The Sonic Music Review Playlist: Week 4

This week's playlist compiled by The Sonic Music Review looks back on some of the earliest work featured on the site. This playlist combines the highlights of the progressive rock and synth pop music covered, featuring a selection of works from acts including Camel, Neu! and Ellie Goulding.

Tracklisting:

1. Camel                    - Dunkirk from The Snow Goose

2. NEU!                     - Negativland from NEU!

3. Kraftwerk              - Autobahn from Autobahn

4. The Prodigy           - Omen Reprise from The Most Incredible Thing

5. Depeche Mode      - Personal Jesus (The Stargate Mix) from Personal Jesus (The Stargate Mix)

6. La Roux                 - Tigerlily from La Roux

7. Ellie Goulding        - The Writer from Ellie Goulding

For the Spotify streamable playlist, click here.

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The Sonic Music Review Weekly Playlist: Week 3

Following the success with the introduction of a weekly playlist, a short cross section of the works featured on The Sonic Music Review, we are proud to release the third instalment, featuring a selection of works from acts including Enigma, Tangerine Dream and Schiller.

Tracklisting:

1. Enigma                    - Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi from Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi

2. Schiller                    - Let Me Love You from Desire

3. Tangerine Dream     - Tyger from Tyger

4. The Pet Shop Boys  - The Clock 10/11/12 from The Most Incredible Thing

5. Kraftwerk                - Home Computer from Minimum-Maximum

6. Yazoo                      - Only You from Only Yazoo

7. Global Communication     - 5:23 from 76:14

For the Spotify streamable playlist, click here.

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Kraftwerk: Computer World

Kraftwerk, the highly influential German electronic music outfit, are well known for their extensive use of sequencing and other devices which gave their music a distinctive robotic quality later echoed in part from the 80's synthpop aesthetic. 'Computer World' is the band's eighth studio album, released in 1981 following their most prolific output in the 1970's, crystallising the bands creative practice while refining further timbral elements and production methods. This album is widely credited as an early influence on techno music.

Kraftwerk: Computer World

As with most Kraftwerk albums, the entire track listing is constructed around an overarching theme, computing and the modernisation of society being the central themes in this case. From the title track, 'Computer World' which opens the album, the lyrics meander around some of the high-tech institutions of the time, making reference to "Interpol and Deutsche Bank, FBI and Scotland Yard" while the insistent electronic percussion gives the piece a sense of momentum and pace. To further illustrate the precision of their craft, the band marry a somewhat uncertain and foreboding musical atmosphere with the lyrical content referring to the biggest investigative bodies at the time.

Following a comparably dark introduction, the track listing soon turns to the following track, 'Pocket Calculator;' which juxtaposes the mood of its predecessor with a more lighthearted feel while retaining heavily sequenced instrumentation. This track would later go on to be released as a major single from the album, reinterpreted into three different languages, as well as giving the band their chance to perform live with the use of Casio musical calculators which were also sampled throughout this track.

For the sake of word limits, a complete feature of every track on the album is not possible but a passing note on the band's inclusion of 'Computer World .. 2' referencing an earlier track is pertinent as it speaks volumes about their aesthetic. This is swiftly followed by 'Computer Love,' a later live performance of which is reviewed here. This track is certainly some of the finest material written by the band in this era, paradoxically combining typical Kraftwerk mechanism of sound with heart-rendering musical writing, one of the saddest examples of music in the 80's repertoire. Given that the band Coldplay use (with permission) the opening riff of 'Computer Love' in their track 'Talk,' Kraftwerk's influence into popular contemporary music is overtly exemplified.

The album concludes with 'Home Computer' and 'It's More Fun To Compute,' two tracks later combined into a singular arrangement for the band's more recent tours. Ultimately these tracks bring the album to a conclusion with a similar dark mood to its beginning. From any angle one looks upon this album, it is undoubtedly a fine collection of work and some of the band's greatest output.

