It's About Damn Time, sort of

March 11, 2011 11:57 AM

Kraftwerk, after being silent since 2003, finally has a new release of original material. It's not exactly what we were expecting.
posted by smcdow (23 comments total)

They should have called it the klangklangston machine.
posted by spicynuts at 12:00 PM on March 11, 2011

Not to cast aspersions, but this is precisely the kind of thing we should have been expecting.
posted by Beardman at 12:01 PM on March 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

By pressing down a special key, it plays a little melody.
posted by demiurge at 12:02 PM on March 11, 2011 [29 favorites]

In the process of tearing my phone out of my pocket to download this app, I nearly broke the damn thing.
posted by incomple at 12:03 PM on March 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

I nearly broke the damn thing.

Hello??? Kraftwerk already did that for you.
posted by spicynuts at 12:04 PM on March 11, 2011

For how often I use my iPod Touch as a pocket calculator, this is indeed appropriate.
posted by activitystory at 12:08 PM on March 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

For those of us who haven't sold our soul to the company store, and have no idea on first reading / clicking what smcdow is talking about (like myself, for example) –

What Kraftwerk released is not an album, but instead a music-creating app for the iPhone and iPad. It is called "Kling Klang Machine," and costs $8.99. Here is an article that discusses it briefly.
posted by koeselitz at 12:09 PM on March 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

No audio samples anywhere?
posted by fleetmouse at 12:14 PM on March 11, 2011

I, of course, bought it the second I heard about it, which was about six hours ago. It's a location-based generative music thingy -- it will subtly change its output based on where you are located (I drove from one end of town to the other with it playing to see what it would do).

Also, this guy worked on the app. Check the credits.

... this is precisely the kind of thing we should have been expecting
Very true. It certainly isn't what I was expecting...
posted by smcdow at 12:14 PM on March 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Previously
posted by empath at 12:18 PM on March 11, 2011

Kraftwerk - Kling Klang (an incomplete version of the track from 1972).
posted by filthy light thief at 12:21 PM on March 11, 2011

Nokurakangya ha, dentaku katatini.
posted by xarnop at 12:38 PM on March 11, 2011

Holy shit, they made the Klangman. I wish I had an iPhone so I could cosplay as Conrad Schnitzler now.
posted by egypturnash at 12:40 PM on March 11, 2011

Nice post.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:42 PM on March 11, 2011

Kuhl!
posted by saulgoodman at 12:48 PM on March 11, 2011

Now if the iPhone would support true multitasking, we could make Eno and Kraftwerk play nicely together all at once with the Kling Klang Machine, Bloom and Trope.
posted by maudlin at 12:52 PM on March 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

maudlin: Now if the iPhone would support true multitasking, we could make Eno and Kraftwerk play nicely together all at once with the Kling Klang Machine, Bloom and Trope.

You can always hope for an online implementation, like Budha Machine Wall (based on the much more simple Buddha Machine ambient loop playing device).
posted by filthy light thief at 1:27 PM on March 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh, that's GORGEOUS -- thanks!
posted by maudlin at 1:53 PM on March 11, 2011

Shit, that's $8.99 I really didn't want to have to spend today. *buy*
posted by SansPoint at 2:40 PM on March 11, 2011

This is the kind of app that makes me sad my iPod Touch's screen is faulty so it really only functions as a regular mp3 player now.
posted by willhopkins at 6:19 PM on March 11, 2011

i would deeply care about this but i'm in a renoise phase, will someone code it as a small lua script please?
posted by 3mendo at 7:36 PM on March 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Fox is the distributor?! Ew.

Kraftwerk shouldn't pal around with rightwing fascists...
posted by markkraft at 10:40 AM on March 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

iPhone/iPad is the platform?! Ew.

Kraftwerk shouldn't pal around with totalitarian regimes...
posted by Devonian at 5:07 AM on March 13, 2011 [2 favorites]