I'm listening to Autobahn by Kraftwerk for the first time
Are we supposed to be pretending it doesn't sound ridiculously dated?
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- Kraftwerk perform Radio-Activity at Tate Modern, Camberwell, Thu 07 Feb
- In Photos: Way Out West 2012 @ Gothenburg, Sweden
- Spotifriday #20 Side II: Kraftwerkweek as a playlist
- Spotifriday #20 Side I: This Week on DiS as a playlist
- Kraftwerk - Tour de France: Remastered
- Kraftwerk - The Mix: Remastered
- Kraftwerk - Techno Pop: Remastered
- Kraftwerk - Computer World: Remastered
Kraftwerk
The Idiot Boy
So So Modern
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fuckin' shite, innit.
Still brilliant though
Second side's alright
Can't imagine ever wanting to listen to the title track again. Will give Trans-Europe Express a go later.
Computer World is best
tour de france is de best
One of Autobahn or Computer World or The Man Machine or Trans-Europe Express is best
or Radioactivity
( doo doo, doo doo doo doo, doo doo, doo doo)
Nah
Fifth best, maybe.
Man-Machine, surely
Pinkerton is best.
I guess it is quite old.
Handel sounds a bit dated too.
I knew someone would say something like this
Someone else can respond.
Pockkit Calcleeayter?
Fuxsayk just get an app innit LOL
Posted from my iPhone
the man machine and computer world
are the best, but trans europe express is very very close. Great great band
*charmingly dated
it still sounds way cool. like seventies robots dreaming of the YEAR TWO THOUSAND (i.e. the future).
Like an episode of Look Around You
maybe a special edition on cycling
robots.
Thanks Kraftwerk. Therks.
Someone calling Kraftwerk dated
on a forum currently swamped in Beatles threads? Oh, the irony...
Kraftwerk sound fresh
Forever.
Hahaha
good thread Zapsta, you absolute gluebrain
what does...
...dated have to do with it? a pointless, ignorant argument. of course its bloody dated. Kraftwerk made fascinating, pioneering music for their time. if you can't appreciate that in retrospect then you probably shouldn't be listening to music at all.
now, i'll go get myself a drink and have a sit down. sorry for the episode.
So even though it doesn't actually sound any good
I should be able to listen and say "Wow, this was fascinating and pioneering for its time. I'm not enjoying it per se, but damn, am I appreciating it! Gonna put it on again as soon as it's finished. Gonna dismiss the actual, visceral experience I get from listening and just acknowledge that, 40 years ago, it was a revelation"? Why do you even need to listen more than once to do that? If somebody stuck it in your CD player without any indication of who it was by or the history behind it, would you say you liked it? I'm guessing not, from what you've said. But because it's by Kraftwerk, who were hugely influential and forward-thinking, suddenly it's a fantastic album. That's pure pretension.
I agree with this
kinda
hold on...
...so 'dated' now translates into 'doesn't actually sound any good'? you're moving the goalposts around too quick for me. i must be getting old - 'dated' perhaps. my response was made in regard to your original statement. you weren't talking about whether you thought it was 'good' or not, and nor was i. your response, therefore, is pure assumption.
however, for the record, i do like a little Kraftwerk from time to time. but, regardless of personal opinion, to have a little respect and/or appreciation is not pretension. its humanity.
now, i must dash. i've got the UN on the other line.
Dated is bad
Kokomo Arnold, Artie Shaw, The Doors
here are three totally random artists whose music you could argue has dated. in my personal opinion however, none of them are bad. in that respect, i suppose you might say i find your argument flawed.
If you want
Up to you.
thank you.
i appreciate it.
Would you say the same thing about movies?
A movie can't be good if it has dated?
*Film.
* is a highly relative term.
I find knowing the history part of the visceral enjoyment
But music for me is more than just sensation, the context and history adds to the experience. I'm probably unusual in this. Also, there is some 70s electronica which does sound more interesting because of the technology it was created with (not Kraftwerk necessarilly but Tangerine Dream, say compared to modern synth.) But you have a point, once you've got the history, you don't want to listen to it again. Fair enough.
Sounds a lot less dated than most music from 1974
hmmmmm...
yes, accusing Kraftwerk of sounding dated is missing the point somewhat. It's a history lesson. Try and imagine what this sounded like in 1974. If you want cutting-edge electronica then listen to Actress or something.
whats cutting edge about actress?
God Zapsta, you're SUCH a prick
I don't really like Kraftwerk
are you listening to the remasters from a couple of years ago? they sound really good iirc
I only really like their first 3 albums (and Organisation)
^look at me being way indie
Electronic music from 1974 sounds dated
wow, imagine that. You wouldn't have thought it...