For The Sonic Music Review's feature of 'Minimum-Maximum,' a live album featuring several tracks from 'Computer World,' click here.

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The Sonic Music Review Playlist: Week 2

Following the success with the introduction of a weekly playlist, a short cross section of the works featured on The Sonic Music Review, we are proud to release the second instalment, featuring a selection of Trance, Ambient and Pop works from acts including Daft Punk, Tangerine Dream and Depeche Mode.

Tracklisting:

1. Daft Punk / Avicii    - Derezzed (Avicii Remix) from Tron Legacy - Reconfigured

2. Tiesto                       - Elements Of Life from Elements Of Life

3. The Human League - Breaking The Chains from Credo

4. Tangerine Dream     - Navel Of Light - Part 2 from Springtime In Nagasaki

5. Alva Noto                - By This River from Summvs

6. Thomas Dolby         - She Blinded Me With Science from She Blinded Me With Science

7. Depeche Mode         - Enjoy The Silence from Violator

8. Kraftwerk                 - Radioactivity (Live) from Minimum-Maximum

For the Spotify streamable playlist, click here.

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Kraftwerk: Computer Love (2009 Version)

Kraftwerk are undisputedly one of the most influential acts of contemporary music, having famously inspired a wealth of synthpop music and influenced OMD among others to take up synthpop. Having been in the business since the late 60's, the fact that they still perform today is almost as remarkable as their adept reinvention to always remain on the edge of new performance technology. This video, an excerpt of a live performance by the group in 2009 shows the band performing their classic 'Computer Love,' best known by some for the riff which featured in Coldplay's 'Talk' many years after its debut.

Perhaps one of the most interesting features of this video, captured by DigitalDosage (see here), is genuine interaction with the crowd from Ralf Hutter, while Kraftwerk's typical method of working a crowd rarely constitutes more than a cursory glance at the audience. The video begins with Hutter joking in typical Kraftwerkian fashion "Next time, we'll bring our bikes."

As the music opens, even on this lo-fi recording, the virtues of laptop performance are clear, with far improved sound quality and crucially vastly increased sampling and processing dexterity. The arrangement itself has been noticeably altered from the original, as has the instrumentation. The visual accompaniment is also highly refined to give a purposefully minimal, polished commentary on the music, as seen throughout the bands live album 'Minimum-Maximum,' reviewed here.

Musically, the highlights appear in the form of the extended introduction and in particular the vocoded "computer love" harmony which features briefly within the arrangement on occasion, to an audible reception from the audience. The pseudo-improvised instrumental bridge adds variety but this is undoubtedly a fine rendering of the Kraftwerk classic. One can only hope their longevity continues deservedly.

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The Sonic Music Review Playlist: Week 1

This week The Sonic Music Review is proud to introduce the compilation of weekly playlists which feature notable tracks from the week's reviews, in particular those that have earned special mention. Playlists are provided as iTunes and Spotify links, so be sure to install Spotify if available in your region.

This first playlist features selected works from Enigma, Jean Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream.

Tracklisting:

1. Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene Part II from Oxygene

2. Tangerine Dream - Trauma as appears on Booster Volume II

3. Jean Michel Jarre - Velvet Road from Geometry Of Love

4. Enigma                - Principals Of Lust from MCMXC A.D., as appears on Love Sensuality Devotion

5. Enigma                - Sadeness (Part 1) from MCMXC A.D., as appears on Love Sensuality Devotion

6. Jean Michel Jarre - Electric Flesh from Geometry Of Love

7. Kraftwerk            - Planet Of Visions from Minimum-Maximum

8. Tangerine Dream - Love On A Real Train as appears on Ministry Of Sound 'Anthems - Electronic 80's 2'

For the Spotify streamable playlist, click here.

