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I've been wanting to make this thread for a long time now and hopefully stimulate some conversation on these often misunderstood genres of electronic music.

Synthpop

Synthpop is a subgenre of New Wave in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It is most closely associated with the era between the late 1970s and early to middle 1980s, although it has continued to exist and develop ever since. Kraftwerk (from Germany) and Yellow Magic Orchestra (from Japan) are often hailed as the pioneers of the style.

Synthpop is sometimes confused with electropop, which is generally regarded to be a particular style of synthpop that incorporates the more robotic elements and feel of electro music. The term "synthpop" has also become increasingly used in goth and industrial circles to describe various alternative electronic artists who have used influences from synthpop, particularly those in the electronic body music and futurepop genres .

Characteristics

While most current popular music in the industrialized world is realized via electronic instruments, synthpop has its own stylistic tendencies which differentiate it from other music produced by the same means. These include the exploitation of artificial sounds (the synthesizers are not used to imitate acoustic instruments), the use of mechanical sounding rhythms, and vocal arrangements used as a counterpoint to the artificiality of the instruments. Synthpop song structures are generally the same as in other popular music.

Influences

Mid 20th Century avant-garde composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen were pioneers in the development of electronic music. The use of synthesizers in rock music began in the 1960s, notably by The Beatles, however, the instruments were highly complex, temperamental, and expensive. In the late 1960s there was a surge of Moog synthesizer-affected albums by artists like Perrey and Kingsley, d**k Hyman and, most notably, Wendy Carlos. Synthesizers became more widely used by progressive rock and jazz fusion groups such as Pink Floyd, Yes, Return to Forever, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Weather Report. Many Krautrock groups like Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk heavily incoporated synthesizers into their music as well. The late 1970s Kraftwerk albums, such as Trans-Europe Express and The Man Machine, were particularly influential in the creation of the Synthpop sound.

Late 1970s to mid 1980s

In 1978, the self titled debut by the seminal Yellow Magic Orchestra was released in Japan. The same year, the British group Ultravox released their third album, Systems of Romance, which featured synthesizers more prominently than their earlier work. Other pioneering British Synthpop acts began to surface, including Gary Numan and The Human League. The original Synthpop groups had a sound that was generally dark, moody and robotic.

Synthpop continued to evolve in the early 1980s, often in a more radio friendly, pop direction. It was made into danceable music and brought into mainstream by Duran Duran who grafted it into a dance beat. The band made the sound warmer than it was before. The sounds of synthesizers dominated the pop music of the era. Albums like Gary Numan's Telekon (1980), Vienna (1980) by Ultravox, Dare (1981) by The Human League, and Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret (1981) by Soft Cell typified the early synthpop sound.

Other key synthpop or synthpop-influenced groups and artists from the early-mid 1980s include Eurythmics, Depeche Mode, Erasure, A Flock of Seagulls, Tears for Fears, Pet Shop Boys, Devo, Berlin, OMD, New Order, Thomas Dolby, Thompson Twins, Bronski Beat, Duran Duran and even the early Ministry.

Late 1980s and Onward

In the United States, a backlash against the predominant styles of commercial pop in general, and synthesized music specifically, largely drove the Synthpop genre underground. Its fall in popularity may have been partially due to the increasing popularity of Glam metal and Hip-Hop beginning around 1986. Even fewer of the genre's 1980s acts were able to thrive commercially during the 1990s, as a new generation of radio DJs, video jockeys and record label representatives dismissed synthesiser-driven music as less visceral or artistic than the emerging styles of Grunge and Gangsta Rap. Major American labels would no longer sign or support the synthesizer-oriented bands that had been popular in the 1980s. This would eventually change in the late 1990s.

However, in Europe, South America, Australia, and Asia, Synthpop remained more widely accepted, and artists from these regions, as well as American artists temporarily expatriated there, performing music with 1980s synthpop roots have remained popular, and acts such as Ace of Base and Savage Garden have even spurred minor resurgences of the genre in the U.S. Eventually, the global synthpop scene re-emerged in the United States with the growing success of American record labels such as A Different Drum.

