Uwe Schütte

Listened to “Trans Europe Express” last night:



“Rendezvous on Champs-Elysees

Leave Paris in the morning with TEE

In Vienna, we sit in a late-night cafe

Straight connection, TEE"



Just doesn't cut it like this:



"Rendez-vous auf den Champs Elysees

Verlass Paris am Morgen mit dem TEE

In Wien sitzen wir I'm Nachtcafe

Direkt Verbindung TEE”



I remember their first Portuguese appearance so well in Lisbon at Coliseu dos Recreios in 2004, it was a joy to behold. Over the following days, myself and some of my geeky devoted friends who had already perfected the robotic stances and movements added the 'oleaginous' smile and were busy freaking out our mates at work by turning it on (I know, we were shallow back then...I’m still shallow now). But we really did love the music. The first German I committed to memory was "Vor uns liegt ein weites Tal, Die sonne scheint mit glitzerstrahl". They had it all, cutting edge, image and much of the time they were off the beaten track so making the journey much more personal.

You know what shone through Kraftwerk’s music back then? There was a sentiment in there that the future was going to be fantastic. In amongst all the magical music and the sublime melodies, and despite the occasional dystopian moment there was (is?) a wonderful humanity and a sense that what was coming was much better than the past. Compare that to the stuff we’re being subjected to now, where it’s all about donkey torture and shitty breakups. 4 chords on repeat mostly!!! What did they have that was new? Easy: The pioneering electronic instrumentation paradoxically pumping out wonderful melodies and incredibly danceable rhythms. The sly humour, the po faced banality & the ambiguous fascination with technology. The meticulous cultivation of image & graphics. The highly mannered stage presentation when almost every else was doing the opposite. Still recall how shocking their heavy bass driven live sound was in the 80’s especially for the Gary Numan fans that weren’t familiar with dub soundclash. Kraftwerk mainly reflected on and channelled the German character and society which they grew out of, still overshadowed by the fallout from the war. There are fundamental attitudes to work, authority, standards and lifestyle that are particularly German and Kraftwerk tapped that, but also looked at it from an alternative perspective that grew in the younger generation like mine.

In the 80S I bought the album “Ralf and Florian” on the strength of the completely off kilter black and white cover. I had no money either, and it was a weird spontaneous buy. I can honestly say it changed my life. Had no idea that such exquisite beauty could be found on a piece of vinyl and so I spent the rest of my life trying to find it. Had some success and a lot of failures. The pursuit rolls on.… (plus d'informations)