Kraftwerk
Autobahn

Campus Correspondent CD review by Andy Argyrakis,
Campus Correspondent coordinator

Though Kraftwerk technically released three albums prior to 1974’s groundbreaking Autobahn (EMI), it’s a solid place to start for a catalogue remastering considering it was the first noticeable move towards conceptual projects. With a bright blue cover and highway lines down the center, it’s impossible not to think of traffic when listening to the five tracks packed therein, though the electronic bliss is sure to alleviate any stress when sitting in the bumper to bumper grind (or provide chill out accompaniment to any situation).

That’s because it finds the German electro-pop innovators expanding well beyond the primitive sounds of the time period to provide a myriad of sonic busts and keyboard booms, starting with the twenty minute-plus title track. While best known as a three minute single, this epic asserts Kraftwerk’s deft ability to be experimental in its vast soundscapes without ever coming across as self-indulgent. Though the remaining four cuts are all titled in the group’s native language, they have no trouble translating to clubs of any culture.