A groundbreaking record from Kraftwerk – a set that unified the 70s worlds of analogue electronics and prog rock – yet somehow managed to set the scene for a whole new sound to come! The album's a treasure all the way through – slow-building, and with beautiful bubbling moments that have these surprisingly simple hooks – heard to best effect in the album's classic title cut "Autobahn" – but echoed nicely through the album's other longer tracks too – "Kometenmelodie 1 &2", "Mitternacht", and "Morgenspaziergang". CD

It's definitely a computer world when you're inside the mind of Kraftwerk – the machine made man, given a wonderful showcase here for the new decade! The sound is maybe a bit leaner and even more electronic than before – with the introduction of some digital elements, and a mix of beats and keyboards that was already showing the nascent hip hop scene that the German quartet were still ahead of the pack when it came to grooves like this! Did these guys invent electro soul? Hearing a record like this it's hard not to think so – thanks to tracks that include "Computer Love", "Computer World", "Pocket Calculator", "Home Computer", "Numbers", and "It's More Fun To Compute". CD

An incredibly lovely record from Kraftwerk – fashioned along the same suite-like style as Radio Activity, and served up with some haunting and charming tunes throughout! The electronics are quite spare, yet very thoughtful – never a note out of place, as the quartet build their careful efforts together to create a tapestry of surprisingly warm sounds – using just a bit of vocals in really great ways, and almost prefacing a whole generation of UK and Euro pop to come – yet without any of their schmaltz! Titles include "Europe Endless", "Hall of Mirrors", "Abzung", "Franz Schubert", and "Showroom Dummies" – not to mention the awesome title track and electro break number "Metal On Metal". CD

The classic music of Kraftwerk – re-presented beautifully in this excellent box set! The package features material from famous recent live performances by the quartet – as they go back and present new takes on classic albums – from Autobahn through Radioactivity, Trans Europe Express, Man Machine, Computer World, and Techno Pop – all played live, with incredible sound that shows the way the group link their earlier analogue brilliance with the newly expanded sonic possibilities of the 21st Century! The set also features a full disc that expands on Tour De France, with other singles – and a CD titled The Mix – which also includes a special "headphone surround 3D" mix! Performances were recorded at the Museum Of Modern Art, Sydney Opera House, Tate Modern, Paradiso Amsterdam, and other global venues – and the package features eight full albums worth of material – all in a cool box with great graphics. CD

A groundbreaking record from Kraftwerk – a set that unified the 70s worlds of analogue electronics and prog rock – yet somehow managed to set the scene for a whole new sound to come! The album's a treasure all the way through – slow-building, and with beautiful bubbling moments that have these surprisingly simple hooks – heard to best effect in the album's classic title cut "Autobahn" – but echoed nicely through the album's other longer tracks too – "Kometenmelodie 1 &2", "Mitternacht", and "Morgenspaziergang". CD

Man and machine – a perfect summation of the Kraftwerk genius, delivered perfectly on this classic late 70s set! The album's got a bit more punch than some of their previous efforts – almost a not towards the dancefloor at times, yet hardly the disco you'd get from other groups of the period – and more a prefiguring of the sounds of the future from various UK and European sources! There's some great electro moments that made the record a favorite for the New York scene in the early 70s – including some wicked vocoder bits, and tight beats on a few numbers. Titles include the excellent "The Model" – plus "The Man Machine", "Neon Lights", "The Robots", "Spacelab", and "Metropolis". CD

The sound of Kraftwerk, updated for a whole new generation – almost as if the quartet had decided to show all the folks in 80s electro soul and the world of Detroit techno that they could still do things better than anyone else! The result is a set of fresh 1991 remixes of classics – still fortunately spare enough to retain all the charms of the originals, but sometimes with the groove picked up a bit for more contemporary dancefloors! Titles include "The Robots", "Computer Love", "Pocket Calculator", "Autobahn", "Radioactivity", "Trans Europe Express", "Metal On Metal", and "Music Non Stop". CD

The groundbreaking first album from Neu – maybe not the earliest record in the Krautrock generation – but a set that certainly set a new sort of standard after it was released! The group mix together slow-building rhythms and plenty of fuzz – all recorded by the great Conny Plank, who has a way of blending the songs and all their many elements – instrumentation put together by ex-Kraftwerk members Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother – who mostly use guitars, bass, and drums – but end up turning them into something completely different with the help of Plank! Some of the tracks are quite long, and really take a great path to find their way forward – very different than Can or Cluster, at least from an outside perspective – but equally classic. Titles include "Hallogallo", "Sonderangerbot", "Im Gluck", "Negativland", "Weissensee", and "Lieber Honig". CD

The groundbreaking first album from Neu – maybe not the earliest record in the Krautrock generation – but a set that certainly set a new sort of standard after it was released! The group mix together slow-building rhythms and plenty of fuzz – all recorded by the great Conny Plank, who has a way of blending the songs and all their many elements – instrumentation put together by ex-Kraftwerk members Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother – who mostly use guitars, bass, and drums – but end up turning them into something completely different with the help of Plank! Some of the tracks are quite long, and really take a great path to find their way forward – very different than Can or Cluster, at least from an outside perspective – but equally classic. Titles include "Hallogallo", "Sonderangerbot", "Im Gluck", "Negativland", "Weissensee", and "Lieber Honig". CD

An overlooked early 80s gem from Thomas Dolby – a beautifully mellow album that comes across with less of the quirky pop touches of his earlier work! The Dolby heard here is almost in an Eno/Green World mode – mixing electronics with evocative lyrics – at a level that's a few notches up from soundscape mode, but which is also as concerned with the overall colors and shapes of the music as it is with the lyrics. But the lyrics themselves are the biggest surprise – often quite personal and intimate, with a Prefab Sprout-esque pop quality from time to time, but stronger soul qualities overall. And to our groove-tuned ears, Dolby's electronics here are really a cut above – echoing with some electro styles, but also in a more sophisticated mode that transforms Kraftwerk into more effective pop. Titles include "Dissidents", "The Flat Earth", "Screen Kiss", "White City", "Mulu The Rain Forest", "I Scare Myself", and "Hyperactive". CD