The 500 - #256 - Trans-Europe Express - Kraftwerk

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #256
Album Title: Trans-Europe Express
Artist: Kraftwerk
Genre: Electronic, Synth-Pop, Avant-Garde, Experimental
Recorded: Kling Klang Studios, Dusseldorf, West Germany
Released: March, 1977
My age at release: 11
How familiar was I with it before this week: Not At All

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #238, moving up 18 spots since 2012
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Europa Endlos

Perhaps, you're fortunate to have reached that stage in life where you've become accustomed to purchasing most things when you need them. You may, if you're lucky like I've been, be able to purchase many things simply because you want them. It is a nice, comfortable feeling. However, there is something magical about having to save your money for a much desired purchase -- particularly when you are young.

When I was 15, I landed my first regular job. Sure, I'd had gigs before - delivering newspapers, babysitting and running the snack-bar at  high school events. This time it was consistent work -- a job, custodian for10-12 hours a week at the local community centre.

Byron Optimist Centre in London, Ontario (recent photo).

At the time, the minimum wage in Ontario was $3.30/hour. However, my new employer, the City of London, paid the princely sum of $5.82/hr. Not surprisingly, my friends were flabbergasted...and jealous. I was over-the-moon, delighted with my good fortune and, shortly after, set my sights on my first big purchase -- the Technics SL-D4, Direct-Drive, Linear Tracking Turntable.

Technics Sl-D4 Linear Tracking Turntable.

The store where I spotted my first big purchase was Great West Audio, located in downtown London. It was (for a Canadian high-school student in the ‘80s) a high-end boutique stereo outlet, carrying products far superior to those found in typical department store catalogues, such as Eaton's, Simpson-Sears or Consumer Distributing. Those options had been fine when I was a kid -- but now I was “grown up and ready for some hi-fidelity.

The interior of a typical stereo store.

I put a $40 down-payment on the $270 turntable. It was my first experience with "lay-away purchasing" and it made me feel tremendously mature. I diligently visited Great West Audio by bus every second Saturday, just after payday. If all went well, the turntable would be mine in about 14 weeks.

Needless to say, I got to know the weekend store clerks well and, since I was an active consumer, we would have friendly chats.They were likely only six or seven years older than I, but from my high-school vantage they were among the coolest adults I knew. I was actually a little envious of their career -- dressed in hip, business attire, making "big money", while playing awesome tunes on amazing stereo equipment all day. Plus, it was their job to talk to pretty girls who walked in to look around. (Truth be told, the male:female ratio was about 9:1, and that included girlfriends dragged inside by their high-school beaus).

Each time I dutifully deposited an installment, I wandered around the  store to ogle dream purchases  -- amplifiers, receivers, cassette decks and, of course, speakers. I had my eye on a pair of Mission 707 which were displayed prominently in "The Speaker Lounge" -- a sound-proofed studio at the back of the store.

Mission 707 Speakers - similar to the pair I would eventually purchase.

"Want to hear something cool through them, Marc?", the twenty-something sales clerk asked one Saturday afternoon.

"Sure", I responded, anticipating him to produce something familiar from the world of ‘70s rock--hopefully, something rich and complex, like Pink Floyd.

"Have you heard the latest from Kraftwerk?" he asked, producing a predominantly yellow album. He removed the record and handed me the jacket.

I shook my head plaintively: "No".

"They are German, electronic, incredible through those speakers you like". Salesmanship guile. He cued up the record and cranked up a nearby amplifier while motioning me to a nearby chair -- ostensibly situated for quality audio reception. For the next 5- 10 minutes, I sat in comfort, reading over the album jacket and experiencing Kraftwerk for the first time.

Computer World album cover by Kraftwerk (1981)

Kraftwerk, (Power Station in German) is an avant-garde, experimental, electronic band, formed in Dusseldorf in 1970. Initially, they were part of West Germany's "krautrock" scene -- a catch-all term for a broad genre of experimental rock sounds, including "kosmische" (cosmic) music which contained hypnotic rhythms, improvisations and the earliest use of synthesizers. The emergent style was a reaction to the cliches of Schlager Music, the conventional German pop music of the time, full of formulaic themes of love and homeland. It was simple, happy-go-lucky and sickly sentimental "Volksmusic" (folk music).

Heinz Georg Kramm - "Heino" - a well-known Schlager Music singer

During their classic period (1974-1986), Kraftwerk comprised founding members Florian Schneider and Ralf Hütter, as well as Wolfgang Flür and Karl Bartos. Since the quartet’s inception 50 years ago there have been 21 members.

