089: Kraftwerk - Computer World (1981)
“We consider ourselves not so much entertainers as scientists. We work in our studio laboratory, and when we discover something that is true, we put it on a tape.”
–Ralf Hütter
Eins, zwei, drei, vier! This week, Producer Mike brings our winter of electronic music to a close with a band that didn’t just pioneer electronic music – they basically wrote the source code. Kraftwerk formed in Düsseldorf, Germany in 1969 and started messing around with basically anything with wires that made a funny noise. They weren’t the first band to experiment with electronic music, but they infused it with a quirky, creative sense of humanity that transcended language and resonated with audiences worldwide. None of the members of Kraftwerk owned a computer when they recorded their 1981 album Computer World, but the album is shockingly prescient, anticipating the myriad ways computers have wormed their way into every aspect of daily life, and it’s also among their most influential, echoing through genres like hip-hop, electro, and basically any music with an electronic pulse. So get ready to beam yourself into the future, because Discord & Rhyme is going fahr’n, fahr’n, fahr’n auf der Autobahn.
Miscellany
Something Mike alluded to but never stated directly in the episode was that by the time Kraftwerk recorded Computer World, their instruments were almost entirely custom-built. In fact, they spent part of the three-year break following The Man-Machine building what was essentially a portable studio that they used both to record the album and to perform the songs on tour.
During live performances of “Pocket Calculator,” Florian Schneider would hold his calculator-synth out to the audience, and a lucky few would get to press down the special key.
A funny example of context that got lost in translation between the German and English versions of Kraftwerk’s music shows up in “The Model.” The English version features the line “She's going out to nightclubs, drinking just champagne.” The German lyric is “Sie trinkt in Nachtclubs immer Sekt (Korrekt!)” (She drinks in nightclubs, always Sekt – correct!). This is a reference to a waiter at a Düsseldorf club who would greet guests by pouring them a glass of German sparkling wine, or Sekt, without being asked, because it earned him the highest commission. Very polite of him!
The quote about Jay-Z sampling Kraftwerk is likely either a misquote or apocryphal. The only song featuring Jay-Z that’s based on a Kraftwerk sample is Dr. Dre’s “Under Pressure,” which samples “Trans-Europe Express” and came out in 2010, well after the Coldplay song.
Other links
Kraftwerk's incomprehensible official website (kraftwerk.com)
When Kraftwerk issued their own pocket calculator (Open Culture)
Full index of known Kraftwerk samples (WhoSampled.com)
Bill Bailey’s Kraftwerk pastiche, “Das Hokey Kokey” (YouTube)
Discord & Rhyme Roll Call
Mike DeFabio (host)
Amanda Rodgers (moderator)
Rich Bunnell
Phil Maddox
Computer World tracklist
Computer World
Pocket Calculator
Numbers
Computer World 2
Computer Love
Home Computer
It’s More Fun to Compute
Other clips used
Kraftwerk:
Musique Non Stop
Neon Lights
Ruckzuck
Autobahn
Trans-Europe Express
The Model
Computerwelt
Pocket Calculator (The Mix version)
Dentaku
Mini Calculateur
Mini Calcolatore
Hall of Mirrors
It's More Fun to Compute (Live in Tokyo)
The Robots
Boing Boom Tschak
Aero Dynamik
Others:
Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Karn Evil 9: 3rd Impression
Charles Dodge - He Destroyed Her Image
Rammstein - Du Hast
Bill Bailey - Das Hokey Kokey
P.M. Dawn - If I Wuz U
Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force - Planet Rock
Sir Mix-a-Lot - Rippin'
Splack Pack - Shake That Ass Bitch
69 Boyz - Da Train
Biz Markie - Biz in Harmony
Cookie Crew - Got to Keep On
Redman - I'm a Bad
Big Audio Dynamite - Kool-Aid
DJ Shadow - What Does Your Soul Look Like - Pt. 4
Herb Alpert - Paradise 25
Strong Bad - Technological Romance
Coldplay - Talk
Cybotron - Clear
Beck - Get Real Paid
LCD Soundsystem - Disco Infiltrator
The KLF - What Time Is Love? (Live at Trancentral)
Compton's Most Wanted - Jack Mode
DJ Assault - Check Stub
Voodoo Doll - Women Beat Their Men
K.M.C. Kru - The Devil Came Up to Michigan
Disco Rick and the Wolfpack - Can You Feel It
Gregory D & Mannie Fresh - Monster Booogie
Gigolo Tony - Shake Your Pants
Señor Coconut - Homecomputer
Yellow Magic Orchestra - Pure Jam
The Fall - Eat Y’self Fitter
Band/album personnel
Ralf Hütter – album concept, artwork reconstruction, cover, electronics, keyboards, mixing, Orchestron, production, recording, Synthanorma Sequenzer, synthesiser, vocoder, voice
Florian Schneider – album concept, cover, electronics, mixing, production, recording, speech synthesis, synthesiser, vocoder
Karl Bartos – electronic percussion
Wolfgang Flur – electronic percussion
Credits
“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:
Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
Kraftwerk - Numbers (this episode only)
You can buy or stream Computer World and other albums by Kraftwerk at kraftwerk.com, your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.