Review: Kraftwerk, Trans-Europe Express

Kraftwerk’s meditative album is a sonic poem to Europe.

Kraftwerk, Trans-Europe ExpressThanks to continental drift, Americans must cross an ocean to experience the luxury of trans-European travel. In 1977, Germany’s robot-pop manufacturers, Kraftwerk (translation: “power station”), celebrated these cross-country jaunts with their landmark release, Trans-Europe Express. Ripe with unlikely hooks and hypnotic, minimalist arrangements, tracks like the bright, crisp “Europe Endless” and the existential “The Hall of Mirrors,” were (and are) the sound of the future, employing sounds similar to the video games and sci-fi films of the era and informing an entire generation of music-makers. T.E.E.’s influence in unprecedented, reaching as wide as rock (Radiohead’s Kid A), hip-hop (Afrika Bambaataa’s classic “Planet Rock,” Jay Dee’s recent “Big Booty Express”) and pop (Madonna’s Drowned World Tour, which incorporated samples of “Metal on Metal”). Kraftwerk’s meditative T.E.E. is a sonic poem to Europe, a continent that has proven, time and again, to be the birthplace of musical innovation and, well, the Eurorail.

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 Label: Capitol  Release Date: March 21, 1977  Buy: Amazon

Sal Cinquemani

Sal Cinquemani is the co-founder and co-editor of Slant Magazine. His writing has appeared in Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Village Voice, and others. He is also an award-winning screenwriter/director and festival programmer.

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