The death of one of the founders of German electronic music group Kraftwerk, Florian Schneider was announced on May 6th 2020. Uwe Schütte joined my small investigation on the electronic music pioneer Kraftwerk. He is the author of “Kraftwerk: Future Music from Germany” and academic.
Photo Copyright © Franziska K. Huhn/fkhuhn
HOW DID FLORIAN SCHNEIDER & KRAFTWERK REVOLUTIONIZE POPULAR MUSIC?
By trying to start from scratch when thinking about how a German version of pop music could sound like, writing – as it were – the soundtrack to the Federal Republic. Florian’s particular contribution was to use robot voices for vocals; a paradigm shift for popular music that you can now hear everywhere.
Machines making music. Repetitions. Technology. Which ideas flourish Kraftwerk's music?
The list goes on: minimalism; form over content; past & future over present;
3 essential Kraftwerk songs?
IF YOU WERE TO CHOOSE ONE?
Nummern was a greeting from the future, tomorrow’s music now. Nothing sounded that otherworldly and prophetic ever since.
