Emily's Albums A to Z

Listened: Friday October 1

I really love Kraftwerk. I don’t even recall how I first discovered their music. They might have played it back in the day on Live 105 very occasionally. They also were name-checked really often in Rolling Stone due to their wide ranging influence on ambient, dance, and hip-hop artists. It’s rather odd to consider how influential they were. They’re one of the weirdest bands that has ever existed.

Another strange thing about them is how good their live show is. I wouldn’t really expect it from their music. I love that their visuals are very similar to their music: simple and retro-computery, without being cheesy.  I’ve seen them at Coachella 2004 and 2008, and both times they were awesome. The first time was especially memorable, as it was the end of our first day ever at Coachella and we were overwhelmed and giddy. Kraftwerk was a fabulous end to the day.

I appreciate that the live show helped me learn what a bunch of the lyrics are – for example I had no idea that it was place-names of radioactive events that they were chanting in “Radioactivity”.  The accents plus the vocodering made it difficult to understand.

It’s a crime this is the only album of theirs I have. I need to acquire more.