Computer World (1981)

 

"Computer Love" Kraftwerk gets off the train and opts for the keyboard just in time for the dawn of the era of personal computing. The result is practically the last thing anyone expected from electronic music at the time (or even now): simple, warm, and lovely, almost unimaginably beautiful at points, wistful and poignant, with moments of dry humor to keep it real. The machines, you might say, are providing the way in to our collective humanity, and here Kraftwerk demonstrates the practical applications. I listened to this first, when it was new, on one of those old cassette recorder/players the size of a kleenex box. No hi fi at the time. But even then the stunning beauty was entirely there. That's the level they are operating on here, and well, and still. And while it's certainly arguable that others have bettered this since, you'll notice that they are all standing on the shoulders of it.