The Sigla Blog

Kraftwerk
Minimum Maximum ****

Two years ago during a long spell in hospital, my brother who was living in Australia, would ring me every day to see how I was doing. One fateful day called to say he was at a Kraftwerk gig in Sydney, knowing I was also a fan. He called during ‘The Model’, and again during ‘The Robots’. Even 12,000 miles away and down a mobile phone held aloft in the air at some nameless venue, I couldn’t quite take in what I was hearing. Back on tour for the first time in decades, they sounded, well, all two minutes sounded, unbelievable. All I had to do now was gear myself up for the Irish date of the tour, which arrived last March to Dublin’s Olympia. I’ve seen a lot of bands live and most of the ones I’ve always wanted to see, but this gig will remain somewhere in my top three of all time.

This double album of 22 tracks has pretty much every Kraftwerk track you’d ever want to hear live (except, sadly, ‘Computer Love’, the b-side to ‘The Model’). Even when Florian gives us a lesson in dietetics listing off “Carbohydrate, Protein, A, B, C, D, Vitaminâ€? on ‘Vitamin’, the sheer genius of what they do is apparent. It was never about words with Kraftwerk. It was about innovation, about being way ahead of their time and about creating a sound that has been mimicked by thousands. Kraftwerk were using synthesizers and programming years before Depeche Mode and are a whole generation ahead of Orbital, Aphex Twin, Autechre et al.

Many of the songs performed on the tour are 25+ years old, but haven’t dated, something that is extremely difficult to do well in electronic music. Even ‘Neon Lights’, a cross between a b-movie sci-fi soundtrack and intergalactic love song recalls a nostalgia for 70s synth sounds . but in a good way. The sound of a dirty old engine being cranked up announces ‘Autobahn’. The word ‘autobahn’, announced four times at the start, is like a robotic barbershop harmony. Proving it’s definitely not about the lyrics is the excellent ‘Numbers’, (about digits), ‘Pocket Calculator’ (more digits), and ‘Home Computer’ which probably captures their intense live sound more than some included. The CD, fittingly, ends with my favourite Kraftwerk track ever, Musique Non Stop which at nearly 10 minutes is the longest track. We may never know what ‘Boing boom tschak’ means, but then this is an indefinable slice of musical genius.

Three versions of ‘Tour De France’ are included which is more than enough but apart from that the only thing that could better this is a live DVD. In concert Kraftwerk are as much a visual as audio spectacle. The band themselves don’t move much or interact with the crowd but the graphics are probably the best you’ll ever see at a gig (rivalling Coldcut’s VJamm stuff). Most memorably were the visuals for ‘Vitamin’ of hundreds of coloured cascading pills. When the curtain went down on ‘The Robots’ in Dublin (the version here was recorded in Moscow) and four actual robots replaced the actual band members, it was hard to tell the difference, but it was a stroke of theatrical genius. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell where the computers end and Kraftwerk begin but it doesn’t matter. It still makes you want to dance or think or even wish you owned an old analog synth. No one puts on a live show quite like them, so if you go to one gig this year, catch them at the Electric Picnic on September 3rd.

Info: www.kraftwerk.com