Amazon.co.uk: Tour De France Soundtracks: Kraftwerk: Music

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Listen to Samples

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1. Prologue	Listen
2. Tour De France (Etape 1)	Listen
3. Tour De France (Etape 2)	Listen
4. Tour De France (Etape 3)	Listen
5. Chrono	Listen
6. Vitamin	Listen
7. Aero Dynamik	Listen
8. Titanium	Listen
9. Elektro Kardiogramm	Listen
10. La Forme	Listen
11. Regeneration	Listen
12. Tour De France	Listen

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
With Kraftwerk now rumoured to be far more fascinated by bicycles than keyboards, it's perhaps not surprising that Tour De France Soundtracks is the group's first album for 12 years. Continuing to explore the theme of movement, men and machines that spawned the marvellous Autobahn, Trans-Europe Express and 1983's landmark single "Tour De France", Soundtracks is basically an expanded version of the latter, right down to the cover art.

Having inspired house, trance and techno, it seems fair that Kraftwerk should borrow something in return. Commencing with three segueing versions of the title track, Soundtracks opens with a fine 15-minute dose of tranquil minimalist trance before seamlessly gliding through various sonic soundscapes with a metronome-like rhythm. Mellifluous keyboard lines evoke the sense of motion while melodies weave and swirl. "Elektro Kardiogramm" goes as far as containing heartbeat and breathing effects while "Vitamin", the album's peak, could be described as the Pyrenean stage with its deep grooves and dizzying synth hooks. The sound of groundbreakers building bridges, Tour De France Soundtracks may not prove as hugely influential as Kraftwerk's early music, but it is nevertheless a winning return. --Christopher Barrett

Description
'Tour De France Soundtracks' features new material by the electronic music pioneers who formed in Dusseldorf in 1970. Released to commemorate the centenary year of the cycle race,the UK top twenty single, 'Tour De France 03', is included.

Customer Reviews

43 Reviews

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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

ABCD Vitamin, 14 Aug 2003

By	Peri Urban "periurban" (Scotland) - See all my reviews

Kraftwerk continue their man/machine explorations with an album that really puts you in the heart of the peloton.

The Tour De France is as much about the blurring of the boundaries between mankind and its machines as it is about endurance or sporting achievement. One set of legs, one set of wheels, no power source except the body and mind of the rider. Formula 1? Pah!

So, it's entirely appropriate that the band who produced Man Machine more than a quarter of a century ago should be so obsessed by this grand sporting event. If the understated hype is to be believed the band sacked two of their long standing members because they didn't want to cycle! Is that why it took so long to produce this album? Was it a really a matter of "sporting differences"?

Whatever...

The music is every bit as vital as their one time swan song Electric Cafe was bland and predictable. The band have remained true to the innovative spirit of adventure that they employed to such startling effect on The Mix. The textures are much lighter though, and there must be a sneaking suspicion that this is as close as we've ever got to Kraftwerk's chill out album.

But go back even further into the mists of time and you'll rediscover a band that knew all about chilling long before it became a social neccessity. The albums before the ground breaking Autobhan were filled with the kinds of sonic tricks that populate TDF Soundtracks. In a way, this is a band that has come home to itself.

It would be unfair to expect any band to produce a truly ground breaking album these days. Those of us who have been around long enough are beginning to realise that everything is circular, and nothing is really new. Kraftwerk recognise this, and they have finally realised that you don't have to be innovative or provocative to be excellent.

Expect to hear samples popping up all over the place

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

Allez Kraftwerk, 7 April 2004

By A Customer

It's a great record. The three etapes of the title track are incredibly complex and only repetitive in the right sense - each second of that sequence is unique as the sounds morph throughout.

Vitamin is my particular favourite, but every individual track has its merits - the album just requires the proper level of engagement from the listener. It's one of my favourite records to listen to on headphones, because the tonal complexities of the sounds and the full richness of the sonic palette can be properly appreciated in this way.

It's no small achievement for Kraftwerk to still be making such vital music so far on from Autobahn, and the only parallel I can identify is David Bowie.

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

A seriously addictive work-out..., 18 Aug 2005

By	nicjaytee (London) - See all my reviews

Innovators from the far left out-field who've managed to keep up there with the best for 30 years, Kraftwerk are a unique and often bizarre proposition. And here's another example why... take a fairly odd idea - "musical to cycle to" - put it through 11 iterations, stand back and see what happens. First off is their 1983 "Tour de France (CD Single)" featuring three excellent interpretations of their ridiculously catchy original tune, including some quite wonderfully integrated sound bytes of heavy breathing a buzzing derailleur gears. Then 20 years later there's this, their "Tour de France Soundtracks" album with its superb first three tracks (Tour de France Etapes 1, 2 & 3) which while some way away from their predecessors pick up on several of their chord sequences to become perfectly complementary, equally irresistible extensions of them, followed by it's final track, titled - yes you've guessed it - "Tour de France", that's a further excellent reworking of the original concept. And then, if that's not enough, mix it all up even more with their "Tour de France 03 (CD Single)" featuring four more, subtly different, versions of the first three tracks from the "Soundtracks" album.

Too much I hear you say... well possibly not. As you may by now suspect these guys are dedicated "velo-men" who know a bit about how to keep your legs turning, and if you put the whole 11 tracks together and hit the "shuffle" button you'll see why because you've got just about the best possible accompaniment to a serious blast on the pedals. A mesmerically addictive, wholly harmonious sequence of brain etchingly good back-beats & chord sequences that'll keep you cycling, jogging, driving or just chilling out for almost an hour before hitting, as you will, the replay button. And if you're not convinced, buy any one of these superb records for starters and then see if you can resist getting the rest.

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