Kraftwerk Take Residence at MOMA

Legendary electronic music innovators Kraftwerk have announced an eight night residency at the Manhattan Museum of Modern Art that will begin on April 10. As part of the "Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8" series, the German pioneers will perform one of their seven influential albums straight through.

The group has more than seven albums,  but this performance seems to take 1974's  Autobahn, their worldwide breakthrough, as the starting point, which is fair enough. Also, 1977's Trans-Europe Express, a perennial placement on Best Albums Ever lists, will be performed on two different nights, because it's that important.

Kraftwerk's legacy stretches beyond electronic music to hip-hop, art-rock and any act that has ever used a synthesizer to try to achieve a cold, inhuman feeling. (Suffice to say, Rihanna owes them a great deal.)

They were one of the first artists to prove that synthesizers were not a novelty but a lead instrument, produced many of the sounds we still associate with electronic music, and were way ahead of the curve on the whole "technology isolates us from the world" lyrical bent. Suffice to say, there's plenty worth celebrating about their catalog.

Each performance will also also feature songs from through their catalog, and 3-D visualizations of the albums, which considering the setting, should be something. And although some people still think all electronic music performances is just hitting play on a computer, Kraftwerk are known for rearranging their keyboards, percussion and live instrument compositions to allow for onstage improvisation.

Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Schedule 

Tuesday, April 10

Autobahn 

Wednesday, April 11 

Radio-Activity 

Thursday, April 12 

Trans Europe Express

Friday, April 13 

The Man-Machine 

Saturday April 14 

Computer World  

Sunday, April 15

Techno Pop 

Monday, April 16

The Mix  

Tuesday, April 17

Tour de France 

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