Following on from 'Trans-Europe Express' and 'Man Machine', the trio of essential Kraftwerk recordings was completed by 1981's 'Computer World'. It goes without saying that this release was another set text for electro-pop but many of these tracks - particularly 'Numbers' - would go on to be sampled countless times by the stars of rap and hip-hop (most famously on Afrika Bambaataa's 'Planet Rock'). There's an air of desperation about this recording which suggests that whilst Kraftwerk were revolutionising electronica they were also fearful of its consequences as indicated in 'Computer Love's message of "Another lonely night at the TV screen". Meanwhile the harsher, clipped beats of 'Home Computer' would be imiated by the likes of Ladytron twenty years later. Yet it's the sparseness and clarity of the whole recording and the tunes within it that render 'Computer World' unspoiled by the ravages of time.
Following on from 'Trans-Europe Express' and 'Man Machine', the trio of essential Kraftwerk recordings was completed by 1981's 'Computer World'. It goes without saying that this release was another set text for electro-pop but many of these tracks - particularly 'Numbers' - would go on to be sampled countless times by the stars of rap and hip-hop (most famously on Afrika Bambaataa's 'Planet Rock'). There's an air of desperation about this recording which suggests that whilst Kraftwerk were revolutionising electronica they were also fearful of its consequences as indicated in 'Computer Love's message of "Another lonely night at the TV screen". Meanwhile the harsher, clipped beats of 'Home Computer' would be imiated by the likes of Ladytron twenty years later. Yet it's the sparseness and clarity of the whole recording and the tunes within it that render 'Computer World' unspoiled by the ravages of time.
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