Kraftwerk Ralf Hütter
The German word “Gesamtkunstwerk” translates to “a total work of art” — which is how Kraftwerk are billing their upcoming “Multimedia Tour 2025 – 50 Years of Autobahn.” The Dusseldorf quartet is hitting 25 North American cities with a blend of music, visuals and performance art in honor of their landmark 1974 album.
Kraftwerk’s catalogue has influenced electronic music as a whole, but Autobahn was one of the earliest examples, gently introducing a synth-centered, avant-garde style of pop to an unsuspecting world. Founding band members Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider had moved away from their krautrock roots and expanded into a dynamic foursome, adding Wolfgang Flür on percussion and Klaus Rӧder on violin and guitar.
Inspired by the pleasures of tooling along on Germany’s highways — the autobahns — the album is anchored by the 22-minute title track. It’s really more of an experience than a song; a road trip hymn, like a Beach Boys song turned robotic (the words “fahren, fahren, fahren” sound a lot like “Fun, Fun, Fun,” even if it just means “drive”). You can almost feel yourself in the backseat of your friend’s car, headphones in, the road humming beneath you. The vehicles in the next lane glide by, and your troubles are nonexistent. The song’s repetitive pulse puts the listener at ease.
The song takes an eerie turn thanks to Hütter’s Minimoog, which mimics cars whizzing by and horns honking. The final section is a reprise of the first, bringing you back to that ease with another round of the catchy chorus.
With the release of Autobahn came success in the U.S., and a global musical imprint that would touch everyone from Devo to Donna Summer to Aphex Twin to Bjӧrk. “Fifty years of Kraftwerk” doesn’t sound like a real phrase. How can electronic music have already been around this long? But here we are in 2025 with a sense that Kraftwerk aren’t just “still around” — in some respects they saw the future and got here first.
Kraftwerk plays 8pm Thursday, March 20 at the Adrienne Arsht Performing Arts Center in Miami. kraftwerk.com ~ Olivia Feldman