Still good, although I prefer Trans-Europe Express.
quite a lot of electronic music from around the time holds up far better I think
(mainly the more droney/ambient/whatever stuff tho)
this from five years prior for example;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzBlQAqILK0 (of course not purely electronic but still sounds fresh)
I wouldn't have, considering the reverence in which it's held
That's why I asked the question.
I really hate it when music sounds dated
i'm with you zapsta.
Tried to give Orbital a go the other month and it was awful. Sounded like an early episode of friends, except british and a bit awkward sounding.
your post
Sounds like an episode of friends
If Radiohead released it tomorrow it'd be acclaimed as radically innovative (possibly).
Same with TEE
one of the greatest albums by any band ever
From station to station
and Dusseldorf City
Meet Iggy Pop
and David Bowie
Some of these tags are really hurtful
Rude dudes around here.
Never have listened to this group really.
but Kraftwerk invented hip-hop
because Africa Bambaataa.
also Yellow Magic Orchestra. hey Zapsta, check out YMO, yeah?
Okay
Yeah I plan on getting around to it some day.
Tbh though, early hip hop doesnt do much for me overall (85-88), some classic singles but the best stuff came later.
some of the stuff with the super slow rapping about rapping is a bit too funny
Pretty sure the Last Poets had already got hip hop down on record before Kraftwerk were even formed, pal
Kraftwerk's influence changed the game
beats-wise.
Well, you can tell Kraftwerk's music was put together by relatively primitive tools
But that just gives the music character to me. Like another layer of sound, a sort of effect pedal. Music only sounds dated to me if it's absoloutely typical of the era that spawned it, like say, the Bay City Rollers, or PJ & Duncan.
Kraftwerk's early stuff
sounds more lo-fi than dated in my opinion. "Dated" implies that it is very much of its time, like Herman's Hermits, The Rubettes or Stiltskin. Autobahn sounds like it could've been recorded in someone's bedroom at any time in the last 40 years, yet it remains wonderfully charming & evocative.
It could have been
It doesn't sound like it was though. No one wants to make synth sounds like those on Autobahn anymore; they've become inextricably linked with kitsch and parody. To paraphrase incandenza_ above, it's like a 70s vision of "the future" that has gradually revealed itself to be inaccurate as future has become present. It couldn't be more of its time.
No one wants to make synth sounds like those on Autobahn anymore
Not heard Emeralds?
what about all the hauntology type stuff like The Advisory Circle and stuff
that's very 70s sounding and it's new & people really like it.
There's still an audience for that particular vision of the future and I think it's because the future is here now and it isn't as exciting.
like at some point around then people actually thought we might all be flying around space by 2012
or at least live in weird minimalist smarthouses.
All we have is the internet and DJ Roomba
I used to read 2000AD
which in hindsight was a pretty shortsighted name for a sci-fi comic, given that it was first published in the 1980s. It's now 2012 & I still haven't got a fucking jetpack.
But yes it is kind of ironic to hear someone calling Kraftwerk dated at a time when the 70s/80s synth sound is being so thoroughly mined for inspiration.
It's all ironic
People are listening ironically. Once they're done with that, they probably watch Plan 9 from Outer Space.
I don't think they are zpasta
go to bed
lol
And also...
http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/music/4177726#r4558557 :DDDDDDD
good thread.
You didn't feel the record and that's alright, man.
You don't have to try and justify it to yourself that it's because countless other records have copied them, sounded similar and used better technology since then.
Their music stands up on it's own regardless of the particular synth sounds. It's been done since but it's still great, like criticising The Beatles because of the thousands of copycats, most of their output sounds 'dated'.
Although I guess the impact for us now is lesser than hearing it for the first time when those sounds weren't around.
Haha
I'm not trying to justify it to myself or anyone else, I'm just wondering how other people experience it, because while it is clearly an interesting artefact, I don't see how it can be considered to hold up purely as a piece of music, to be listened to and enjoyed.
It's music
Its not difficult to listen to various music
Aye, don't get me wrong, some of it sounds like a Casio keyboard
going through the motions. And when you've heard 500 other bands doing the same - build the beat, repetitions, blipblip but much better. Everyone else has taken the mould and built on it.
Like others have said, Autobahn the album isn't great, unlike the song, try some of their other stuff. Autobahn the song for me is pure joy because it's so simple and clever.
here's a link to the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gChOifUJZMc
Sounds like a hundred different bands critically cool right now.
I can happily
sit through The Man Machine. For fun. Not for some wanky 'this was pioneering in the 70s' mentality. However, Autobahn is pretty dull.
Trans Europe Express is great.