While the Modern Synthpop scene is heavily centred in the United States, some of the popular bands to emerge in the genre, such as De/Vision and Mesh, are European. However many such bands are not strictly part of the independent Modern Synthpop scene, since they are signed to major European record labels. European bands signed to the aforementioned U.S. labels and their ilk include Blue October, The Nine, Spray, and Empire State Human.

The late 1990s into 2001 saw what was arguably the height of the genre, demonstrating its maturity but also its limitations. A national magazine, Lexicon Magazine, focused on the Genre, but folded in 2001. Two large scale “festivals” were held in Los Angeles, California in 2000 and 2001 under the name Synthcon. The 2000 Synthcon saw the debut of Soviet, one of the few bands to cross over to the Electroclash scene and also saw an informal reuniting of one of the more influential synthpop bands, Information Society.

Modern Synthpop was briefly lumped with the explosion of the Electroclash movement in 2002. However, fans of both genres often fought to distance themselves. Aside from Soviet and the Boston band Freezepop, few Modern Synthpop bands were able to jump on the Electroclash bandwagon.

Decline

Since 2002, some have claimed the genre to be in decline or to have splintered. The failure of Synthcon 2001, the near collapse of Ninthwave Records, the disappearance of Lexicon Magazine, and the failure of a succession of fan websites are all testaments to these perceptions.

However, A Different Drum continues to flourish, the genre continues to exert heavy influence on EBM and industrial music, and arguably the biggest modern synthpop album ever came out in 2003, from The Postal Service. Although The Postal Service are not a product of the modern synthpop scene, they have distilled a number of the same influences. 2004 saw the launch of Section 44 Records born from the ashes of the long-standing synthpop forum Sloth Radio and defunct label Kiss My Asterix Records. A Different Drum, Section 44, Ninthwave, Nilaihah Records & Synthphony Records have taken the torch into the next decade by supporting modern synthpop acts.

**Spotlight on Synthpop Pioneers - Devo**

Devo was probably one of the most misunderstood bands of all time. Their style has been variously classified as punk, art rock and post-punk, but they are most often remembered for their late 1970s and early 1980s New Wave sound which, along with others (such as Gary Numan, Peter Gabriel, and The B-52's) ushered in the synth pop sound of the 1980s.

Devo's music and stage show mingle kitsch science fiction themes, deadpan surrealist humor, and mordantly satirical social commentary via sometimes-discordant pop songs that often feature unusual synthetic instrumentation and time signatures, and their work has proved hugely influential on subsequent popular music, particularly New Wave and alternative rock artists.

Devo was also a pioneer of the music video, creating many memorable clips that were popular in the early days of MTV, although their use of the video medium dates right back to their very first appearance on stage at Kent State University in 1971, which was recorded with an early black-and-white portable video system.

Early years

The name "Devo" comes "from their concept of 'de-evolution' - the idea that instead of evolving, mankind has actually regressed, as evidenced by the dysfunction and herd mentality of American society.

The first form of Devo was the "Sextet Devo" which performed at the 1973 Kent State performing arts festival. It included Casale, Lewis and Mothersbaugh, as well as Gerald's brother Bob Casale on guitar, and friends Rod Reisman and Fred Weber on drums and vocals, respectively. This performance was filmed and a part was included on the home video The Complete Truth About De-evolution. This lineup only performed once. Devo returned to perform in the Student Governance Center (featured prominently in the film) at the 1974 Creative Arts Festival with a line-up including the Casale brothers, Bob Lewis, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Jim Mothersbaugh on drums.

