Imminent Kraftwerk news? (Official post on Twitter just now)

Right now - and completely out of the blue - the band's mostly dormant official Twitter account has posted for the first time in a few years. It's a link to - I think - the first ever digital version of the 45 mix of 'Autobahn' (well, the US mix rather than UK one). Could this portend to something coming up? Singles compilation? Rarities set?

 

I hope so!

A singles compilation is long overdue.
Maybe a deluxe version with rarities?


The German Rolling Stone mag features an "Autobahn" 7inch btw.

 

Musikexpress has a special April issue with an Autobahn 7inch. Does the Rolling Stone have it too?

 

I should be getting the magazine and the 7 inch for this Musikexpress one in about a week or two,
maybe Rolling Stone got the same mix.

later
-1

 

Got the magazine and the 7 inch, its very nice.

There's several references to them, about 4 in the top 100,
and Interview with Ralf Hutter.

I've scanned all of them in, and will try to OCR and translate them
to English.

later
-1

 

That edition of Musikexpress was quite a hit in Germany among vinyl fans.

 

Here's a preview of the text for the number 1 album : Autobahn




And a very rough translation:

Code:

The 100 BEST ALBUMS FROM GERMANY
Kraftwerk Autobahn 1974 as in November 1974
the Kraftwerk album Autobahn, dau ert it is published still a few years,
to which youth will hear liche Juan Atkins in Detroit in the radio show of the DJs The Electrifying Mojo the Kraftwerk song „The Robots “- 
of the album THE MAN MACHINE -. And suddenly will recognize, the TRACK, which he so far at home up genome men has, is missing to what: the precision, the Maschinelle.

The rest is Techno history. The album Autobahn is the quantum
transition for the modern music, the origin of a development, 
the power station and with it the electronic music will take, 
in Detroit a new music direction is invented
and in New York the still young Hip Hop category an idiom 
experiences by the futuristic music of these funky white boys from Duesseldorf.

After three rather experimental albums the development 
flows with Kraftwerk into Autobahn, an album, 
with which volume green is obviously so content Ralf Hütter 
that he begins with it the official album counting of the Düsseldorfer. 

The album marked a turning point in the connection history, 
Kraftwerk works off there conceptual and places the 
recurring topic human being nature technology into the foreground.

It is the beginning of the development of an 
automation ten music, which is ever continued to refine, 
from album to album, of TRANS EUROPE EXPRESS 
over the MAN-MACHINE up to COMPUTER WORLD. 
The surprising success of album and title song, which 
over Great Britain and the USA with time delay enter 
Germany, creates a consciousness for elektronic music 
beyond the avant-gardes and Experimentierer.

Kraftwerk lend to the synthesizer - before often as 
producers of exotic Soundgimmicks, or used as means 
for the imitation of the sound of klas sischen orchestras 
- an own voice. It is used in the context of a pop song, 
and afterwards the Pop is no more the same. 

The music „of the small button turners “is unexpectedly 
in the mainstream ange comes.
And with an electronic fantasy over an autobahn trip. 
One must regard popular cultural environment in 
German country in the middle of the 1970er-Jahre, 
in order get a notion to, which we has kung Autobahn on the mainstream. 

Since in addition, well 20 years dominates the hit 
with love and welfare world singing the music scene, 
it is the time of the experimental music, which in 
England with the negatively meant expression „herb rock 
“will provide, although internationally regarded of volume 
such as CAN, cluster, Tangerine Dream, new! , 
Fist, not to do Amon Düül or Popol Vuh with skirt 
as well as nothing at all have.

Little is sung, if nevertheless, then often in English. 
The relationship to the German language remains difficult, 
it is too much connected with the Schalala of the Schlagers.
And: It is rather out of round compared with singing 
languages such as English, French or Italian. Kraftwerk 
“electrical sings nisch alienated and „nature-leaves “on 
„Autobahn, and they sing on German: „We fahr'n fahr'n fahr'n 
on the Autobahn. Before us a far valley lies. The sun shines with 
glitter jet. The lane is a grey volume.

White strips, the Green edge. “A song text like a nursery 
rhyme, that equally confession for, as Ironisierung of 
German as singing language is. The out of round of the language, 
which corners and Kan ten, the alleged disadvantages make 
Kraftwerk an advantage. With it they do not only place the 
laws of the pop music on the head. In a pop song much 
must sieren pas, it must much and over love gesun towards become, 
it may than three minutes be not longer. 

In „Autobahn " also much happens, only those is distributed 
 many on 22 minutes and 47 seconds. And which happens, the 
archaic structural drawing for a Techno TRACK could be taken 
- it is everything there, which possesses still today 
validity in electronic music: the bass LINE, the pulsie rende Beat, 
warm Soundscapes and effects, which are to symbolize 
overhauling and honking cars in this case, 
rend melodic sounds of synthesizer the width of the landscape suggest.

After approximately eight and a half minutes 
one follows over five-minute passage in - detached by the main motive 
- which effects with the over getting cars are driven on the point, 
priming by bass synthesizer and metallic Beat 
- it is like the Remix of the TRACK, which is at the same 
time its existence part. Still everything is not electronic 
in this tone painting: Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider play all instruments in the title TRACK, beside the synthesizers also organ, piano, guitar and flute. 

But the synthesizers dominate the sound image of the album. 
A shortened version of „Autobahn “creates it 1975 as a first 
single with a German-language text into the America 
niches charts (place 25, England: 11).

In the course of success the single also the album 
slips into the hit lists (the USA: 5, England: 4, Germany: 7). 
On their first USA tour for the first time in the spring 1975 
are Kraftwerk in occupation Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, 
to see Karl Bartos and Wolf- course Flür. The album Autobahn 
stands like a monolith over the complete work for that volume, 
but it is more than its title song. Because however the entire 
first LP-side takes, it over-radiates the rest. On the second side 
there is midnight “with the filmmusikartigen TRACKs 
„comet melody 1 “, „and „morning walk “a return to the 
program music of the early years, in addition, a hidden hit: 
„Comet melody 2 “, a veritable Synthie Pop TRACK, from 
which the Vorecho of volume such as The humanly out-sounds 
to League and Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark. 
Albert Koch Kraftwerk en borrow to the Synthesizer 
an own voice, and afterwards the Pop is no more the same.

later
-1

 

Well this is the first I've heard of it!

All ordered!

 

I hope for a big box with a compilation and rarities.

 

As nice as the Crown Records CD's sound (some of the best vinyl-to-CD work I've heard, even), I just want a box of their first four albums.

 

There are many sellers on discogs,
you can get it with or without the magazine:

Kraftwerk - Autobahn








Most have decent prices, including shipping to the US.

later
-1

 

Actually, this edit is 4:35, which does not match these:
German /US : 3:28
UK : 3:05

So it's a different mix. Yes, its available digitally, and on vinyl.

later
-1

 

Kraftwerk were excellent as usual at the Cooljazz festival in Cascais, Lisbon last night. Genius.

 

Any good info on the Organisation Tone Float CD/LP reissue? I'm 95% sure it's a copy of whatever version has been out there, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

The small bit of info I can see says it comes with an 8 page booklet, 4-panel digipack. But since it comes with the Beat Club track at the end, I assume it's just a copy of the existing version.

Organisation - Tone Float

 

I just bought a vinyl copy. Gave up on ever being to find/afford an original.