The Kraftwerk Special (feat. Jeff Green)
In a slight tweak of the MinnTrax format this week, we’ve enlisted Jeff Green (1up.com, CGW, Min/Max Consulting) to commemorate the passing of Kraftwerk co-founder Florian Schneider by taking a look at two of their most iconic albums: 1974’s Autobahn and 1981’s Computer World. We discuss what Kraftwerk’s breakout must’ve sounded like to an audience conditioned on slow jams, folk, and pop hits; the group’s surprisingly organic origins; how you even begin to track Kraftwerk’s influence on modern music; and what kept them from being just a novelty act. Then we turn to community questions to talk music movies, what’s the difference between repetitive and annoying music, and which artists our host and guest just can’t stand as people!
To jump to a particular discussion, check out the timestamps below…
4:35 - Comparing Kraftwerk to 1974’s radio hits
6:40 - “Autobahn”
9:50 - The Beach Boys connection
17:30 - “Ruckzuck”
26:50 - “Kometenmelodie 2”
30:50 - “Morgenspaziergang”
33:20 - “Mitternacht”
38:15 - “Computer World”
44:00 - “Pocket Calculator”
48:00 - “Computer Love”
54:20 - “Home Computer”
56:30 - “It’s More Fun to Compute”
1:12:20 - Community questions
1:31:55 - Community song (“Last Ones on the Dance Floor” by 3d Blast feat Maggie.wav & Father Glamor, suggested by RAWPARTEE)
Links
Follow Jeff on Twitter and twitch at @Greenspeak and find Min/Max Consulting at https://min-max.net/
Support MinnMax on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/minnmax/
MinnTrax Episode Playlist: https://spoti.fi/2vgqfvK
MinnTrax Community Playlist: https://spoti.fi/3aRRgox (edited)