Devo later formed as a quartet focusing around Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale. They recruited Mark's brothers Bob Mothersbaugh and Jim Mothersbaugh. Bob played electric guitar, and Jim provided percussion using a set of homemade electronic drums. This lineup of Devo lasted until 1976 when Jim left the band. The lineup was occasionally fluid, and Bob Lewis would sometimes play guitar during this period. In concert, Devo would often perform in the guise of theatrical characters, such as Booji Boy, and The Chinaman. Live concerts from this period were often confrontational, and would remain so until 1977. A recording of an early Devo performance from 1975 with the quartet lineup appears on DEVO Live: The Mongoloid Years, ending with the promoters unplugging Devo's equipment.

Following Jim Motherbaugh's departure, Bob Mothersbaugh found a new drummer in Alan Myers, who played a conventional, acoustic drum set with mechanical precision. Casale re-recruited his brother Bob Casale, and the popular line-up of Devo was formed. It would endure for nearly ten years.

1976-1985

Devo's big break came in 1976 when their short film The Truth About De-Evolution won a prize at the Ann Arbor Film Festival; it was then seen by David Bowie and Iggy Pop, who championed them and enabled Devo to secure a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records. By this time Alan Myers had replaced Jim Mothersbaugh as drummer. After Bowie backed out due to previous commitments, their first album, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! was produced by Brian Eno and featured a radical cover of the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and the controversially titled "Mongoloid".

The band followed up with Duty Now for the Future in 1979. During this period, Lewis successfully sued the band for theft of intellectual property. Devo gained a new level of visibility with 1980s Freedom of Choice which included their best-known hit, "Whip It", which immediately became a Top 40 hit.

Although they started out with a mixture of traditional rock instruments and electronic effects, during the early 1980s Devo adopted mostly or entirely synthetic instrumentation, becoming one of the first American acts to perform on stage using only synthesizers (except for Bob #1 on guitar); they were also one of the first groups in the world to regularly use radio microphones and microphone headsets on stage.

In 1977 Devo were asked by Neil Young to participate in the making of his film Human Highway. Released in 1982, they appeared in the film as "Nuclear garbagepersons." The band members were asked to write their own parts and Mark Mothersbaugh scored and recorded much of the soundtrack, his first of many.

Devo remained popular in countries such as Australia, where the nationally broadcast 1970s-1980s pop TV show Countdown was one of the first programs in the world to broadcast their video clips. They were given consistent radio support by Sydney-based noncommercial rock station Double Jay (2JJ), one of the first rock stations outside America to play their recordings. The late-night music program Nightmoves aired The Truth About De-Evolution. This paid off, as in August 1981, they found commercial success in Australia when their Devo Live E.P. spent 3 weeks at the top of the Australian charts. Later in the year, they came out to Australia and appeared on the TV show Countdown

During the 1980s, Devo produced the albums New Traditionalists (1981), Oh, No! It's Devo (1982), Shout (1984), to diminishing commercial returns and critical success, though they managed to be a successful live band during this time. Following the commercial failure of Shout, Warner Bros. dropped Devo from their label.

**Spotlight on Synthpop Pioneers - Kraftwerk**

The Kraftwerk sound combines a driving rhythm section with catchy, synthesized melodies and harmony; mainly following a Western classical style of arrangement, accompanied by simple lyrics that are sometimes sung through a vocoder or generated by computer-speech software. The Moog synthesizer is heavily present in the majority of the group's works, adding to its signature sound creations. In the mid to late 1970s and the early 1980s, the Kraftwerk sound was revolutionary for its time, and it has had a lasting impact across nearly all genres of modern popular music.

History

Kraftwerk was founded in 1970 by Florian Schneider (flutes, synthesizers, electro-violin) and Ralf Hütter (electronic organ, synthesizers). The two had met as students at the Düsseldorf Conservatory in the late 1960s, participating in the German experimental music scene of the time, which the UK music press dubbed Krautrock. This term is said to be derogatory, although it has since become synonymous with most freeform German music of the period between the late 1960s to the early-mid 1970s.

The two began setting up their own private studio in a rented loft in Dusseldorf, which later became known as Kling Klang. Early Kraftwerk line-ups (1970–1974) fluctuated, as Hütter and Schneider worked with around a half-dozen other musicians over the course of recording three albums and sporadic live appearances; most notably guitarist Michael Rother and drummer Klaus Dinger, who left to form Neu!

