Trans Europe Express - Kraftwerk (1977)
The movements of ultra-modernist rock and electronic music coming out of Germany in the post-war period splintered into a million directions. Kraftwerk pioneered a splinter that ended up more or less creating modern electronic music.
They were initially more improvisational, featuring guitar, flute, and other live instruments. But they gained momentum on their 1974 album Autobahn, when they organized all that energy into tightly concentrated patterns (I was gonna call them “grooves” but that’s not really accurate) that build layers of complexity as they go.
This album is an extension of that sound, with more in-depth lyrical concepts and a lot of the same sense of sonic wonder. If you hear it and it sounds cliche or hackneyed, it’s really just because it’s so foundational to modern beat music.
The Hall Of Mirrors is a particular favorite of mine.
