LP – Reissue, Black Vinyl Kraftwerk is the self-titled debut album by the Dsseldorf band Kraftwerk. It was produced by Conny Plank and released in 1970. Tt consists of four long tracks, each a mind-blower. OpenerRuckzuck (translation: Right Now) is the pinnacle of flute-centric avant-rock. Schneiders electronically treated instrument stutters and splutters with contrapuntal ingenuity, forming a mesmerizing motif over Andreas Hohmanns motorik drums and Htters guitar stabs and organ whorls. An interlude of cymbal and warped-to-hell flute crescendos will shock you with a horror-film force. That rupture is indicative of a piece that keeps regenerating, changing tempo, accruing strange textures, ebbing and flowing, and throwing surprises at your ears at a frantic rate. Ruckzuck is nightmarish yet euphoric psychedelic music as youve never heard it before. Schneider proves himself to be the Sonny Sharrock of the flute, a mad genius who took his instruments timbres to heretofore unexplored and untamed realms. Stratovarius (Schneider plays violin, too) resembles Cans Aumgn, emitting several minutes of maleficent squall and alienating drones. Eventually, a slack, quasi-funky rhythm emerges along with cantankerous guitar feedback and squawks. When the song shifts into a freak-rock rave-up la Cans Outside My Door, it reveals Kraftwerk deconstructing rock into fascinating shapes while ratcheting up the intensity to horrifying dimensions. Megaherz is an electronic experiment in extreme dynamics and tonalities, but its not without its tender, beautiful passages. The one in which Schneiders flute and Htters organ and triangle cohere into a meditative respite is exemplary. Von Himmel Hoch (From Heaven Above in English) remains one of historys maddest album-finales. It begins with a series of otherworldly aircraft noises, explosions, and alarms. Gradually, a menagerie of bizarre animal growls generated with a modified organ called a tubon coheres into a powerful rhythm, underscored by future Neu! member Klaus Dingers pugilistic drums. As some of the most fucked-up borborygmus/stomach gurgles ever laid to tape ensue, you think, Its too bad Roger Waters and Ron Geesin didnt conceive these sounds for their Music From The Body LP. Unexpectedly, the track gets urgently funky near the end, before finishing with a bass frequency explosion. WOWOW. To reiterate, its shameful that Kraftwerk is out-of-print. Instead, it deserves a reissue with liner notes, previously unseen photos, bonus tracks, the works. Come on, Ralf. Quit being such a Scheisskopf. – Buckley Mayfield Tracklist: Side A 1 Ruckzuck2 Stratovarius Side B 1 Megaherz2 Vom Himmel Hoch