The input, expertise and influence of producer/engineer Konrad "Conny" Plank, was significant as well. Plank worked with many other leading German acts, including members of Can, Neu!, Cluster and Harmonia. As a result of his work with Kraftwerk, Plank's studio near Köln became one of the most sought-after studios in the late 1970s. Plank produced the first four Kraftwerk albums, but ceased working with the band after the commercial success of Autobahn, apparently over a dispute about contracts.

Painter and graphic artist Emil Schult, became a regular collaborator with the band starting in 1973, playing bass-guitar and electro-violin. Schult then went on to design artwork, in addition to writing lyrics and accompanying the group on tour.

What is generally regarded as the classic Kraftwerk line-up formed in 1975, for the Autobahn tour. During this time, the band was presented as a quartet, with Hütter and Schneider joined by Wolfgang Flür and Karl Bartos as electronic percussionists. This quartet would be the band's public persona for its renowned output of the latter 1970s and early 1980s. Flür had joined the band in 1973, in preparation for a television appearance to promote its third album. The group's striking custom-made electronic percussion pads, played by Flür, made their debut as well. Bartos and Flür also helped to write many of the band’s most memorable songs.

In 1990, after years of withdrawal from live performance, Kraftwerk began to tour Europe again regularly. In 1998, the group made their first appearances in the US and Japan, since the completion of the Computer World tour in 1981.

The single Expo 2000, the group's first new song in 13 years, was released in December 1999 and was subsequently remixed by contemporary techno musicians such as Underground Resistance and Orbital. This version was released as Expo Remix in November 2000. Before this time, the only artists allowed to remix the band’s recordings were François Kevorkian and William Orbit.

In August 2003, the band released Tour de France Soundtracks; its first album of new material since 1986's Electric Café.

In June 2005, the band’s first-ever official live album, Minimum-Maximum, which was compiled from the shows during the band's tour of spring 2004, received extremely positive reviews. Most of the tracks featured had been heavily reworked and remodeled from the existing studio versions. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album. In December, the Minimum-Maximum 2-DVD set was released to accompany the album, featuring live footage of the band performing the Minimum-Maximum tracks in various venues all over the world.

On 21 September 2007, Kraftwerk released a new single remixed by the UK Indie/Electro quintet Hot Chip. Included were remixes of the tracks Aerodynamik and La Forme, both culled from Kraftwerk's "Tour de France Soundtracks" album released in 2003.

Music

Like many other Krautrock bands, Kraftwerk was heavily influenced by the pioneering compositions of Karlheinz Stockhausen; the minimalism and non-R&B rhythms of the Velvet Underground, as well as other radicals of the time, such as Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, and the hyper-adrenalized Stooges. Replacing drums and guitars with synthesized pulses and programmed beats, Kraftwerk expertly diverted the Velvets' speed rush into the metronomic rhythm for which it is so well known. Hütter has also listed The Beach Boys as a major influence, which is apparent in its 1975 chart smash, "Autobahn." Hütter stated that the Beach Boys made music that sounded like California, and that Kraftwerk wanted to make music that sounded like Germany. Hütter and Schneider were also fans of soul music and, later, developed an aesthetical affinity for punk music and American punk rock icons the Ramones.

Though most famous for its synthpop albums, Kraftwerk began as a Krautrock jam band in the vein of Can or Neu! Its first three albums were more free-form experimental rock without the pop hooks or the more disciplined strong structure of its later work. Kraftwerk, released in 1970, and Kraftwerk 2, released in 1972, were mostly exploratory jam music, played on a variety of traditional instruments including guitar, bass, drums, electric organ, flute and violin. Post-production modifications to these recordings were then used to distort the sound of the instruments, particularly audio-tape manipulation and multiple dubbings of one instrument on the same track. Both albums are purely instrumental.

