Kraftwerk 'Computer World' (Warner Bros 3549-2)
Neil Young 'Trans' (Geffen CED02018)
Way back in the day, back so old school that it's best called pre-school,
Kraftwerk was coming out with music based primarily on synthesized sound.
The album 'Computer World' has been intermittently available since it came
out in 1981, and I finally stumbled onto a CD copy in a Best Buy store,
indicating that there are at least a few copies are in the distribution
pipeline.
Many IDM'ers already know the beauty that is 'Computer World,' but many of
you probably do not. I'm old enough to have rolled joints on the cover
of the original, so it's been part of my head space for some time. That
vinyl copy is lost in the mists of time so I was stoked to find it.
Why should you seek out a copy, if you don't have one already?
10. Home Computers & Numbers, two of the original electro tracks,
still featured in Robert Hood DJ sets.
9. Lovely sparse synth textures, made by hand on the machines all us
gear junkies can only dream of.
8. Speak & Spell, Speak & Math, and Spanish Speak & Math!
7. The haunting motif of Computer World, perhaps the most perfect
4 notes in electronic music.
6. That great clicky percussion, with the flanged white noise hi hats.
5. The manniquins on the back cover.
4. "I'm the operator of my pocket calculator"
3. Hear what was pitching Juan Atkins' tent on the Electrifying Mojo
show in 1981.
2. The whole Kraftwerk aesthetic of perfect pop music made by machines.
1984 was coming up and Orwell was on our minds, him with his machine
produced novels and music.
1. The funky computer terminal on the cover. Hazeltine Beehive I presume?
Also in the Best Buy Neil Young's album 'Trans.' Trans came out in 1982,
apparently after Neil was knocked out by 'Computer World.' Neil Young
is best known for being a founding member of many old fart hippy bands
(Crosby Stills, Nash & Young, Buffalo Springfield). Young is not a man
to underestimate -- reportedly his raw, resolutely gloomy album "Tonight's
the Night" was a favorite of John Lydon during the early days of the
Sex Pistols.
This is not slamming dance music by any means, but it has some great
tunes on it featuring lots of synths and tick-a-tick percussion.
Standout tracks are 'Sample and Hold', 'Transformer Man' and a lovely
remake of 'Mr. Soul' from Young's first solo album, replete with vocoded
vocoals. Young blazed a trail for 80's synth pop with this disk,
and then went back to what he was doing -- country tinged rock. A video
of 'Sample & Hold' was a popular number in the early days of MTV.
Back then everyone thought Neil had finally gone completely around the
bend. But for a moment, Neil was on the cusp of something new and played
it to the hilt.
This might not be the up to the minute dance floor fodder you're looking
for, but techno is like any other popular music genre -- it grows from
roots in previous genres, usually the music that musicians heard during
their wonder years.
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Kent Williams kent@inav.net
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