Electro - From Kraftwerk to Techno

 

by Vittorio Compagno for the Carl Kruse Blog

Looking at Dusseldorf, a city with less than 1 million inhabitants, one may only think about the modern architecture, the fashion industry, or its art scene. What many people don’t realize, it’s that the city was the center of a cultural revolution that took place in all of West Germany.  In an attempt to create a new identity for their nation, the best of the German intelligentsia drifted away from a 25-year middle period of American influence, creating a counterculture movement that rode the wave of the demonstrations that took place in the 60's throughout the Western world. 

At the center of the German avant-garde movement was a band that formed in 1969: Kraftwerk. Their name, which means “Power Station”, is an indicator of the inspiration of the group to industrial design, with an important contribution of the gone but not forgotten Bauhaus. 

Their style, inspired at the beginning by industrialism, shifted towards the well-known retro-futurism that all the fans have known since the release of the album “Autobahn”, and continues to this day to the robot-humanoid charm that the four have so well crafted. Their music has always been, by intent, a manifesto of the rebirth of Germany.  Wolfgang Flur, former Kraftwerk member said:

“We wanted to oppose the superiority of Anglo-American music with something frightfully German”


The band Kraftwerk in one of their iconic looks.

 

This reflects in their music, delightfully electronic. A harmony of synthesizers, a novelty in the music industry, that formed the iconic retro-futuristic sounds predominant in masterpieces like “The Model” and “The Robots”. 

In an era when prog rock and metal were at their peak, and the eccentric style was part of the identity of artists like Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, or The Rolling Stones, the German band maintained a minimalist, clean-cut aesthetic. They brought back suits and ties to the stage and created a whole identity for themselves.

That made their influence relevant not only in the European landscape but also in the American one. The cultural shift they brought inspired famous artists like Daft Punk and David Bowie, and a whole new generation of German and European bands. 

Probably Kraftwerk would never have been such an iconic band if they didn’t live during the economic miracle of the ’50s and ’60s that made Düsseldorf the richest city of the Rhineland region. 

Paying homage to electronic music, Düsseldorf recently hosted an exhibition titled “Electro - From Kraftwerk to Techno”. The centerpiece of the event was Kraftwerk, who found their fortune and inspiration in Dusseldorf, and featured musicians such as Daft Punk, Agnes Dahan, and Sasha Waltz. The exhibition, conceived by the Musèe de la Musique-Philharmonie de Paris, took place in the Kunstpalast.

Another Carl Kruse blog took a look at this retrospective.  You can also find Carl Kruse on Cocktail Audio and on Soundcloud.


===========
This Carl Kruse blog homepage is at https://carlkruseofficial.blogspot.com/
Contact:  carl AT carlkruse DOT com
The blog's last post was on retrofitting classic cars.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Culture of Gender

Gender’s cultures: where the third gender has been accepted for centuries. By Asia Leonardi for the Carl Kruse Blog When a boy is born, a blue ribbon is hung at the hospital door. If it is a girl, the ribbon is pink. The color is also combined with clothes to give away, rompers, bibs, even diapers, and pacifiers. The girl is given skirts and her ears pierced. When the boy grows up, he is taught not to cry when he falls, while the girl is comforted and caressed by the mother. The girl is given the dolls, the boy lego. The girl watches the movies of barbie, the boy those of spiderman. She gets her hair done, maybe braided and decorated with beads; he gets shaved. The girl goes dancing, the boy kicks. The girl can never say bad words, not even repeat them; if the boy does, you reproach him, but the second time you leave him alone. We tend to believe that gender, like sex, is a natural quality, supported by the laws of biology. We should first understand what is meant by "natural...
Read more

Should Scientists Focus on UAPs?

Image
  by Vittorio Compagno for the Carl Kruse Blog Since the release of digital cameras and, most of all, the internet, videos of UFOs and celestial sightings have appeared through the internet, raising curiosity and questions all around the globe.    The scientific community, still not impressed by the sightings, has been pressed by the public to investigate those which, in a broader term, we define as UAPs .   UAPs, or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, catch a wider interest also among those that have been criticizing the numerous sightings of “green men in the sky."   The seriousness and scientific interest around UAPs has increased, following the recent decision by the U.S. Department of Defense to release a report about the sightings. The report focuses on the behavior of the flying objects, which are able to move with incredible speed and precision, allegedly using technologies not currently used or tested by the Department of De...
Read more

Simple steps to Review your Performance as an Entrepreneur

Image
Many strategies that are involved from time to time that help you to succeed in your business and help you in becoming a better entrepreneur for the future world. And, to seek simple steps to review your performance as an entrepreneur can help you to build a better business fortune for long period of time.  Given below are few points that provided by Carl Kruse that will help you to understand your business better and improve your vision to handle things in the greater manner.  Progress reviews  Starting a business and continuing it for a long period of time needs could consist of many steps but part from the thing that you must keep in your mind is related to the progress report. As your business is growing and had already spent a high time in the market it becomes essential for your business to mark with futurist planning and better strategies that could increase your progress report from previous years.  Estimate business efficiency Th...
Read more

3 Simple But Proven Ways to Become More Productive

Image
There is absolutely no shortage of time-management practices and experts out there promising to increase your productivity levels. And, certainly, we all aspire to be more productive, feel more accomplished and ultimately achieve greater success than ever before. Unfortunately, though, simply wanting these things or reading a time-management book by a favorite author is a small part of the equation and will get you only so far. In order to truly become a more productive individual and accomplish more of what matters most, you must minimize distractions, instill new habits and have a great deal of self-discipline. Carl Kruse believes that many of the problems we run into when it comes to maximizing our productivity stem from overcomplicating things -- and those complications usually end up decreasing our productivity. He wants to share with you three things that have worked exceptionally well when it comes to minimizing distractions and drastically elevating produ...
Read more

Top Business Challenges For Growing Entrepreneurs

Image
On the off chance that you need to begin another business, there are sure difficulties that may emerge in your excursion of turning into an effective business person. These difficulties are much more unbending in the event that you are a newcomer.  Carl Kruse who himself a business visionary and have over 25 years of experience, directing some basic difficulties that you may confront If you're simply getting into the amusement, or you're contemplating turning into a business visionary.  Picking The Right Business  On the off chance that your business doesn't help individuals, doesn't give an answer, or doesn't give individuals something they need then your business is useless. To do an extraordinary business you ought to claim incredible item or administration. In the event that you trust in your items, at exactly that point you can make individuals have confidence in it.  Subsidizing The Business  It is the most basic test as we proba...
Read more