Kraftwerk

A 2013 feature in The Telegraph suggested Kraftwerk might be “the most influential group in pop history”. It’s a bold statement, but one that’s supported with compelling evidence thanks to the quality of this singular Düsseldorf outfit’s body of work.

Formed on the cusp of the 70s by mainstays Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider, Kraftwerk initially plied the fringes of West Germany’s experimental music scene. Their early albums mixed crude electronica with more organic rock instrumentation, but they perfected their own sound on 1974’s Autobahn album: a truly groundbreaking record which put synths, drum machines and the group’s hallmark brittle pop melodies front and centre, and rewarded the band with their breakthrough US hit.

After Wolfgang Flür and Karl Bartos joined Hütter and Schneider in 1975, Kraftwerk were seemingly unstoppable, with classic albums such as Radio-Activity, Trans-Europe Express and The Man-Machine influencing artists ranging from David Bowie to synth-wielding post-punks Gary Numan and The Human League, and early US hip-hop pioneers such as Afrika Bambaataa. They’ve effectively become a heritage act since 2003’s Tour De France Soundtracks, but Kraftwerk’s live shows continue to innovate, and the recent Remixes collection (featuring contributions from William Orbit, Hot Chip and Orbital) shows that electronic music in all its myriad forms still owes them a debt today.