50 years ago this month the German band Kraftwerk released Autobahn – an album that not only marked a dramatic departure in their sound, but went on to change the entire course of contemporary music.

With the title track, a 22-minute ode to the German motorway, Kraftwerk’s founding members Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider forged a modern musical language, using electronics to articulate a new and optimistic vision of the future.

To discuss Autobahn’s genesis and enduring legacy Tom Gatti is joined by Jude Rogers, journalist and author of The Sound of Being Human: How Music Shapes Our Lives, and Uwe Schütte, author of Kraftwerk: Future Music from Germany.

Read: How Kraftwerk’s Autobahn remade pop

LISTEN AD-FREE:

📱Download the New Statesman app

MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:

❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday

⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning

✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday

JOIN US:

⭐️ Get full access to all our reporting and analysis with a print + digital subscription

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kraftwerk: Future Music from Germany

Mentioned by

Mentioned in 0 episodes

The AI-powered Podcast Player