Last month, I featured Lori Napoleon as my GOTW. Continuing in this tradition, I’d like to feature another one of my favorite electronic musical acts to accompany Tangerine Dream, Morton Subotnick, Trent Reznor, and other previous GOTWs. This week’s featured geeks are one other than the German band Kraftwerk. Coincidentally, the quartet also made our list of 10 Geek Rock Bands back in 2010.
The Man-Machine, 1978
Founded in Dusseldorf by Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider during 1970, this groundbreaking quartet has produced 10 studio albums, 1 live album, 3 compilation albums, 24 singles, and 2 box sets to date. They were very influential in experimental music and started a genre which has since been dubbed Krautrock. They are also very popular among electronic music geeks worldwide.
Minimum Maximum, 2005
Kraftwerk shows always feature 4 people on stage, each with various electronic instruments on individual podiums. The 4 members are normally dressed identically, and syncopated video clips are projected behind the band. Kraftwerk songs are based on repetitive rhythms, improvised sound synthesis, computer generated effects, bleeps, blips, and catchy electronic melodies. They’ve become a staple for synthesizer geeks everywhere. Their 1981 EP Computer World is actually one of my favorite albums. Now Kraftwerk can add GOTW to their list of accolades.
KALE: A geek who works in the IT Security field and lives in Dallas, TX. He is also a music geek who has played in several local bands. Previous to his IT career, Kale worked as a photojournalist. He brings technical advice and artistic counterpoint to the podcast. 