With Ralf und Florian, released in 1973, the band began to move closer to its classic sound, relying more heavily on synthesizers and drum machines. Although almost entirely instrumental, the album marks Kraftwerk's first use of the vocoder, which would, in time, become one of its musical signatures.

The group's breakthrough, both critically and commercially, came in 1974 with the Autobahn album and its 22-minute title track, featuring the Motorik beat, which was a worldwide hit and demonstrated its increasing reliance on synthesizers and electronics. This preceded a quartet of albums that would exert a huge influence on popular music—Radio-Activity (1975), Trans-Europe Express (1977), The Man-Machine (197 cool , and Computer World (1981).

Kraftwerk's lyrics deal with post-war European urban life and technology—traveling by car on the Autobahn, traveling by train, using home computers, and the like. Usually, the lyrics are very minimal but reveal both an innocent celebration of, and a knowing caution about, the modern world, as well as playing an integral role in the rhythmic structure of the songs. Many of Kraftwerk's songs express the paradoxical nature of modern urban life—a strong sense of alienation existing side-by-side with a celebration of the joys of modern technology.

Kraftwerk was one of the first pop-oriented acts to record using pure electronic (or electronically processed) instruments and sounds exclusively. Many of the vocals in its songs are processed through a vocoder or generated using speech-synthesis software. In addition, a Texas Instruments Language Translator was used to generate synthetic speech on its 1981 album Computer World—not a Speak and Spell as is commonly believed (though its bleeps do occur at the beginning of "Home Computer"). It also pioneered the use of backing tracks that were generated by the electronic sequencing of purely synthetic sounds.

All of their albums from The Man-Machine onward have been recorded in separate versions: one with German vocals for sale in Germany, Switzerland and Austria and one with English vocals for the rest of the world, with occasional variations in other languages when conceptually appropriate. Tour de France was released in French, along with a limited German edition. The German-language versions are Kraftwerk's attempt to provide an alternative to the dominant Anglo-American influence in rock and pop music.

Live shows

Live performance has always played an important part in Kraftwerk's activities. Also, despite its live shows generally being based around formal songs and compositions, live improvisation often plays a noticeable role in its performances. This trait can be traced back to the group’s roots in the experimental Krautrock scene of the late 1960s, but, significantly, it has continued to be a part of its playing even as it makes ever greater use of digital and computer-controlled sequencing in its performances. Some of the band's familiar compositions have been observed to have developed from live improvisations at their concerts or sound-checks.

Early gigs (1970–1974)

Early in the group's career, between 1970 and 1974, the group made sporadic live appearances. These shows were mainly in its native Germany, with occasional shows in France, featuring a variety of line-ups. A few of these performances were for television broadcasts. The only constant figure in these line-ups was Schneider, whose main instrument at the time was the flute; at times also playing violin and guitar, all processed through a varied array of electronic effects. Hütter, who left the band for six months in 1971 to pursue studies in architecture, played synthesizer keyboards (including Farfisa organ and electric piano). Various other musicians who appeared on stage as part of the group during these years included Klaus Dinger (acoustic drums), Andreas Hohmann (acoustic drums), Thomas Lohmann (acoustic drums), Michael Rother (electric guitar), Charly Weiss (drums), Eberhard Kranemann (bass-guitar), Plato Kostic (bass-guitar), Emil Schult (electro-violin, electric guitar) and Klaus Roeder (electric violin, electric guitar). Later performances from 1972-73 were made as a duo, using a simple beat-box-type electronic drum machine, with preset rhythms taken from an electric organ. Later in 1973, Wolfgang Flür joined the group for rehearsals, and the unit performed as a trio on the television show, Aspekte, for German television network WDR.

Documentation of this period in the group's history is sparse, with Hütter and Schneider not keen to talk about it in later interviews. A few bootleg recordings are in circulation. The only official released material is its 1971 performance on the German Beat Club TV show, which is available on DVD.

