Liedgut, mit Florian

In other Florian related news, Atom™, aka Uwe Schmidt, Lassigue Bendthaus, Señor Coconut, DOS Tracks and more, will release a new album on the Raster-Noton label on January 26th.

Besides from looking very good and getting me very exited in general (Atom™ being one of my all time favourites), Kraftwerk's Florian Schneider contributes a spoken epilogue to the album. Interesting news indeed.

More here and here.

This recent live show may or may not give an indication of what to expect from the Liedgut album (Some of the material is older though, for example the first song in the 3:rd video is taken from the iMix album):









Related:
Florian, again
Florian still missing
Sputnik Roadhouse
Kraftwerk on tour - without Florian

Kraftwerk + Atom (and some audio science)

While going through my emails this morning, these two stood out. Even though the first one is most likely complete bullshit.

One.



There is a rumour abroad that Uwe Schmidt (aka Lassigue Bendthaus, Señor Coconut, etc.) has asked Kraftwerk to remix the forthcoming Atom Heart album.

Two.



Hear Voices? It May Be an Ad

New Yorker Alison Wilson was walking down Prince Street in SoHo last week when she heard a woman's voice right in her ear asking, "Who's there? Who's there?" She looked around to find no one in her immediate surroundings. Then the voice said, "It's not your imagination."

Indeed it isn't. It's an ad for "Paranormal State," a ghost-themed series premiering on A&E this week. The billboard uses technology manufactured by Holosonic that transmits an "audio spotlight" from a rooftop speaker so that the sound is contained within your cranium. The technology, ideal for museums and libraries or environments that require a quiet atmosphere for isolated audio slideshows, has rarely been used on such a scale before.

For random passersby and residents who have to walk unwittingly through the area where the voice will penetrate their inner peace, it's another story.

The article.
Holosonic

Kraftwerk's future live setup

There has been some indications lately that Kraftwerk is moving towards a more futuristic setup than before, at least interface-wise. I'm sure there's more information out there, but let me tell you what I know.

New interface #1, the Tenori-On.



The Tenori-On is an instrument/controller/interface, created by sound artist Toshio Iwai (backed by Yamaha). Mr Iwai is also responsible for the brilliant Electroplankton program for the Nintendo DS. Tenori-On has existed for, if I remember correctly, a few years already, but only as a prototype version. Now, Yamaha seems to be ready for a commercial release of the rather amazing looking product.

We were recently reached by the news that a number of interesting artists, including Mouse On Mars and Atom™, had visited Japan to test drive the machine. And recently, Kraftwerk was added to the list of test pilots.

Here's a video that will tell you everyting you need to know about the Tenori-On.



New interface #2, the JazzMutant Lemur

The Lemur, produced by the french JazzMutant company, is an interesting input device, designed to control real-time computer applications. The multi-point touch screen is said to be completely customisable, allowing users design their own personal control surface. And it looks good, too.

Amongst the "lemurized" artists listed on the JazzMutant web pages, we find our german friends Kraftwerk.



Added together, these two items might lay the foundation for an interesting future of updated Kraftwerk concerts. Maybe, the Tenori-On is the tool they've been looking for to get back to the front of the stage for an old skool performance of "Pocket Calculator"?

The Atom

This is a pretty good looking sign, don't you think?