Between the sheets with Kraftwerk

There are many weird Kraftwerk-related records out there. Classical, metal, hiphop, U2... But this, a Kraftwerk tribute medley 7" "Late Night Radio" by a band called Late Night Radio, must be one of the weirder ones.

The copy I have was released by Beat Box in 1984. This label, as far as I understand and/or remember, was somewhat related to the Vinyl Mania record store in Stockholm, Sweden. Beat Box released italo disco (artists like Koto, Scotch and Den Harrow), typically on 7" or 12" vinyl, and predominantly songs that was already released by other labels. But Beat Box added their own remixes, making the records unique anyway. Almost all of their remixes were called "Swedish Remix" and were created by someone called Fredrik Ramel.

And then there's this. A strange italo disco medley of Kraftwerk covers, completely surrounded at all ends by Vangelis "Chariots of fire" (which is also a cover, in italo disco style). According to the label, the producers of the record are Svengile and Puzzle. I don't have much information on any of them, but they appear to be Italian, and Puzzle's given name might be Silvio Puzzolu. The two of them also produced the LP "Night Heroes", also released in 1983, which contains a medley of tracks by Giorgio Moroder, Japan and Sparks.

The Kraftwerk medley was also released in an extended 12" version.

Conny Plank in dub

I recently read this post about the Deadly Dragon Soundbox. The box, pictured above, is a new tool for soundsystem use, cleverly engineered to add siren sounds to the reggae set by pushing it's rasta coloured buttons.

But then I felt I had seen the thing before... And well, I was almost right. Look what Conny Plank is reaching for in the picture below.

Uncanny. Sure, it's a bigger model, but the picture ought to be at least 25 years old and nanotechnology hadn't yet been invented.

From Von Südenfed to Mouse On Mars to Yamo and Flür

I’m obviously a bit late on the ball here, but I still thought I'd write a few lines on Von Südenfed. And then drift away towards the Kraftwerk territories you've gotten you used to. Right:

Von Südenfed released their debut album, called "Tromatic Reflexxions", in May. They are a newly formed band, consisting of the two members of Mouse on Mars, Jan St Werner and Andi Toma, and Mark E. Smith, main (or only) man of The Fall.

The trio has collaborated briefly once before, when Mark E. Smith provided vocals on the Mouse on Mars' 12" "Wipe That Sound". But that was different. This time, they've formed an actual trio, and you can hear the difference.

Musically, the album is quite varied. There is a certain leftfield quirkyness throughout, but at certain points it leans more towards broken beat. But in a non-standard way. And there's strumming of guitars, probable field recordings and a big chunk of electronic trickery. In "Jbak Lois Lane", a brilliant interlude, someone basically handles a lawn mower and a lawn edger/trimmer (or both at the same time), and MES seems to want the guy to stop.

Download Von Südenfed - "Jbak Lois Lane" here.

Von Südenfed is the second major celebrity collaboration for Mouse on Mars. In 1995, former Kraftwerk drummer Wolfgang Flür helped the duo by adding a drum track to a song on their second album, "Iaora Tahiti". Mouse on Mars repaid the debt the year after, working together with Mr Flür to create his first, and so far only, post Kraftwerk album "Time Pie", which was released under his still active Yamo alias.



I dug out an old issue of The Wire magazine today, issue 159 from May 1997 to be specific (that's right, never throw anything away), since I vaguely remembered it containing an article on the Cologne scene of the time, in which Mouse on Mars spoke out about their experiences with Flür during the making of the Yamo album. And it did.

"He brought us to collapse", says Jan, wincing at the memory. "I think we all met at a level of what we call schlager [crass pop hits] in Germany. Not even Easy Listening, more like Easy Thinking".

In reality, the schlager reference might be a bit to harsh. The vocals on the album are irritating, and so are the lyrics. But that is the main flaw, as the music is not half bad. It is basically pleasant techno pop, and almost all of the tracks has a sense of that deep electronic dub that Mouse on Mars did so well back then. Actually, the brilliantly dubby "Stereomatic (Stereomagic)" from "Time Pie" is lifted almost exactly as is from Mouse on Mars "Iaora Tahiti" album. The main differences are that the Mouse on Mars version is called "Stereomission", and that the Yamo version has vocals on top.

Listen for yourselves.

Download Mouse on Mars - "Stereomission" here.

Download Yamo - "Stereomatic (Stereomagic)" here.

Harmonia, large and in charge

According to Michael Rothers website, Harmonia will not only release the live recording from 1974 as we've mentined below. No. They will also perform live in Berlin again, for the first time in over 30 years. Here's the information, as it was written by someone else:

Berlin will see the first Harmonia concert since 1976 on 27th November 2007 when Michael Rother, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius will open the Worldtronics festival at the "Haus der Kulturen der Welt" with their live appearance as Harmonia. More information will follow soon.

Computer Rock 2000

Time has come to turn this publication into an mp3 blog. But just for a minute or so, while we're delving into the area of Kraftwerk covers.

Quite a few of these has been done throughout the years. We've heard bland electro versions, symphony orchestra renditions, and a late version from the Simple Minds. But there has been a few interesting ones as well. Here's a small selection of the latter, selected from the rock/punk/noise area.

Big Black - "The Model"

Big Black, formed in 1982, recorded this cover of Kraftwerks "The Model" for a double a-side 7" single released in 1987. The other track on the 7" was a cover of Cheap Trick's "He's a Whore". Both songs are also available on the CD version of the Big Black album "Songs About Fucking", while the LP version omits the Cheap Trick song.

