Kraftwerk’s career and legacy is laid bare with a show in tribute due to hit Liverpool, Getintothis’ Harry Sumnall takes a look at this fantastisch event.
The recent Grammy ceremony saw Kraftwerk pick up a lifetime achievement award alongside popular Liverpool beat combo The Beatles.
Although 2013’s 3D playback shows were largely a nostalgic cheer looking back over a 40 year career, it’s hard to overstate just how influential Kraftwerk have been on the sound of contemporary pop music.
The classic Kraftwerk sound of Autobahns, Models, and Robots is unique, but is nothing compared to their early years where Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider, at points joined by Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger (later to form the equally legendary NEU!), first conceived their electronic folk music.
This is a freer and more creative sound than that usually associated with Kraftwerk, and deeply embedded in the kosmische movement that was growing in Germany at the time.
Its this era of the band that is being examined in a new project performing at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall on Wednesday February 5: Kraftwerk Uncovered – A Future Past.
A collaboration between composer J. Peter Schwalm, London minimalists Icebreaker, and visual artists Sophie Clements and Toby Cornish, the work aims to present a “purposeful departure from the dehumanised high-tech of the current Kraftwerk shows and articulates their journey from experimental krautrock band to international icons“.
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