Autobahn, dull?
Is today opposite day? Oh, it's just the internet.
Any love here for the first Kraftwerk album? The red witches hat one?
It's fucking amazing.
Yes! First 3 albums are pretty special I reckon.
The third album (Ralf and Florian) is SO FUCKING JOYFUL.
Tanzmuzik makes me outrageously happy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-ld26IT8C4
Zapsta - if you want a good entry-point to Kraftwerk
that won't have you feeling like it's 1974, get the 2006 Minimum-Maximum live album. Absolute brilliance from soup to nuts. OK I'm a bit biased as Kraftwerk are my personal Beatles, but it's a fucking amazing album.
You're right.
It's a fantastic live album. I listen to it very often.
PS: if you like this live album, the Minimum-Maximum DVD it's a must have.
You dig it, you don't dig it. Doesn't matter.
I agree with you on this album. When it came out a friend of mine played it all the time, & I thought it was lame (I was into Dolls & Bowie). Nowadays they're one of my favorite bands. Just not this album.
TEE > first album > Computer World > Radio-Activity > Kraftwerk 2 > The Man Machine > Autobahn > Electric Cafe
I'm just listening to Tour De France (the album) for the first time
This is bloody wicked.
!
Repeated listens reveal how great it is. At first I thought it's a boring album (it seemed too minimalistic). But after a few listens, I've changed my mind.
hear that zapsta
REPEATED LISTENS
put some effort in
I will, give me a break
tbh I wouldn't bother if you were moved enough to make a thread about it
I never liked the actual song Autobahn much. What I did like when I was little was when they had a whole Kraftwerk gig on the BBC that I taped and watched over and over. It was like a totally different world! Didn't like Autobahn much then either but Man-Machine and stuff aw man.
I don't know if sitting in front of a TV for over an hour watching Kraftwerk is necessarily your idea of fun but it worked for me.
Yeah it's pretty good.
yas
It's arguably
the best comeback album of all time. I remember it coming out & one fuckwitted reviewer saying it was clearly influenced by Underworld & Leftfield. FFS, Kraftwerk invented that stuff in the first place.
Are you saying people can't be influenced by people they've influenced?
I can understand why some people don't like Kraftwerk
Despite their very melodic songs, some might find Kraftwerk quite mechanical, cold and repetitive. But these are some of the ingredients that make Kraftwerk, Kraftwerk.
I must say that I like almost all their songs (they're always on my playlist) and I've seen them live in 2009. The BEST live sound I ever heard. And a superb show. Danke schön Herren.
I have a work colleague who produces a weekly radio music show
She's really into dance music of the oomph oomph oomph kind, and she hates Kraftwerk. When I said "Oh, but Kraftwerk were a seminal influence on contemporary electronic dance music", she rolled her eyes and said that was just "music critic bullshit". Should I kill her?
No, just yourself
I get that, to an extent
As I hate Nirvana but grew up listening to a lot of bands who were arguably influenced heavily by them. Doesn't mean I have to like them.
But with Kraftwerk they largely (AFAIK) created a whole style of music. Grunge was just taking something that already existed and making it shittier. So it's different really.
Autobahn, the song
Which version do you prefer:
1. the original (22 minutes) from the album with the same name;
2. the version from The Mix;
3. the live version from Minimum-Maximum?
I choose #2. I think this is the perfect version: not too long, crisp sound, faster than original, superb bassline.
Autobahn from The Mix
Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4H71P_ccE8
would be nice
if ralf & florian hadn't decided to airbursh the rest of the band out of the history of kraftwerk
i was a robot by wolfgang flurr is a great read
saw the double header at brixton in 2003 (around then anyway), two identical sets, but the second one was so much better than the first
TIME PIE
@Zapsta
No offense, but looking at your last.fm account (link in your DiS profile) I can say that I don't expect you to like Kraftwerk at all. You don't seem to listen to any electronic music artists.
In your case, listening to Autobahn is like a jazz fan trying to like Slayer.
--jazz fan trying to like Slayer--
This isn't that weird btw.
Wow, you'll be saying that an avant-garde jazz musician can collaborate with members of Napalm Death next!
IMPOSSIBLE!
Quit drifting, stay in your lane.
Of course there are exceptions
On a side note, I'm a big electronic music fan and I like also some subgenres of rock music. But no matter how much I tried I never liked metal (with some exceptions).
So, I think it's impossible to like every music genre. Also some music genres are not for you.
it's normal for anyone to try to like Slayer and succeed
Yeah...
Did you manage to find any bands that sound like Garbage?
Yeah, I found some bands (2 of them are exactly what I wanted). But most artists mentioned in that thread I already know.