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The first in-depth study of one of the most influential movements of contemporary popular music
Wolfgang Flür was vital cog in the Kraftwerk machine, galvanising the group’s electric drum sound throughout the 1970’s and propelling the rhythmic backbone of iconic albums such as Autobahn and Electric Café. I Was A Robot is a detailed, evocative account, written in Flür’s no-nonsense style. It takes us from his youth into the band’s formation and touring of their influential works, laying bare the acrimonious break-up and court cases that later followed. This book is the final word on Kraftwerk, their continued influence and what it felt like to be a Man-Machine. ”This is a first-hand account of human life inside the robot factory. A world that I could barely have imagined as a 16-year-old Kraftwerk fan stranded in a suburb on the wrong side of the river from Liverpool. A window into a world that I could never have imagined.” Andy McCluskey, OMD ”Kraftwerk is a myth. Wolfgang is for real. Thus handsome elder statesman of Electronic Music gives a lot of useful inside information about the Men-Machines.” Rudi Esch, ELECRI_CITY
This Companion is the first academic introduction to the 1960s/70s 'Krautrock' movement of German experimental music that has long attracted the attention of the music press and fans in Britain and abroad. It offers a structured approach to this exceptionally heterogeneous and decentralized movement, combining overviews with detailed analysis and close readings. The volume first analyzes the cultural, historical and economic contexts of Krautrock's emergence. It then features expert chapters discussing all the key bands of the era including Can, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Neu!, Faust, Ash Ra Tempel, Cluster and Amon Düül II. The volume concludes with essays that trace the varied, wide-ranging legacy of Krautrock from a variety of perspectives, exploring in particular the impact of German experimental music in the Anglosphere, including British post-punk and Detroit Techno. A final chapter examining the current bands that continue the Krautrock sound closes this comprehensive overview of the Krautrock phenomenon.
The book is a comparative study of popular music cultures in 1980s Torino, Tampere, Manchester and Düsseldorf and their relation to the industrial city as imaginary, as heritage and as everyday reality. Popular music genres, such as hardcore punk, house, industrial, post-punk and heavy metal, share a common origin in 1980s decaying industrial cities. All these genres have been canonized and understood as “scores” for grey, gloomy, decaying urban industrial environments or for their evocation, but is there an organic relationship between de-industrialization and this kind of music production?
This book examines Electronic Dance Music (EDM) scenes in 18 cities across Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, North America and Australia. It focuses on the historical development of these scenes, with an emphasis on the post-2000 context, including the COVID-19 pandemic and its far-reaching effects. Expert contributors highlight the influence of geographical contexts, as well as cultural and political histories, in the development of mainstream EDM scenes and underground Electronic Dance Music Cultures. This expansive work offers additional insights on cultural and creative policies, planning interventions and regulations associated with nightlife management, and provides a detailed analysis of current challenges inherent to the governance of EDM scenes in contemporary cities.
The story of the phenomenon that is Kraftwerk, and how they revolutionised our cultural landscape 'We are not artists nor musicians. We are workers.' Ignoring nearly all rock traditions, expermenting in near-total secrecy in their Düsseldorf studio, Kraftwerk fused sound and technology, graphic design and performance, modernist Bauhaus aesthetics and Rhineland industrialisation - even human and machine - to change the course of modern music. This is the story of Kraftwerk the cultural phenomenon, who turned electronic music into avant-garde concept art and created the soundtrack to our digital age.
(Trailer: youtube.com/watch?v=-I9E8xcyiYM) Vom bequemen Banker-Job, mit Familie und gediegenem Wohnhaus, zum "Hochsitz unter dem Flachdach, im 6-stöckigen Pappkarton". Seine Fehler: Er will ein ruhiges Familienleben - nicht anecken Freunde, Hobbies und sonst: "...sich möglichst raushalten!" Er macht seinen Job mit wenig Freude, will niemanden Abzocken. Er verhindert Korruption und "stellt, den Falschen, dumme Fragen". Er hat ein Gewissen, das seiner "adäquaten" Entwicklung im Wege steht. Er ist seiner Oligarchen-Familie, mehr als geahnt, ein übles Hindernis. Er muss Gesundheit und Leben von über 80 Menschen gefährden Er wird der Bandenkriminalität beschuldigt. Er wird gar beschuldigt, einen Terroranschlag zu planen. Er landet mehrfach auf "7m2". Er wird unter Drogen gesetzt, soll endgültig verschwinden. Sein Vorteil: Er behält die Bodenhaftung. Er hat klare Werte. Er hält Kurs auf stürmischer See Er findet Verbündete Und ihm bleibt die Hoffnung...
Electronic music is now ubiquitous, from mainstream pop hits to the furthest reaches of the avant garde. But how did we get here? In Mars by 1980, David Stubbs charts the evolution of synthesised tones, from the earliest mechanical experiments in the late nineteenth century, through the musique concrete of the Futurists and radical composers such as Pierre Schaeffer and Karl Stockhausen, to the gradual absorption of electronic instrumentation into the mainstream, be it through the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, grandiose prog rock or the DIY approach of electronica, house and techno.Stubbs tells a tale of mavericks and future dreamers, malfunctioning devices and sonic mayhem. But above all, he describes an essential story of authenticity: is this music? Mars by 1980 is the definitive account that answers this question.