Kraftwerk - Tour de France Soundtracks (2003)

KLING KLANG, KLING KLANG, KLING KLANG,
ARTIST`````Kraftwerk
ALBUM`````Tour de France Soundtracks
GENRE`````Electronic
YEAR````````2003

WHY:
I am sure that most of the people fiddling around electronic music surely have this glorious album but since I find it to be one of the best electronic albums of this decade I just had to post it.

In short, this album was a slap in the face to the entire electronic scene (and wider) when it came out because Kraftwerk were (at that time) a hugely respected visionary act but - they were an 80's gem. Yes, they created and influenced every corner of music as much as The Beatles did but from the trendy critics narrow eyes they were simply - retro (I tend to disagree with this because when you listen to their 80's stuff it still sounds much fresher and open than everything that came out after them). Of course Daft Punk, Autechre and the whole techno movement gang updated their style (and the English accent) for 90's clubbers in dire need of something punchy and raw but nobody really expected something new from the Kings of Robots.

No matter how much I explore the endless possibilities of electronic musicians I always feel like sitting on a pile of Kraftwerk records while doing that. I wonder how does it feel when you ARE electronic music.

Short review:
The seeming ease with which the group unselfconsciously effects a seamless transition from its prior recordings to its latest creates the impression that the band cryogenically froze itself for seventeen years and then immediately re-entered a newly equipped digital studio.
http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/kraftwerk/tour-de-france-soundtracks.htm

DOWNLOAD


Also, be aware of this:
“Finally, after cancellation and consternation Kraftwerk’s back catalog gets remastered and reissued…We think it’s – whisper – better than the Beatles.”

I was very surprised reading that Kraftwerk made this album completely in a software based studio using Cubase and lots of software effects. This is quite a big change considering their long history as hardware pioneers.
Read a short interview about the software used on this album.