Tours with the quartet line-up (1975–1981)

The year 1975, saw a turning point in Kraftwerk's live shows. With financial support from Phonogram in the US, they were able to undertake a multi-date tour to promote the Autobahn album. This tour took them to the US, Canada and the UK for the first time. The tour also saw a new, stable, live line-up in the form of a quartet. Hütter and Schneider both mainly played keyboard parts on synthesizers such as the MiniMoog and ARP Odyssey, with Schneider's use of flute diminishing. The pair also sang vocals on stage for the first time, with Schneider also using a vocoder live. Wolfgang Flür and new recruit Karl Bartos performed live electronic percussion using custom-made (and, at the time, unique) sensor pads hit with metal sticks to complete a circuit and trigger analog synthetic percussion circuits (initially cannibalized from the aforementioned organ beat box). Bartos also used a Deagan Vibraphone on stage. The Hütter-Schneider-Bartos-Flür line-up would remain in place until the late 1980s. Emil Schult generally fulfilled the role of tour manager.

By the late 1970s the band's live set focused increasingly on song-based material, with greater use of vocals, less acoustic instrumentation, and the use of sequencing equipment for percussion and musical lines. The approach taken by the group was to use the sequencing equipment interactively, thus allowing room for improvisation. In 1976, the group went out on tour in support of the Radio-Activity album. As Kraftwerk's trivial status as a "novelty act" began to dissipate in the mainstream US, this tour took Kraftwerk around Europe only, with the foursome making their first stops in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Austria and Switzerland.

This tour also tested out an experimental light-beam activated drum cage allowing Flür to trigger electronic percussion through arm and hand movements. Unfortunately, the device did not work as planned, and it was quickly abandoned. Despite the new innovations in touring, the band took a break from live performances after the Radioactivity tour of 1976. The band did, however, appear on television shows to promote the albums Trans Europe Express and The Man-Machine.

The band returned to the live scene with the Computer World tour of 1981, where the band effectively packed up its entire Kling Klang studio and took it on the road with them. Around this time, Wolfgang Flür was heavily involved in designing customized modular housing and packaging for the group's touring equipment. The band also developed an increasing use of visual elements in the live shows during this period. This included back-projected slides and films, increasingly synchronized with the music as the technology developed, the use of hand-held miniaturized instruments during the set, and, perhaps most famously, the use of replica mannequins of themselves to perform onstage during the song "The Robots." The group came back to the US and Canada; this tour also marked the first time that Kraftwerk had toured in Spain, Poland, Hungary, Japan, Australia, India and China.

1990s and 2000s

The completion of the Computer World tour in the Winter of 1981, then precipitated an almost decade-long hiatus in Kraftwerk's live activities. The unit did not perform again until 1990; by this time, Flür had left the band three years earlier and was replaced by Fritz Hilpert. A few loosely played secret shows took place in Italy, which were the last to feature Karl Bartos.

The next proper tour was in 1991, for the album The Mix. Again, this tour only took place in Europe. Hütter and Schneider wished to continue the synth-pop quartet style of presentation, and recruited Fernando Abrantes as a replacement for Bartos. Abrantes was dismissed shortly thereafter.

In 1992, Henning Schmitz was brought in to finish the remainder of the tour and to complete a new version of the quartet that still remains active to this day.

In 1993, four small shows were played in Germany, Austria and Belgium with "The Man-Machine" added to the set list.

Kraftwerk laid dormant until 1997, which saw them headlining at the Tribal Gathering festival in the UK.

It was the near legendary success of that show, that led to a two week mini tour in 1998, with the group visiting the US and Japan for the first time since 1981. By this time, the US audience had swelled into a small underground cult following; only major metropolitan cities were visited that were of core interest- Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit, and New York.

This outing also took the combo to South America for the first time with shows in Brazil and Argentina. Again, all monumental performances. Three new songs were played during this period, which still remain unreleased to this day. The unit then took another break.

In 2002, the band was touring again in Europe and Japan, using four customized Sony VAIO laptop computers, effectively leaving the entire Kling Klang studio at home in Germany. The group also obtained a new set of transparent video panels to replace their four large projection screens. This greatly streamlined the running of all of the group's sequencing, sound-generating, and visual-display software.

