Kraftwerk: Man, Machine and Music
by Pascal Bussy
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Book Summary Information
Author: Pascal BussyEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-09
ISBN: 0946719705
Number of pages: 222
Publisher: SAF Publishing
Book Reviews of Kraftwerk: Man, Machine and Music
Book Review: 3.5 stars... Pleasant overview of the elusive German band
Summary: 4 Stars
Pascal Bussy is a French music journalist who had followed the German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk from the very beginning, and seeing that there was so little known, or written, about the band, he decided to try and write a book about Kraftwerk. The original book came out in 1993 and this is, after an update in 2001, another revised and updated edition from 2004.
"Kraftwerk: Man. Machine and Music" (222 pages) brings a straight-forward retelling of the origins of Kraftwerk, which of course includes a basic overview of the German krautrock scene in the late 60/early 70s. After that, the book follows a pretty strict forat, taking the 11 studio albums of the band as the starting point of the band's history. Here a couple of extracts:
-- on the band's name: "An added attraction in the name Kraftwerk was the fact that on German roads the power stations (kraftwerks) are indiacted by road signs every 100 km or so, therefore acting as free advertising for the group. This extra appeal to the name was not lost on them."
-- on the track "Autobahn": "In the group's eyes, the track was so much more than just a song or a piece of music. Hutter was now clearly enjoying this conceptual side that allowed him to theorize, often humorously, about its derivation."
-- on possible collaborations with Bowie (whom they met regularly in his "Berlin" period): "It would undoubtedly have been a very unusual step for Kraftwerk to take, given that they had never collaborated with anyone outside the Kraftwerk family. Suffice to say, it is probable that Bpowie would have benefited more from such a collaboration."
The parts I enjoyed most in the book are the detailed reviewes and analysis of the band's albums and its ocer and art work, which plays such an important paqrt in the whole Kraftwerk experience (check out the excellent insights on the cover work for the "Man Machine" album). The band's sudden interest in the early 80s in cycling gets extended attention as well (and that would of course lead to the Tour de France single in 1983 and come-back album in 2003). If you hope to get any 'dirt' on the personal lives of Hutter & Company, you've come to the wrong place. "I considered I had been respectful of Hutter and Schneider's obsessive wish for privacy and avoided including addresses or precise locations", writes the author in the Introduction.
In all, as mentioned in other reviews, there is nothing monumental or truly revelatory about this book. It is a pleasant introduction, nothig more, nothing less. As a lifelong fan I finally had the good fortune of catching Kraftwerk in concert for the first time at Coachella 2008. What a memorable experience that was. And we could see another new album possibly as soon as sometime later in 2010. Bring it on!
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