Kraftwerk 2
Album by Kraftwerk
Released	1972
Recorded	26 September-1 October 1971 (Star Musik Studio, Hamburg, Germany)
Genre	Electronic
Length	42 min 42 s
Label	Philips
Producer(s)	Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Conny Plank
Professional reviews
AMG (4/5) link
Kraftwerk chronology
Kraftwerk (1971)	Kraftwerk 2 (1972)	Ralf und Florian (1973)

Kraftwerk 2 is a 1972 album by Kraftwerk. Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider have refused to reprint this album on CD or any other media, as they do not consider it a Kraftwerk album or even acknowledge its existence. Bootleg CDs were widely availble in the 1990s on the 'Germanofon' label. Image File history File links K2-D-front. ... An album is a collection of related audio tracks, released together commercially in an audio format to the public. ... Album cover of Trans-Europe Express (1977). ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... September is the ninth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four Gregorian months with 30 days. ... October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... Electronic music is a loose term for music created using electronic equipment. ... This article contains information that has not been verified. ... The second (symbol: s) is the SI base unit of time. ... A record label is a brand created by companies that specialize in manufacturing, distributing and promoting audio and video recordings, on various formats including compact discs, LPs, DVD-Audio, SACDs, and cassettes. ... Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Royal Philips Electronics N.V.), usually known as Philips, (Euronext: PHIA, NYSE: PHG) is one of the largest electronics companies in the world. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) is (among many other tasks) primarily responsible for completing a master recording so that it is fit for mass production and commercial release. ... Cover of the album Ralf und Florian. ... Florian Schneider-Esleben (born April 7th, 1947, Germany) is one of the founding members of electronic music legends, Kraftwerk. ... Konrad Conny Plank (frequently spelled Planck) (d. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. ... Album cover of Trans-Europe Express (1977). ... Kraftwerk is the first album by Kraftwerk. ... 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... Ralf und Florian is a 1973 album by Kraftwerk. ... 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ... See also: 1971 in music, other events of 1972, 1973 in music, 1970s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 17 - Highway 51 South in Memphis, Tennessee is renamed Elvis Presley Blvd January 20 - Pink Floyd debuts Dark Side of the Moon during a performance at... Album cover of Trans-Europe Express (1977). ... Cover of the album Ralf und Florian. ... Florian Schneider-Esleben (born April 7th, 1947, Germany) is one of the founding members of electronic music legends, Kraftwerk. ... CD may stand for: Compact Disc Canadian Forces Decoration Cash Dispenser (at least used in Japan) CD LPMud Driver Centrum-Demokraterne (Centre Democrats of Denmark) Certificate of Deposit ÄŒeské Dráhy (Czech Railways) Chad (NATO country code) Chalmers Datorförening (computer club of the Chalmers University of Technology) a 1960s... // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but otherwise retaining the same mindset. ... A record label is a brand created by companies that specialize in manufacturing, distributing and promoting audio and video recordings, on various formats including compact discs, LPs, DVD-Audio, SACDs, and cassettes. ...

The album is entirely written and performed by Hütter & Schneider, with the sessions produced by the influential Conny Plank. Konrad Conny Plank (frequently spelled Planck) (d. ...

Hütter: "Noboby wanted to play with us because we did all kinds of strange things… feedbacks and overtones and sounds and rhythms. No drummer wanted to work with us because we had these electronic gadgets." (Interview in Select magazine, 1991)

Perhaps the least characteristic album of their output, it features little obvious use of synthesizers, the instrumentation being largely electric guitar, bass guitar, flute and violin. The electronics on display is generally in the realm of 1960s tape-based music more ususually produced in academia, with much use of tape echo (for example the massed looping flute layers of "Strom"), reverse & altered speed tape effects. Overall the sound has a rather muted, twilit, dusky feel. A classic FM synthesizer, the Yamaha DX7. ... The acoustic archtop guitar, used in Jazz music, features steel strings The guitar is a stringed musical instrument. ... This article is about the musical instrument. ... Violin The violin is a stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a perfect fifth apart. ... The 1960s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ...

The lengthy, almost side-long "Klingklang" which opens the album (and also became the name of the band's own self-built studio, Kling Klang, in Düsseldorf) is notable for its use of a preset organ beatbox to provide the percussion track, and also opens with a clangourous Stockhausen-like metallic percussion montage. "Harmonika" features a tape-manipulated mouth organ (harmonica). Kling Klang is Kraftwerks studio in Düsseldorf, Germany. ... Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. ... The Casavant pipe organ at Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica, Montreal The organ is one of the oldest musical instruments in the western musical tradition, with a rich history connected with the Christian religion and civic ceremony. ... A harmonica A harmonica is a very common free reed musical wind instrument (also known, among other things, as a mouth organ, French harp, blues harp, simply harp, or Mississippi saxophone), having multiple, variably-tuned brass or bronze reeds, each secured at one end over an airway slot of like...

The cover design, credited to Ralf and Florian, further hints at a deliberate association with concepualist art, being a virtual repeat of the first album's Pop Art design – except printed this time in flourescent green and with slight modification by the number '2'.

Track listing

1. (17:36) "Klingklang" - (literally "Ring Sound", although something like "TinkleTone" might capture the punning feel of the German better...)
2. (02:57) "Atem" - ("Breath")
3. (03:52) "Strom" - ("Current")
4. (05:20) "Spule 4" - ("Reel 4")
5. (09:40) "Wellenlänge" - ("Wavelength")
6. (03:17) "Harmonika" - ("Harmonica")

Inside design of the gatefold cover, with images of Ralf and his instruments on the left and Florian on the right – plus one of Conrad Plank (far right, above the credits).

The British release on the Vertigo label combined the first two German albums.