From this point, the band's equipment increasingly reduced manual playing, replacing it with interactive control of sequencing equipment. Hütter retains the most manual performance, still playing selected musical lines by hand on a controller keyboard and singing live vocals and having a repeating ostinato. Much of Schneider's live vocoding has been replaced by software-controlled speech-synthesis techniques.

In January 2003, prior to the release of the new album, Tour de France Soundtracks, the group made their second appearances in Australia at several dates on the Big Day Out festival; this also being their latest visit to the region since 1981. A show was also played for the first time in New Zealand. In November, the group made a suprising appearance at the MTV European Music Awards featuring a visually stunning performance of "Aerodynamik".

In 2004, the band toured in support of Tour de France Soundtracks. In addition to all of its usual stops, Kraftwerk once again ventured to Canada for the first time since 1981, and explored previously untouched regions of the globe, as the quartet made its first visits to Iceland, Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Slovenia, Ireland, Portugal, Chile and Mexico. The group also visited US cities Seattle and Miami for the first time, with the latter region's famous "Miami Bass" sound heavily influenced by the combination of Kraftwerk, hip hop and electro music.

In 2005, the group released its first official live album, Minimum-Maximum, recorded on the aformentioned 2004 world tour. In support of this release, Kraftwerk made another quick sweep around the globe, with more first visits in Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Turkey and Greece. In December, the DVD release of Minimum-Maximum (DVD), was made available.

In 2006, a small number of festivals were played in Norway, Czech Republic, Spain, Belgium and Germany. The songs, "Showroom Dummies" and "Computer Love" were added to the set.

The future

Most recently, Kraftwerk was announced as one of the headliners of the 2008 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. This is the group's second performance at the festival since its debut in 2004. The group will celebrate its fortieth anniversary in 2010.

Influence on other genres

Kraftwerk’s releases in the 1970s and early 1980s, most significantly Radio-Activity (1975), Trans-Europe Express (1977), The Man-Machine (197 cool and Computer World (1981) - directly influenced and continues to inspire many popular artists from many diverse generes of music.

One of the first major recording artists to claim a direct influence from Kraftwerk's music was David Bowie. Part of this can be heard in his series of albums, starting with Station To Station and continuing with the Berlin Trilogy - Low, "Heroes", and Lodger. Iggy Pop's association with Bowie during this period would result in the classic albums, Lust For Life and The Idiot. Kraftwerk were mutual fans of both artists, name-dropping them in the lyrics of their 1977 single, Trans-Europe Express.

Following this, were the artists in the new rock and dance music scenes that were developing in the US, Europe and Japan. Some of them were virtually carbon copies of Kraftwerk; not only musically, but also in terms of image. This can be seen in a wide variety of artists such as Gary Numan, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Human League, Depeche Mode, Devo, Joy Division, Telex, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Giorgio Moroder, New Order, Front 242, Cabaret Voltaire, Art of Noise, Yello, Ultravox, Visage and Thomas Dolby.

**Classic Synth Pop Album review**

Ultravox - Vienna

With the departure of vocalist John Foxx and guitarist Robin Simon behind them, Vienna kicked off Ultravox's second phase with former Rich Kids vocalist Midge Ure at the helm. Trading Foxx's glam rock stance for Ure's aristocratic delivery, Vienna recasts the band as a melodramatic synth pop chamber ensemble with most of the group doubling on traditional string quartet instruments and the synthesizers often serving to emulate an orchestra. It was a bold move that took awhile to pay off (the first two singles, "Sleepwalk" and "Passing Strangers," went unnoticed), but when the monolithic title track was released, the Ure lineup became the band's most identifiable one almost overnight. The simple and instantly recognizable drumbeat of "Vienna" proved infectious, taking the single to the top of the charts in the U.K. and making an impression in a new wave-apprehensive America. Bassist Chris Cross' monotone narration on "Mr X" and the frantic ride that is "Western Promise" give the album just enough diversity and showcase the rest of the group. Returning producer Conny Plank's style adapted well to the new group, pitting the stark and the lush against one another. Add Anton Corbijn's photography and Peter Saville's smart cover design and all the ingredients for an early-'80s classic are there.

