Couverture / Jaquette

The story of the phenomenon that is Kraftwerk, and how one band revolutionised the cultural landscape of our time.

'We are not artists nor musicians. We are workers.' Ignoring nearly all rock traditions, experimenting in near-total secrecy in their Düsseldorf studio, Kraftwerk fused sound and technology, graphic design and performance, modernist Bauhaus aesthetics and Rhineland industrialisation-even human and machine-to change the course of modern music. What they created changed the course of pop music forever, influencing artists as diverse as Bjork, Joy Division, David Bowie, and Kanye West. This is the story of Kraftwerk the cultural phenomenon, who turned electronic music into avant-garde concept art and created the soundtrack to our digital age.

Note biographique

Uwe Schütte worked as an academic in the UK for over 20 years until Brexit. He is now based in Berlin and has recently published books on Krautrock, David Bowie, industrial music and the writer W.G. Sebald in both German and English.

Fonctionnalité

A HUGELY INFLUENTIAL BAND: The list of artists who cite Kraftwerk as their main influence is nearly endless, containing many of the greatest musicians of the last 50 years across a huge array of genres. Many music historians place them on par with bands like The Beatles.

PERSISTENT POPULARITY: Although they were began in the 1970s, Kraftwerk was still winning grammys in 2014. One of the founding members, Florian Schneider, passed away in 2020, prompting a renewed look at the band's legacy.

THE STORY OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC: More than the story of just one band, the history of Kraftwerk is the history of electronic music, and by extension the development of pop music over the last 50 years.

PENGUIN ON DESIGN: We're importing Kraftwerk packaged in the same beautifully designed series as Bruno Munari's Design As Art.

Détails