Kraftwerk performing in  Zürich, 1978

The members played a variety of conventional musical instruments (guitar, violin, saxophone, drums) plus their electronic gadgetry. Today, it is easy to purchase an inexpensive synthesizer, I have a $300 electronic piano that can replicate dozens of instruments. However, in the 1970s, these ingenious musicians were literally purchasing motherboards, wires, processors and small memory chips that are primitive by today's standards. The components were wired together with a variety of interfaces and, through trial and error,  synthetic music never heard before was created.

Kraftwerk members behind an early synthesizer creation.

Schneider died in April, 2020, after a brief battle with cancer at the age of 73. Hütter continues to perform with three new members, two of whom have been with the band since the late 90s. In October, 2021, the group were finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a recognition long overdue. The group primarily influenced many genres of modern music, including synth-pop, hip-hop, and post-punk, as well as the techno, house, ambient and club music that dominated the dance scene in the 90s. They have also been cited as a seminal influence by dozens of modern artists, including many with records on The 500 list and other more current album lists -- Depeche Mode, The Cure, Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem and Daft Punk. Kraftwerk were the bedrock for the success of Hip Hop. Darryl McDaniels of Run DMC (#242 on The 500) told the English trade magazine New Musical Express in December, 2020, that:

“Kraftwerk were a foundation of hip-hop not just because of their music, but they built their own machines and computers. They were doing the same thing as young boys and girls in the Bronx were doing at the beginning of hip-hop."

German experimental electronica and New York City hip-hop seemss an odd connection, but McDaniels' thesis holds water. Young, hip-hop pioneers, including Grandmaster Flash, would salvage amplifiers, turntables, wires, tubes and a plethora of other parts from behind electronics and stereo stores to assemble the earliest equipment used to DJ. Additionally, Hip-hop artist Africa Bambaataa (born Lance Taylor) released his genre defining electro-beat album Planet Rock in 1986, containing samples from Trans-Europe Express.

When I left Great West Audio that hot Saturday afternoon, in the summer of 1982. I sincerely considered buying a Kraftwerk record to add to my collection -- something I could eventually play on my Technics SL-D4, Direct-Drive, Linear Tracking Turntable through my Mission 707 speakers. The science fiction movie Tron had recently been released and Kraftwerk reminded me of the soundtrack. I thought perhaps I should try to get ahead of this new sound that seemed to be the future of music. Little did I know it was already old enough to be influencing the contemporary music I was hearing.

I didn't, but I did invest in other artists who were similarly experimental, including Jean Michelle Jarre, Nash the Slash, FM, Wendy Carlos, Gary Numan and Duran Duran. For this blog, I took a deep dive into Kraftwerk, listening to Trans-Europe Express and many of the other offerings from their catalogue. Beyond a rich appreciation for their groundbreaking creativity, I really like the music and it will get many more plays.

What was the first big purchase you saved up for?

When did you first hear Kraftwerk?

The only picture I have of my eventual set-up - Mission 707
speakers & linear tracking turntable in 1992

The 500 - #320 - Amnesiac - Radiohead

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: # 320

Album Title: Amnesia

Artist: Radiohead

Genre: Experimental Rock, Electronica

Recorded: Three Studios, Paris, France, Copenhagen, Denmark, Oxford, UK

Released: May, 2001

My age at release: 35

How familiar was I with it before this week: A little

Is it on the 2020 list? No

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Knives Out

Amnesiac, the fifth studio record by Radiohead, was released in May, 2001, seven months after their fourth album, Kid A, In fact, Kid A was still selling briskly and listed on the US Billboard Top 200 chart on the day Amnesiac was released. We'll revisit Kid A in about four and a half years. It sits on The 500 list at position #67.

Album jacket for Kid A (2000) by Radiohead

When I was a kid, it was not unusual for a band to release two critically well-received records relatively close together, sometimes within the short span of a calendar year. Genesis, Elton John and Led Zeppelin did it in the 70s. The Beatles, whose  albums Revolver and Rubber Soul came out eight months apart in 1965 and 1966, created works so good that both made the top five on The 500 list.

Album jackets for Rubber Soul & Revolver (1965)  The Beatles

Prior to 1990, an album release typically meant a single, 12-inch vinyl record  which was limited to about 23 minutes of material per side. Consequently, albums such as Rubber Soul and Revolver clock in at 35 minutes each.

