded live in Paris during the Autobahn tour and featured the classic Schneider/Hütter/Bartos/Flür line-up. Side B was recorded live in Utrecht in 1981 shortly after the release of their prophetic Computer World. It features their 1978 hit "The Model" plus hits from the album, "Numbers" and "Pocket Calculator".
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12"
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PC 1222EP
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"After a short hiatus Slow To Speak returns with a spectacularly eclectic high-quality 12" reissue featuring a chronicle of the esteemed lineage known as Kraftwerk. The group is most recognized for their pioneering of the electronic dance sound emanating from the seemingly boundless parameter's of European synthetic aural experimentation, exploiting the insistent use of controlled & concentrated repetition & harsh melodic rigidness to produce an indisputably new form of funk -- at once owing it's lineage to American black music, and yet strangely alien & singularly unique. But long before their commercial success, founding members & core composers Ralf Hütter & Florian Schneider were humbly at work far from the public eye, busying themselves with the humble task of reinventing modern music as we know it. Of course, they were certainly not alone, as the new wave of post-hippie German experimentalists had, by the end of the 1960s, formed their own underground of anti-composition, disregarding conventionally rigid arrangement in favor of free improvisation & determinately uncharted, expansive liberated sound. As The Organization, Hütter & Schneider produced the mind-bending 20 minute instrumental 'Tone Float,' a controlled chaos of organic instrumentation & sparsely employed melody that stood miles away from the bastard child of post-industrial technological alienation that their later, colder & far-more singular music took on. The aggressiveness of this masterpiece hints at a musical vision far too universal to be tied down by the constraints of cyclical repetition or electronic composition -- a philosophy of the uncharted, unrecognized & completely unencumbered, where the music was both a means & an end to the visceral multitude & psychic multiplicity, leaving the tired realm of the present with all it's endless routines & notions of lineage in the dust. Indeed, 'Megaherz,' taken from their first self-titled full-length as Kraftwerk, takes this refusal to be bound by the historical, material stringencies of cultural or artistic progression further, employing the harsh, factory-like sounds of wage-labor & immediately demolishing it with the heavy weight of delicate, dream-like walls of synthetic melody, once again denying both the physical & social weights of existential dread & subsuming them with the literally boundless possibilities of free sound. 'The Hall of Mirrors,' taken from Trans-Europe Express, reflects the group's later sound, where their preference of free-composition was slowly replaced by the careful & ironic exercise of social reflection -- and yet, their project remained the same, as always: lifting aesthetic expression beyond the ties of the present, pushing it into unexplored realms of experimentation & sound with the conscious insistence on creating something truly autonomous from the boredom of everyday existence." Silkscreened lettering on jacket.
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DVD
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SI 541DVD
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Unauthorized bio DVD, sorry. "As innovative as they are influential, Kraftwerk's contribution to the development of electronic music since their formation in 1970 remains unsurpassed. Having inspired everyone from Bowie to Coldplay, Siouxsie to Radiohead, this bizarre collective have also proven partly responsible for entire genres to develop -- electronica, techno and synth-pop to name but three. This DVD reviews the career and music of Kraftwerk, from their inception in the late 1960s (as pre-Kraftwerk ensemble Organization), through their most celebrated period in the mid 1970s, and culminating with their resurgence during the 1980s with the popularity of synth-pop and techno. The film further explores how Kraftwerk both fitted in and pulled away from the electronic wing of what is often lazily referred to as 'Krautrock.' Sparing time also for many of the groups' contemporaries from the same field, and tracing the unfolding of electronics in German contemporary music generally, this program presents a fascinating story previously untold on film. It features rarely seen live and performance footage of Kraftwerk and of other electronic and 'Krautrock' bands -- much from private collections, rare photographs of Kraftwerk and others, exclusive and extensive interviews with ex-Kraftwerk members and other German ambient and electronic musicians, contributions and enlightenment from German academics, writers and journalists, live and studio recordings of many of Kraftwerk's pivotal tracks, plus live and studio recordings of many other bands from the 'Krautrock' movement. Bonus materials: Special feature 'The Dusseldorf Scene vs. The Hamburg Scene,' extended interviews, full contributor biographies." Main feature running time: 180 mins.; NTSC format, All Regions; Screen Format 4:3; Stereo Sound Mix.
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LP
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SN 16302LP
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LP edition of Kraftwerk's 7th album, from 1978, and perhaps their most commercially successful album -- a non-offensive synth-pop classic. Tracklisting: Side 1: A1. The Robots; A2. Spacelab; A3. Metropolis; Side 2: B1. The Model; B2. Neon Lights; B3. The Man-Machine.
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LP
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SN 16301LP
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Classic album from 1977, the sixth Kraftwerk album, originally issued by Kling Klang. This is the English-language, U.S.-cover art version. One of the inspired electronically-based pop records of all time. Performed by the quartet of Hütter, Schneider, Flür & Karl Bartos, this is the quintessential Kraftwerk sound recording experience. Tracklist: Side One: A1. Europe Endless; A2. The Hall Of Mirrors; A3. Showroom Dummies. Side Two: B1. Trans-Europe Express; B2. Metal On Metal; B3. Franz Schubert; B4. Endless Endless.
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LP
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SN 16380LP
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LP version of their 5th album from 1975. The centerpiece inbetween Autobahn and Trans Europa Express -- a trilogy of masterworks that found Kraftwerk at their artistic pinnacle, in the midst of rearranging the musical universe. The sweeping synth melodies are in full futuristic force, surrounded by weird bleepage and a static pulse -- this is a mesmerizing album in every way. Tracklisting: Side 1: A1. Geiger Counter; A2. Radioactivity; A3. Radioland; A4. Airwaves; A5. Intermission; A6. News; Side 2: B1. The Voice of Energy; B2. Antenna; B3. Radio Stars; B4. Uranium; B5. Transistor; B6. Ohm Sweet Ohm.
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PIC. DISC
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CGO 107LP
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Rare picture disc of the classic album from 1977. Label claims to be from Mexico, but maybe it isn't...Track Listing: Side One 1. Europe Endless; 2. The Hall Of Mirrors; 3. Showroom Dummies. Side Two 1. Trans-Europe Express; 2. Metal On Metal; 3. Franz Schubert; 4. Endless Endless.
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CD
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EMI 26602CD
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Includes "Tour De France 03 (Version 1)" and "Tour De France 03 (Version 2)", both around three-and-a-half minutes (552 660 2).
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2x12"
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EMI 8896126
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Double vinyl version, same 6 mixes as on the CD.
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