Review: Kraftwerk Performing Tour de France Soundtracks @ MoMA

Kraftwerk Performing Tour de France Soundtracks @Museum of Modern Art -  April 17, 2012
Photo/Review: Dave Bolton

Deceptively Simple: Kraftwerk offer more than an Aural Soundscape.

I never win anything. This is something that I have had to live with for most of my life and I’m OK with it. Granted, I don’t play the lottery or even enter that many competitions but that is mainly because I know that I never win anything.

So when I received a call telling me that I had won two tickets to see Kraftwerk performing Tour de France Soundtracks at the MoMA, two things happened. I started grinning insanely and then I had to explain to my wife why I would be going down to New York on a Tuesday to see a band that (apparently) I never listen to or had ever shown any interest in.

To be fair, she had a point but I was able to dig into my big box of vinyl and pull out a 7-inch single of "The Model" that seemed to help with my argument that I needed to go to this gig. In my defense, Kraftwerk are a band that I have huge admiration for but had never really considered to be one of the bands that I had to see before I hung up my gigging shoes.

I admit that I don’t have a lot of their music in my collection and when I posted on Facebook that I was attending the last night of their residency at MoMA, the reactions ranged from outright jealousy to questions as to why I would want to put myself through an evening of “music made by Germans.”

Anyone who was lucky enough to see any of the eight performances will know that it was more than just seeing a gig. It was about the celebration of innovation, an evening spent in the company of musical pioneers. It was an aural installation, music as art and a privilege to be part of their vision.

Photos/Review: Kraftwerk performing The Mix @ MoMA

Kraftwerk performing The Mix @ Museum of Modern Art - April 16, 2012
Photos/Review: Chris

In 2004, several of my close friends and I plotted a trip to Indio, CA for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Despite being poor college students with little (to no) disposable income, the main reason for the trip was to see the then recently reunited Pixies in all their glory. And Radiohead. And The Flaming Lips. And Air. And Beck. And… Kraftwerk.

Except by the end of the one-two punch of Pixies and Radiohead on day one, we didn’t make it to Kraftwerk. Quite honestly, at the time, I wasn’t aware of the importance of the group, and the 105 degree desert weather rendered us incapable of even walking properly, let alone enduring a 20 minute walk to the opposite end of the field to see a band we didn’t really know.

Then in the summer of 2005, I and many of the same friends who went to Coachella with me, ended up working a lemonade stand (seriously) in Philadelphia during the Live 8 festival (remember that?). At some point we wandered over to a local record store where I picked up Stephen Malkmus’ Face The Truth and Kraftwerk’s live album Minimum Maximum. I remember all of this vividly because it marked an important moment in my life when I began to truly appreciate electronic music as a serious art form. Ever since then, Kraftwerk opened my mind to a plethora of other similarly-minded groups, and I’ve always held them solely responsible for changing my perspective of what electronic music could be.

And last night, after seven years of waiting, I finally had the chance to see Kraftwerk live. At the Museum of Modern Art. In beautiful 3D.

Whoa: Kraftwerk Announce 8-Night, 8-Album NYC Residency At The MoMA

DUDE. We tend to get a bit spoiled as New Yorkers, as pretty much every band we could possibly want to see comes to rock a show here at some point. But occasionally artists seem to dig our fair city so much that they hook us up with multi-night residencies that happen in few or no other places in the world (sup Björk).

Enter German electro pioneers Kraftwerk, who according to The New York Times will be camped out at none other than The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) for an eight-night career retrospective from April 10 to April 17. Entitled Kraftwerk-Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 (simple huh), each night of the event will be devoted to a full live performance of one of eight of their albums in order, starting with 1974's Autobahn and ending with 2003's Tour De France Soundtracks.

While co-founder Ralf Hütter will be the only member of the original lineup involved, this is still going to kick several kinds of ass. Tickets are $25 and go onsale next Wednesday (February 22) at noon ET.

Photos: Ad-Rock @ MoMA (DJ Set)

The Beastie Boys have yet to announce any live dates in support of their recently released (and excellent) Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, but that doesn't mean the trio isn't staying active. Adam Horovitz, better known as the "King Ad-Rock," played a DJ set at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan yesterday (5/5) as part of an exhibition entitled Looking at Music 3.0. Ad-Rock's wife Kathleen Hanna, known best as the frontwoman for Bikini Kill and Le Tigre, also participated in a poster signing during the event. Horovitz took time during his set to talk to fans and take photos with them... he really does seem like a genuine and nice guy.

Fucking Nostalgic will have a full review of Hot Sauce Committee Part Two up shortly (hint: it fucking rocks), but in the meantime, check out a full set of photos from the MoMA event in addition to the full length 30 minute short film they just released, Fight For Your Right Revisted...