Electric Café
| Electric Café | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Studio album by Kraftwerk | ||||
| Released | November 10, 1986 | |||
| Recorded | 1982–1986 | |||
| Studio |
Kling Klang Studio (Düsseldorf, Germany) |
|||
| Genre | Electronic | |||
| Length | 35:38 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | ||||
| Kraftwerk chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Singles from Electric Café | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Mojo | |
| Uncut | |
| Drowned in Sound | (6/10) |
| Smash Hits |   |
Electric Café is the ninth studio album by the electronic group Kraftwerk, originally released in 1986. In October 2009 it was re-released under its original working title, Techno Pop. The initial 1986 Electric Café came in versions sung in English and German, as well as a limited "Edición Española" release, featuring versions of "Techno Pop" and "Sex Object" with only Spanish lyrics. It was the first Kraftwerk LP to be created using predominantly digital musical instruments, although the finished product was still recorded onto analog master tapes.
The album is somewhat infamous for taking the band almost half a decade to produce. Work is said to have begun as early as 1982 (with the working titles of Technicolor and then Techno Pop), but the project was delayed due to band member Ralf Hütter suffering a cycling accident, and then due to concerns within the band that the production quality of the album was not sufficiently cutting-edge, necessitating much re-work. The album, mastered by Bob Ludwig, finally saw release in 1986. It is the last Kraftwerk album to feature Wolfgang Flür, who subsequently left the group in 1987.
The album was recorded in Düsseldorf with the Emu Emulator II sampler (used previously on "Tour De France" and the demo of "Techno Pop" album) and various contemporary devices including Yamaha FM-engines and digital effect processors. The final mixing was done at Right Track Studio in New York together with DJ Francois Kevorkian and Ron St. Germain. Also in America Kraftwerk and Kevorkian produced the single mix of "The Telephone Call" using the Synclavier system for the first time.
The first side of the album is instrumental without proper singing parts, relying instead on repeated spoken phrases. The side is divided into three tracks, but they may be taken to be one long piece of three variations with recurring elements. For instance, a few bars of melody from "Musique Non-Stop" can be heard as a few bars of bass melody in "Techno Pop". The songs "Techno Pop" and "Sex Object" feature partial Spanish-language lyrics. The second side also contains three songs, following a somewhat more conventional pop format. The song "The Telephone Call" (German version: "Der Telefon-Anruf") is notable for being the first and only Kraftwerk song to feature Karl Bartos on lead vocals. The album closes with the title track "Electric Café", which features French-language lyrics. The track gained some exposure in the United States when it was used slightly sped up as the theme song for "Sprockets", the German television spoof by Mike Myers on Saturday Night Live.
...
Wikipedia