KRAFTWERK : “COMPUTERWELT” - ALBUM REVIEW

I recently bought a nice new yellow vinyl copy of this classic album and thought it might be a good idea to review it. If you don’t know of the band or this particular recording, then read on and give it a listen if you think it sounds like it might be your kind of thing…

BACKGROUND

Kraftwerk are a German band from Düsseldorf, beginning in the late 1960s as part of the ‘Krautrock’ movement and then gradually moving into fully electronic synthesisor-based music during the 70s. They are pioneers in the genre, having pretty much invented it, and have inspired a whole host of artists and genres since. It would not be an understatement to say that they are one of the most influential bands of all time.

COMPUTERWELT

‘Computerwelt’ was released on 1981 and is the band’s eighth album, and the third in their most iconic and influential trio of releases which begain in 1977 with ‘Trans Europa Express,’ and continuing with ‘Der Mensch-Machine’ in 1978. These albums were all released in both German and English versions, and you’ll be able to find both out there : I would highly recommend the German, since it is their native tongue, and therefore sounding much more natural and authentic, while the English versions sound somewhat comical with their heavy German accents.

The overall sound of the album is minimalistic, cold, robotic and clinical, performed entirely on electronic instruments, and adorned with almost spoken vocals. However, despite this deliberate attempt to sound inhuman and therefore representative of computers, the music is highly melodic, even catchy, and also very rhythmic and danceable. That’s the whole Kraftwerk thing in a nutshell : glacial minimalistic beats, metronomic melodies and monotone mumblings which, almost inspite of themselves, have soul.

The album ‘Computerwelt’ is an early and incredibly prescient look at the roles computers have in our lives. It’s hard to believe it dates to 1981 when the lyrics deal with such 2026 topics as data theft, online dating, relying on home computers for entertainment, and using computers to make music. It bears stating that in 1981 less than 1% of households had a computer, with the exception of electronic calculators (and yes, one track from this album is about calculators).

Let’s go through the album’s seven tracks, which together run to only 34 minutes…

1. COMPUTERWELT

   • An impressive start to the album with this highly danceable melodic track whose lyrics refer to the likes of the police, banks and various government agencies having all our data. The main vocal is utterly deadpan and emotionless, and the song is interpersed with a robotic voice saying things such as ‘numbers,’ ‘counting,’ ‘trade’ and ‘people.’ Despite the worrying theme and dystopian robotic delivery, it’s musically speaking, very catchy and memorable, more or less ‘pop’ in its sensibilities. It’s pretty much a 10/10 as far as I’m concerned.

2. TASCHENRECHNER

   • Next up is my personal favourite from the album. ‘Taschenrechner’ means ‘pocket calculator,’ and the song likens the operating of such a device to the way in which Kraftwerk are making their electronic music. The rhythmic chugging beat and staccato melody is overlaid with another deadpan vocal line which goes : ‘Ich bin der Musikant mit Taschenrechner in der Hand. Ich addiere und subtrahiere, kontrolliere and komponiere’ - in English that would be ‘I’m the musician holding a calculator : I’m adding, subtracting, controlling and composing.’ Anyone who has dabbled with making electronic music on a computer will know that that is a pretty good summation of the process of most modern musicians. The song is full of blips and beeps, which at one point spiral off out of control until the beat and minimalist bassline reassert themselves. A superbly mesmeric, melodic and chirpy track. Nothing short of 10/10.

3. NUMMERN

   • After two catchy melodic tracks we now get to the side of the album that some people might not like. Now we’re stripping things right down to bare basics. This track has no melody whatsoever - it’s just an electronic drum beat with weird atonal synth noises over it : these sounds disappear and are replaced by numbers repeated by several robotic voices in German, English, French, Italian, Japanese and Russian. The title says it all - it’s just numbers, but somehow, somehow, it’s glorious! I’d also give this track 10/10, but I’m fully aware that it won’t appeal to those who are not familiar with industrial minimalism taken to extremes.

4. COMPUTERWELT 2

   • ‘Nummern’ doesn’t end, it just segs into ‘Computerwelt 2,’ which as the name suggests, is a variation on the main melody from the first track over a different drum beat. As it progresses, the number chanting comes back, but this time as a faster, mixed up mess simulating a stream of computerised communication. It’s still 10/10, even though it isn’t really a song, it’s just a meld of two previous tracks.

5. COMPUTERLIEBE

   • Now we get to the melodic heart of the album. ‘Computerleibe’ is a fine pop song about the loneliness of people in rooms connected to computers and desiring human contact throw computer dating. Again, the topic is so far ahead of its time, it’s incredible. The melodies are soft and gentle, quite beautiful and shimmering, and it has a good beat too. The last couple of minutes just disolve into glorious interlocking synth riffs which belie Kraftwerk’s classical music training in their mastery of counterpoint and harmony. Of course it gets a 10/10.

6. HEIMCOMPUTER

   • Next up we have my second favourite : starting with a simple but good drum machine beat, a staccato bassline with an onimous glacial synth riff comes in, making the feeling instantly rather dark - it looks like they’ve left behind the pop sensibilities and are taking us into darker territory. The vocal joins in, repetetively telling us about a person at home ‘programming the future to them,’ but from the tone of the music this does not seem like a good thing - the person seems trapped and alone. Wow - another prediction that turned out to be our modern daily reality! After a while the vocal stops and it dissolves into a spacey series of blips spiralling up endlessly before getting back to the main riff and another iteration of the song’s one and only sentence. Then, even more weird spacey blips emerge, which make me feel like I’m underwater - very mesmeric and quite relaxing, actually. This track is amazing - it’s 10/10.

7. IT’S MORE FUN TO COMPUTE

   • We finish with another extremely ominous synth riff over a drum beat - the darker mood is continuing, sonically telling us that despite the upbeat title (which is also the sole lyric of the song), that the future of human and computer is not going to be as good as we think. Very repetitive, but after a while a gorgeous orchestral sounding synth comes in with a sad eerie melody continuing until the end of the album, leaving us with a rather unsettling feeling. It couldn’t be anything other than 10/10.

So there you have it - in my opinion this is one of the very few albums that are superb from start to finish. It’s massively influential, and for good reason : it’s an amazing blend of great melodies, infectious dance beats and thought-provoking minimalist musings on topics which are highly relevant today.

Remember, for the full Kraftwerk effect, get the German-language version!