However, after 1990, many artists released material with the rapidly growing compact-disc (CD) market in mind. A CD can hold twice as much music as a vinyl record. Collectively, Amnesiac and Kid A have a running time of 93 minutes, so Radiohead fans were delighted and surprised when the two records hit shelves so close together. It also got them thinking:

Was the material on Amnesiac just a collection of outtakes from the Kid A sessions?

Or

Was Amnesiac a continuation of the musical statement the British alternative band had started with the release of Kid A?

Both views held some truth. The recording of each album took place at the same time, between January and April, 2000. Then, in 2021, Radiohead released Kid A Mnesia, which combined the two records along with previously unreleased material and remixed versions of songs from the albums. This supported the long-held theory that both records were part of a unified theme, or musical journey, for the band.

Album Jacket for Kid A Mnesia (2021) Radiohead

I gave a brief history on Radiohead in an earlier post, which included my relationship with the band's music. I have been a fan throughout their 30-year career, but seeing them live remains elusive. Although I did not follow them closely during  the early 2000s when I was holding down three jobs, I was delighted to see Amnesiac on The 500 list. It was wonderful to spend a week delving  into a record that I hadn't had time to fairly appreciate.

Radiohead (2000) 

The haunting, atmospheric and jazz-inspired Amnesiac is surreal and sometimes disorienting. It works well over morning coffee, but I wouldn't play it at a social gathering or as conversational background music because it requires sustained focus. And although I concentrated on the lyrics,  the thing that kept sticking with me was the title.

An amnesiac is someone who suffers from a medical condition called amnestic syndrome that hinders memory. There are two types of this condition. In the first, anterograde amnesia, comprehending new information is difficult. The other, retrograde amnesia, impacts an individual’s ability to recall events. Sometimes, both forms of amnesia are due to trauma or connected to a progressive neurological disorder, such as Alzheimer's disease.

The thought of either horrifies me – life without memories? And life void of continuing new inputs can strip the unfortunate sufferer of a meaningful existence, trapped in an earth-bound limbo. There are others who suffer too, such as friends and relatives. No one wants to be a burden.

I've reached an age where people I know are struggling with their cognitive function and it is heartbreaking to see. A good friend visits his mother in a long-term care facility, but she no longer recognizes him. He's been outwardly courageous in accepting his family tragedy, but I also know it impacts him profoundly and I am at a loss over what to say or do to help him.

When asked about the Amnesiac title, bassist Colin Greenwood said: "The record was like discovering a forgotten book buried deep in a library. This was a collection of songs that we didn't know we had (from the Kid A sessions). I suppose we knew we had them and had forgotten how proud we were of them, so we called them Amnesiac."

Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood

Perhaps, this is a helpful analogy when trying to come to terms with the cognitive decline of someone we love who has forgotten us. We still love them and we are still proud of the life that they left behind, even if it is buried deep in the library of their subconsciousness.

The 500 - #341 - Play - Moby

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: # 341

Album Title: Play

Artist: Moby

Genre: Electronica, Downtempo, Techno-Ambient

Recorded: Moby's Home Studio (Manhattan)

Released: May, 1999

My age at release: 34

How familiar was I with it before this week: Quite

Is it on the 2020 list? No

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Natural Blues

Between 1998 and 2010, I worked as a weekend bartender at Garlics Restaurant in my hometown of London, Ontario.  It is located on a trendy stretch of Richmond Row, beside the Grand Theatre and a short walk from the John Labatt Centre (now Budweiser Gardens).

Garlics of London (formerly Garlics Restaurant) London, ON

One of the many terrific things about working behind a bar in a busy, downtown bistro was serving the late night crowd -- aka "The Jazz Crowd". They were the patrons who arrived without a pressing agenda, not trying to squeeze in a meal before going to the theatre or a concert. They usually weren't driving, so they happily ordered multiple bottles of wine or sampled several signature cocktails, martinis and craft beers. They were, like jazz, a free-flowing, easy-going, collection of eclectic spirits.

Garlics bar (since renovated) - my weekend home for 12 years

By contrast, the pre-theatre crowd was often pressed for time, excited to eat and drink before a performance. We had to get them seated, served and shipped before the curtain went up at 8:00 sharp -- all without seeming as if anyone was in a hurry. This was a team effort pulled off by everyone from the host to the cooking staff, ever-visible in our open concept kitchen. It required a balancing act, coupling efficiency, manners and an easy-going disposition. Like the proverbial duck, we were composed on top and paddling furiously beneath the surface. 