Music Review of Cut Copy's latest release - In Ghost Colors

In Ghost Colours announces itself, calmly but majestically, with a wash of hazy voices and fluttering keyboards giving way to crystal-clear acoustic strums, languid indie pop vocals, a sturdy dance-rock groove, pulsating electro-disco synths, swirling Caribou-style psychedelics, and an ethereal, vocoded chorus melody. Squeezing all of that into one song -- the effervescent "Feel the Love" -- is an ambitious move: in most hands it would come out sounding like a bewildering mess, or at least a hammy, hyperactive pastiche, but Cut Copy manage to keep it light, breezy, and utterly ebullient. Even more impressive is that they're able to replicate the trick repeatedly across this remarkably assured sophomore album. Colours boasts at least a half-dozen potential summer anthems for dancefloors and headphones alike, seamlessly strung together with subdued interstitial mood pieces that help make it more of a nuanced work than a straightforward collection of relentlessly upbeat dance jams. Undeniably, though, the dance jams are at the throbbing heart of the album, from the unstoppably glittery opening trio (leading up to the anthemic slow-burn disco of single "Lights and Music") to the rough-edged rock drive of "So Haunted" to the pure synth pop bliss of "Far Away." Indeed, this is in many ways a perfect summation of the dynamic, multifaceted, hipster-associated independent dance music of the 2000s, a motley interweaving of pop, rock, and electronic dance elements into a kaleidoscopic array of interconnected styles, some strands of which have been summarily, imprecisely tagged ("disco-punk," "electro-house," "new rave,") but which as a whole remain resolutely, gloriously nebulous and undefined. (Though nevertheless undeniably prevalent, and never more so than in 2008, following triumphant runs by LCD Soundsystem, Justice, and Simian Mobile Disco; the months just preceding In Ghost Colours' release saw eminently enjoyable new albums by Hot Chip, Hercules and Love Affair, Neon Neon, and Does It Offend You, Yeah?, to name a few.) Cut Copy's music bears all the prominent hallmarks of its era: giddily omnivorous stylistic appropriation, a sensuous, sybaritic (though not, in their case, seedy) demeanor, and the distinct evocation of bygone decades, most palpably the ubiquitous post-punk/post-disco '80s, without succumbing to the pitfalls of overzealous eclecticism, empty hedonism, sugary glut, and blatant derivativeness. Or rather, they do show traces of all of these things, but they play each one off as a strength, always in moderation, and never to the detriment of the music. The eclecticism is there but it's fluid and cohesive rather than distractingly showy; their influence-dogging plays like affectionate homage rather than pointless mimicry; there's an abundance of gleaming, even gaudy surfaces, but they're just too rapturously enticing to entertain qualms about superficiality. It surely helps that they have one of the primary architects of this sprawling scene, the DFA's Tim Goldsworthy, on board as a producer and mixer. More importantly though, beneath its perfectly formed surfaces this is truly an album of songs -- a surprisingly rare thing in this milieu -- with simple but resonant melodies, carried by Dan Whitford's appealingly casual delivery, which help alleviate a slight tendency toward sonic sameness. This is evident not only on the gentler guitar-based numbers, like the loping "Unforgettable Season" and the oddly country-inflected "Strangers in the Wind," which temporarily scale back the dancefloor euphorics, but the out-and-out burners as well, combining with the peppy basslines and nagging chorus hooks to create something all the more transcendent. To be sure, In Ghost Colours is a triumph of craftsmanship rather than vision -- a synthesis and refinement of existing sounds rather than anything dramatically new and original -- but it is an unalloyed triumph nonetheless, and one of the finest albums of its kind, and one of the best new releases of the year so far...