This article is very strange. It's written under the pretense that these musicians aren't recognized for their contributions to the music that came after the German origins of techno when they absolutely are; you would struggle to find _anybody_ who listens to house music beyond top 40 radio hits disputing the contributions of black, female, queer, etc. artists. Many (me included) would argue that those demographics did most of the legwork developing modern EDM (that did/will have any commercial success, at least) and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
The people this article claimed were snubbed had this to say:
>According to Banks, Kraftwerk was in the audience that night at Tresor. He spotted the band members and rushed to tell Jeff Mills, who didn’t believe him until he saw Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in the back of the room. Banks said that it was like seeing living legends, the guys who provided the blueprints for their own souped-up sound. He said that Hütter and Schneider were just grateful to be recognized by the next generation of techno whiz kids. “We talked for a second in that narrow, dingy stairwell going to the surface,” Banks said, before switching to a comically bad German accent. “ ‘Thank you for remembering us,’ they said.”
Nonsense, that is clearly Acid House :) 2:30 onwards they have a liquid proto-TB-303-ish squelchy melody in there.
Thanks for this. Never heard it before and it's a great track that's very danceable unlike lots of other esoteric/experimental music that pursue atonal/arhythmic horrors. I love the garage-punk/skiffle rawness compared to electronic perfection.
The video is fantastic and it demonstrates how some people can be hesitant or uncertain when encountering true innovation. Only a small percentage of the audience, about 10-20%, seems to fully comprehend the concept, while the rest appear puzzled or confused.
you would struggle to find _anybody_ who listens to house music beyond top 40 radio hits...
This isn't an trade rag, it's the New Yorker & The New Yorker has a broad reader base. I don't think it's a stretch to say most readers aren't listening to house music beyond top 40 radio hits.
Most people that aren't listening past top 40 hits barely remember Kraftwerk, if they even know who they are at all.
Of the people reading this that actually care, they already know how influential Germany and the Midwest US were at their respective times.
After putting it in writing, my initial impression of the article as just "strange" may have been too mild. It seems a hell of a lot like it's meant to inflame culture war bullshit among uninvolved parties more than anything else.
The people this article claimed were snubbed had this to say:
>According to Banks, Kraftwerk was in the audience that night at Tresor. He spotted the band members and rushed to tell Jeff Mills, who didn’t believe him until he saw Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in the back of the room. Banks said that it was like seeing living legends, the guys who provided the blueprints for their own souped-up sound. He said that Hütter and Schneider were just grateful to be recognized by the next generation of techno whiz kids. “We talked for a second in that narrow, dingy stairwell going to the surface,” Banks said, before switching to a comically bad German accent. “ ‘Thank you for remembering us,’ they said.”