4. Kraftwerk The Model
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g4x82CuNPM Kraftwerk were responsible for many things, all of them good. They are best summed up in the title of one of their albums Man Machine and without them a huge range of dance styles, from techno to trance, wouldn't exist. But one of the many reasons they were so wonderful is that they never lost sight of the ideology that advances in technology served only to make a song sound better. The Model was their best song, their best story and the robotic voices give the scene both an otherworldly romantic feel as well as highlighting the detachment, both physically and emotionally the singer has from his object of desire. When we look lyrics from the 60s with their beat poet romanticism, how different could they be from the cyborg like declaration of love you can hear in a line like Shes a model and shes looking good, Id like to take her home, thats understood. This isn't something that is lost in translation; it is literal detachment from romance, computer love made real. So coming back to the 70s being a decade of deconstruction, as opposed to the construction of the 60s, this was a period for bands to step back from the patchwork quilt that was created in the 60s and pick it apart strand by strand. This is a story of love literally becoming a commodity, objectively viewed through a coldly impassionate lens. If you ever wondered what the theme tune to internet dating would be, then look no further.
Ed Nash
Contributor
What makes music fantastic? Star quality, amazing music, breathtaking lyrics and the ability to bring something new to the table, even if that means a new take on the classics. That's what I love to listen to and write about.
As well as writing for What Culture, I occasionally write a blog http://tedney.blogspot.co.uk and sometimes use Twitter, but sparingly @TedneyNash
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