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Unsung Forum » Kraftwerk doc tonight |
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elegant chaos 2390 posts |
Edited Feb 01, 2015, 18:33
Feb 01, 2015, 18:29
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I was the "1 out of 10" who managed to get a ticket for Tate Modern - I queued for three hours in a bloody cold Turbine Hall in the middle of December to get a ticket for the "Radioactivity" night - whilst I was waiting they already announced that the "Trans Europe Express", "The Man Machine" and "Computer World" nights were sold out. I found out later that on each night of the tour there were plenty of tkts available on the door - so those who decided to put on a night in the pub could have saved their efforts and headed on down! Great reminders of easily the best visual concert I've ever seen - but to me this doc was a Ralf Hutter PR exercise. No mention at all of Organisation or the album "Tone Float" - the Kraftwerk clip that was filmed when Hutter left the band for 6 mths in '71 was absent - as was any reference to his brief departure - no mention at all of the albums "Kraftwerk", "Kraftwerk 2", "Ralf and Florian", "Radioactivity" (OK a couple of songs from it were aired) and - mercifully - "The Mix". No comment on the fact that they have only released two albums of new studio material in 34 years (it was this in(radio)activity that caused Karl Bartos to quit in 1990) and most scandalously no word on why Florian Schneider bailed out after working with Hutter for 40 years. Recently I played for the first time in years my boot CDS - yes - thanks Ralf - we still can't buy the CDs officially - of the pre-Autobahn albums. Much as they generate interest and there is the odd track - "Ruckzuck", "Kling Klang" - that offer glimpses of things to come - I can understand to a certain degree why Hutter distances himself from "Tone Float", "Kraftwerk" and "Kraftwerk 2". They're worthy of release but it sounds like a completely different band on the whole. It incenses me that "Ralf And Florian" is shunted aside because this was the true initiating album of the "trademark" Kraftwerk sound. In fact - the doc mentions Bowie's recording of "V-2 Schneider" and his championing of Kraftwerk - but there is an interview where he specifically mentions the "Ralf And Florian" album as a key influence on his work. The band's first single "Kohoutek -Kometenmelodie" - released just after "Ralf and Florian" and different recordings to the "Autobahn" "Kometenmelodie" tracks - is a key player in the development of their sound. I was only aware of the single's existence a couple of years ago - and of course it's never mentioned anywhere - let alone this doc. Here's that original single..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLkjZtqhPUk
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IanB 6761 posts |
Edited Feb 02, 2015, 14:11
Feb 02, 2015, 10:04
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I really enjoyed it. Too much contemporary live footage for my taste and not enough about how they did it but it was great to see Derrick May (kudos for saying that a lot of techno is crap and that Kraftwerk don't deserve to be lumped in) and François Kevorkian rather than the current trend for a carrousel of talking heads featuring Stuart Maconie, Viv Albertine, Kate Mossman, St Vincent, Richard Hawley et al. I can see why Morley was included as he and Penman were among the very few writers on the music press who extolled the virtues of Kraftwerk in the face of the more grubby, Gothy and less slick end of the C81 stuff. Just as Danny Baker was one of the very few to explain why Michael Jackson mattered. Morley was also one of the first people to spot the greatness of the post-Hansa Japan and the post-Arista Simple Minds - both bands heavily influenced by early German electonica at that time. So I think some credit is due. Yes he's a pretentious pillock but there's something to be said for over reaching otherwise all you get is something akin to the documentaries where, as Stewart Lee says “for a fee, Stuart Maconie can recall any aspect of human experience”. The person who was annoying, simply because he simply didn't seem to have a strong factual grasp on his subject was Neville Brody. Clearly no one was going to own up to recalling having seen the cover of Traffic's "On The Road" either ;-)
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Kid Calamity 9048 posts |
Feb 02, 2015, 10:18
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Despite finding recordings from both showings, on my digital recorder thingy, I somehow managed to clip the endings off both. Still, very enjoyable. I never actually saw them live, but Lady Calamity saw them in London, back in the day - so, it was a nice trip down memory lane, for her.
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drewbhoy 2559 posts |
Feb 02, 2015, 12:42
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Thought it was quite good as well. Seen them years ago in the Capitol in Aberdeen. What a great venue that was, complete shame when they closed it :-(
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Monganaut 2382 posts |
Feb 02, 2015, 16:34
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Like you say, I do think it's a shame that they've whitewashed the early years out of their 'history'. Remember hearing the Organisation album Tone Float and loving it. It is a totally different beast to those later 'Teutonic/minimalist' albums, but I've never thought it was something they should have been embarrassed about. Ditto Kraftwerk 1 and 2. Maybe they didn't wish to sully their history/mythology by highlighting the characters and reputations of the other two members who went on to form/ be involved with Neu!/Harmonia/La Düsseldorf. You've probably heard/got this, but it's another little artifact from that early time that I enjoy. Kraftwerk, Live Bremen Radio 1971 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTP-Clo62Dg Mind you, I've never warmed to Electric Cafe. If anything, that's the one I'd erase from the archive ;)
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keith a 9574 posts |
Feb 02, 2015, 18:46
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IanB wrote: I really enjoyed it. Too much contemporary live footage for my taste and not enough about how they did it Yeah, I'd go along with that. I'm sure that the stillness / visuals that make up their live performances is great when you're actually there (I'd certainly love to see it), but that doesn't necessarily make for great telly. And I know Morley is pretentious but personally I find him entertaining. And I thought he was on more than decent form in this one.
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tyroneshoelaces 38 posts |
Feb 10, 2015, 16:36
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I couldn't agree more. It seemed to me like they'd got some footage of the Tate Modern gigs and wanted to construct something flimsy around it, plus the footage of them playing with Can (which admittedly I'd never seen before). There was no real in-depth tracing of the history, no mention of Karl Bartos and Wolfgang Flur, both of whom were in the band for many years, nor any mention of the members of the modern line-up, how and why they're now in. Wasted opportunity. I got bored with it, to be honest, and I love Kraftwerk.
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spencer 3071 posts |
Feb 21, 2015, 04:09
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Was just checking to see if the essential Can live in Soest 1970 gig was still up on Youtube (yup), and found/hadn't noticed before there's a Kraftwerk vid from the same venue and year there - almost 50 mins. Can't do link, search for 'Kraftwerk - Live in Soest (Germany) November 1970'
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