You'll have to read more about Steve Albini (influential genius, general mastermind and front figure of both Big Black, Rapeman and Shellac) somewhere else. And we're happy to have a reason to use the above picture.

Download.

Harry Pussy - "Showroom Dummies"

Over to Harry Pussy, then, a noise rock band from Miami that was active for 5 or 6 years in the mid 90s. It's a bit hard to describe what they did, but take a look at this video and you'll grasp the basics. See? Noise rock is a fairly appropriate term here.

Their cover of Kraftwerk's "Showroom Dummies", as far as i can recall/find out it was recorded in 1995, is possibly still available for purchase on the "What Was Music?" compilation cd. The likeness to the original is uncanny ...

Download.

Teddybears STHLM - "The Robots"

From the release of the "Extra Pleasure" ep in 1993 up to (and including) the release of the album "I Can’t Believe It’s Teddybears STHLM" in 1996, Teddybears STHLM were one of the more interesting Swedish hardcore bands. Later, they turned into the somewhat less interesting party machine that is currently conquering the world backwards, by selling songs to computer games, tv commercials and movie soundtracks (Caddilac, Intel, Heineken, Music and Lyrics, Bones, Epic Movie, FIFA, and many others). Not that there's anything wrong with that.

For the "I Can’t Believe It’s Teddybears STHLM" album, the band recorded a version of Kraftwerk's "The Model". The cover was also released as a single a few months later.

Download.

Zeni Geva - "Sex Object"

Fronted by legendary noise artist KK Null, this Japanese metal band has been active since 1987 (Happy 20th!). The band was formed by Null, picking a guitarist from Boredoms and a drummer from Hanatarash, two other important bands in the outskirts of Japanese experimental rock noise. Many of the Zeni Geva records have been produced by Steve Albini, mentioned above.

For the rather good (which is rare) Kraftwerk tribute album "Musique Non Stop", released in 1998 featuring artists such as Melt-Banana and Buffalo Daughter, Zeni Geva recorded this cover of Kraftwerk's "Sex Object". Listen all the way through, it gets better towards the end.

Parts of the "Music Non Stop" album were later rereleased by another label as "The Radioactive Tribute to Kraftwerk", but the new version of the record excludes the harder material, such as the Zeni Geva and Melt-Banana tracks.

Download.

BONUS: Melt-Banana - "Showroom Dummies"

Since Melt-Banana is such a brilliant band, here's their edgy version of "Showroom Dummies" as well. This one's also taken from the "Musique Non Stop" album.

Download.

Sunglasses on robots! Why, Kraftwerk? Why?

Kraftwerk has, at least since around 1973 or so, been a rather minimalistic outfit. Sharp suits, strict positioning, law and order, straight lines. But there's one thing that breaks the mold, and it haunts me. It's not Florian Schneider's hats or weird side projects, and it's not the nervous shape Ralf Hütter's hand assumes when he's singing. No, sirree.

It's the sunglasses. Sunglasses on robots.

1. The "comeback era" look



Remember the wireframe suits Kraftwerk introduced just before the turn of the decade? The, eh, checkered overalls with a black base and some neon color on top? Sure you do! They're pretty great, as long as you only have to see them in the dark. In broad daylight, however, they're hideous and reveal a to much of the shape of the body beneath (bellies).

On a few of the publicity shots from that period, someone has decided to attach sunglasses to the faces of the robots. The real Kraftwerk wore the sunglasses to concerts as well, but that's not the point here. Robots with yellow wrap-around Bollé sunglasses, is that a good idea? Well, no. Is it Bono's robot? Or Gunde Svan's? Futuristic, I'm sure...

2. The "Minimum-Maximum" era look



According to one source, Ray-Ban's Wayfarer model's "distinctive trapezoidal frame spoke a non-verbal language that hinted at unstable dangerousness, but one nicely tempered by the sturdy arms which, according to the advertising, gave the frames a masculine look."

So, after Tom Cruise in "Risky Business", The Blues Brothers, and Jack Nickolson, there's Ralf Hütter's robot. I admit Wayfarers are kind of cool (again), and I bet Hütter's robot looks better with them, sitting at his desk, than he would without them.

Or, as Don Henley once put it in "The Boys of Summer":

I can see you
Your brown skin shining in the sun
You got that hair slicked back and
Those Wayfarers on, baby
I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone

But still, it's a robot with sunglasses. If a robot needs sunglasses it's not very well designed, is it?

Kraftwerk On The Beach

Dan Curtin was born in Cleveland ,OH, but has relocated to Berlin, Germany. His producing career started in 1992, and has included releases for labels such as Buzz, Peacefrog and Sublime. Curtin also runs a his own Metamorphic Recordings label.

In 2004, the Swiss label Inzec released his vinyl 12" "Shadow Locked EP". This specific record holds a song named "Kraftwerk Am Strand". The music on the record is a fairly relaxed but driving techno-house hybrid, with what I perceive as nods to older times. Certain sounds and tempos makes me think of Giorgio Moroder-era disco, which generally is a good thing.

But on to business. The "Kraftwerk Am Strand" track. This is a slightly softer affair compared to the other three songs on the record. The lead, a rather smooth sinus type sound, might be derived from some Kraftwerk track, but then again it might not be. The song is decent, but just barely. Listen here.

Oh, but there's another reference point to be mentioned, apart from Kraftwerk in general. I'd guess Philip Glass' five hour opera "Einstein on the beach", a repetitive construction designed for the audience to enter and leave whenever they felt like it, has been an inspiration. At least title-wise.

We could also mention Haruki Murakami's brilliant 2002 novel "Kafka on the Shore", but that is probably not related to the Curtin song in any way. Read it.