Ralf & Florian: Kraftwerk: Amazon.ca: Music

1. Elektrisches Roulette

2. Tongebirge

3. Kristallo

4. Heimatkl�nge

5. Tanzmusik

6. Ananas Symphonie

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4.0 out of 5 stars 70s electronica for the synth-weary; a significant departure, Sep 5 2006

By

Cub Lea (British Columbia, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ralf & Florian (Audio CD)

I picked up this album on vinyl a few months after it was released from a Toronto shop's delete bin, hoping it would provide the hoped-for bridge between the frankly irritating (to my ears) pre-industrial electronica of Kraftwerk's first two albums and the melodic, rhythmic swoop of Autobahn. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was a departure from both. This is some of the warmest electronic music of the period, and perhaps single-handedly redeems the place of the lap steel guitar (all over this recording) as a valid instrument for modern music.

Those hoping for strong beats and mad pre-digital synth will be disappointed with all but one or two selections. This material is done as tastefully as Eno's ambient works, and much of it wouldn't be out of place as background music for dental surgery. Electronic it may be, but the warmth of the performance and production are exceedingly rare for music of this period. The vocoder makes its expected appearance on "Ananas Symphonie" but the lyrical chants which became a Kraftwerk signature after "Autobahn" are refreshingly absent, as are oppressive beat-box rhythms. And while it sounds somewhat improvised, it is musical and airy in a way that virtually nothing on their first two albums even hints at. That's not to suggest musical virtuosity...far from it. This is simple, tasteful playing and arranging, occasionally verging into minimalism, that places mood above mathematics and dexterity.

If you loved Kraftwerk's first two "pylon" albums, this will be a surprise and perhaps a disappointment. And if you've always felt that Kraftwerk has leaned far too much on the synthesizer, you'll find this a refreshingly organic-sounding departure from virtually everything that came after...and a radical improvement in listenability from what came before.

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