The tension relaxed after 8:00 on a Friday or Saturday night, shirt sleeves were rolled up to the elbow, kitchen staff spelled each other for breaks (usually a cigarette) and I was at liberty to change the music in the Compact Disc player. Systematically, I would swap out the jazz standards and easy, familiar coffee-house and world music selections for discs that were more uptempo, avante-garde and even risque.  

Garlics' theatre seating standards (circa 2000)

In the early 2000s, one of my favourite discs to shuffle into the Compact Disc carousel mix was Play by Moby. Released in the spring of 1999, it is the fifth record by multi-instrumentalist and electronic musician Moby (born: Richard Melville Hall). 

Moby (early 2000s)

My first exposure to Moby came with the release of the Danny Boyle film The Beach, starring Leonardo Dicaprio, who was white-hot following his performance in the mega-hit Titanic. Moby's song, Porcelain, was featured in the movie's trailer. It, like many of the tracks on this record, immediately grabs your attention. The slow, atmospheric groove is haunting and lush. Porcelain and Natural Blues were the two tracks that invariably motivated a Garlics' patron to head to the bar and ask, "Who is this?"

I haven't listened through Play in many years, until recently. It was a blast of early 2K nostalgia. Unlike some of the other discs we played at Garlics, Play is not anxiety-inducing. Whenever I hear the soundtrack to Big Night or Willie and Lobo's Caliente, I am reminded of the urgency that accompanied a pre-theatre seating. Conversely, Play reminds me of calmly polishing wine glasses as the late night jazz crowd breezed leisurely through the restaurant's front doors. Another memory, another time.

 

The 500 - #363 - Substance - New Order

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

The 500 - #395 - Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsystem

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 395

Album Title: Sound of Silver
Artist: LCD Soundsystem
Genre: Dance Punk, Electronica, Indie Rock
Recorded: Long View Farm, Massachusetts
Released: March, 2007
My age at release: 41
How familiar was I with it before this week: Not at all
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: Someone Great 

Sound of Silver Album Cover - LCD Soundsystem

In music, the term Electronica casts a wide net over many styles. It is a genre that is difficult to define and one that comes with many labels, including ambient, house, techno, jungle, dub, chill and trance. Sound of Silver, is no exception. The sophomore release from LCD Soundsystem has been described by critics as dance-rock, art-rock, alternative-dance, and even post-punk-revival. Perhaps, it is best experienced and not labelled at all.

LCD Soundsystem was the brainchild of Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter James Murphy. Formed in 2002, the band has become a performer's collective, recruiting a diverse group of musicians and producers to help create their unique sound. 

LCD Soundsystem performing in 2016

However, the core members include Murphy, drummer Pat Mahoney and guitarist/bassist Tyler Pope, as well as Nancy Whang and Ranya Russom providing keyboard and vocal support.

Typically, music from the world of electronic dance relies heavily on beat and melody. Lyrical content is often sparse, or simple and repetitive. After all, dance music is for dancing.

James Murphy - LCD Soundsystem

Sound of Silver, however, offers something different. Murphy was an English major. He even turned down a job as a scriptwriter for the seminal television program Seinfeld. Additionally, his musical influences include an eclectic assortment of new wave, punk and art rock acts, including The Talking Heads, The B-52s, David Bowie, Brian Eno, The Velvet Underground, and even the progressive rock band Yes. Consequently, mixed into the rhythmic electronic sound of this record are lyrics that are poignant and thought provoking.

In preparing to write this entry, I posted a picture of the record cover on my social media accounts with a simple question: "Any fans out there?"

A fellow educator, Viki Kotarba, responded, celebrating her love for the track Someone Great, a song full of tantalizing contradictions. It is both sleek and uncomfortably peppy. It bounces rhythmically while delivering a message that, although it seems to be about loss and grief, is ultimately inconclusive. 

"I wake up and the phone is ringing
Surprised, as it's early
And that should be the perfect warning
That something's a problem
To tell the truth I saw it coming
The way you were breathing
But nothing can prepare you for it
The voice on the other end."

At times, the speaker seems to be telling only part of a story. Consequently, there is plenty of room within the hypnotic music for the listener to fill in the blanks from their own experiences. Much like the genre of electronica, it's a song that defies simple labels. 

Over the past week, I have played this record many times. I've invested time with the lyrics, but I enjoy it most when I simply let it play in the background -- washing over me as I busy myself with everyday life.