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Kraftwerk: Radio-Activity

Following the breakthrough success of 'Autobahn' in 1974, reviewed here, the next Kraftwerk album, 'Radio-Activity' was released in October 1975. Despite being released so soon after the band's first major record, this album shows a significant progression in style and is to be commended thus. This progression between albums is particularly significant in the case of Kraftwerk, which noticeably progress stylistically with every release.

Kraftwerk: Radio-Activity

The album begins with a short introductory track, 'Geiger Counter' before the title track 'Radio-Activity' marks the first musical material of the album. This title track was the only track from the album to be subsequently released from the album and has since been incorporated in the band's contemporary live performances, also appearing in their 'Minimum-Maximum' live album, reviewed here. This is followed up with the highly bleak 'Radioland.'

Kraftwerk are noted as a major influence by many of the big names of the 80's synthpop movement, including Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (OMD). When listening to a later track from the album, 'Antenna,' the clear parallels to synthpop music which was soon to become mainstream are clear. To a lesser extent, the band's use of the vocoder within their musical setting in tracks such as 'The Voice Of Energy' and 'Radio Stars' could be seen as popularising the musical effect into mainstream music, again this was used extensively later by a number of acts.

While the allusions to synthpop are clear throughout the album, the penultimate track 'Transistor' illustrates a musical style akin to the musical style of Vangelis. While this album lacks the same degree of an impact which the band's previous album 'Autobahn' did, the album remains a critical historic release which was highly influential on the subsequent development of western popular music. The album was of critical importance to the development of Kraftwerk's own music, bridging the gap between the experimental days of Krautrock and their later sequence based offerings such as the later 'Computer World' album which greatly influenced the development of techno music.

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Kraftwerk: Minimum-Maximum

Having previously reviewed the first major Kraftwerk release, 'Autobahn,' Here, this review will feature their last commercial release, the 2005 live album 'Minimum-Maximum.'

Having only released a total of 7 albums from their success with 'Autobahn' and a compilation album, 'The Mix,' this live album adds no new material other than 'Planet Der Visionen' ('Planet of Visions') which is essentially a remix of their 'Expo 2000' single.

In terms of style, The album matches the heavily sequenced digital synth-driven sound seen in 'The Mix'. While the album is thin on new material, the new arrangements of Kraftwerk classics which total a shade over 2 hours of music in all do illustrate the versatility of the group and mastery of their kraft. Having said that, for those without an affinity to the highly polished electronic stylings which the band specialise in, a slight lack of variety and lengthy arrangements in the album may create mixed reactions.

The extracts from the group's 'Trans Europ Express' and 'Computer World' albums incorporated into the set really shine, being very well suited to the bands current performance style of 4 laptops on stage. While some tracks verge on monotony and the album as a whole lacks great variety, their reinvention of classic tracks bring their music to an increasingly modern audience and go to show that they've still got it.

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Kraftwerk: Autobahn

During November 1974, the German Krautrock outfit Kraftwerk released their fourth studio album, 'Autobahn.' This album saw a refinement to their more experimental previous sound and set the foundation for their definitive electronic music style. This is widely considered as the first major Kraftwerk release and their 'commercial breakthrough,' paving the way for a musical career that continues to this day and a further seven studio albums.

The title track, the 22-minute epic 'Autobahn' was edited into a single version which reached number 25 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 11 on the UK charts. This track epitomises the hypnotic atmospheres seen in many of Kraftwerk's output through the use of an extended arrangement with minimal instrumentation and material. The album continues with 'Kometenmelodie' ('Comet Melody'), 'Mitternachht' ('Midnight') and 'Morgenspaziergang' ('A Morning Stroll') which illustrate a more ambient style of writing.

This album represents a key milestone in the development of electronic music, Kraftwerk would later go on to refine their style and famously inspire a great number of synthpop acts from the late 70's and 80's, earning them the titles such as 'The Godfathers Of Electronic Music' and 'The Electronic Beatles'. No other act has been more influential on the development of today's pop music.

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