Ralf und Florian

Infobox Album |
Name = Ralf und Florian


Type = Album
Artist = Kraftwerk
Released = 1973 - Germany
Released later in other countries
Recorded = May - July 1973 at:
Kraftwerk Studio - Düsseldorf
Cornet Studio - Köln
Rhenus Studio - Köln
Studio 70 - Munich
Genre = Krautrock
Electronic music
Length = 37:41
Label = Philips
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Vertigo
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Producer = Conny Plank
Ralf Hütter
Florian Schneider
Engineer = Conrad Plank
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Aqxsxlfje5cqw link]
Last album = "Kraftwerk 2"
(1972)
This album = "Ralf and Florian"
(1973)
Next album = "Autobahn"
(1974)

"Ralf und Florian" is a 1973 vinyl album created and produced by the German music group Kraftwerk. English editions of this album are also titled "Ralf and Florian". There are no recorded language differences between the various editions of the album because all the cuts on the album are largely instrumental, with no or almost no verbal lyrics. Along with Kraftwerk's first two albums, Ralf und Florian the album has, as of 2008, never been officially re-issued on CD. However, the album remains an influential and sought-after work, and bootlegged CD discs were widely distributed in the 1990s on the "Germanofon" label. The band has hinted that the album may finally see a re-mastered CD release after their "Der Katalog" box set.

As indicated by the title (and like their previous album), all the tracks were written, performed and produced by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider, with the sessions engineered by the influential Konrad "Conny" Plank. The album has a fuller and more polished sound quality than previous efforts, and this is clearly due to the use of a number of commercial recording studios in addition to Kraftwerk's own yet-to-be-named Kling Klang. The colour photograph on the back of the cover gives a vivid impression of the bohemian state of Kraftwerk's own facilities at the time – including egg-box trays pasted, nailed, or stuck on the walls for soundproofing.

The album is still almost entirely instrumental (some wordless yodelling appears in "Tanzmusik", and "Ananas Symphonie" features the band's first use of a machine voice created by an early prototype vocoder, a sound which would later become a Kraftwerk trademark). [This particular piece of equipment was sold at auction in July 2006 (Ebay Item 300001522431). According to the sales description, Kraftwerk's machine was “the mother of all transistorized vocoders, an early 70s prototype custom-built for the German electronic duo. . "Kristallo" features a striking rhythmic electronic bassline (actually created on the EMS synthesizer with the aid of the vocoder), however in general the album is much gentler and less rhythmically precise than Kraftwerk's later electronic work.

The LP included a "musicomic" poster insert of cartoons by Emil Schult, who had been playing electric violin live with the band (although he does not feature on the album recordings). Schult remains a collaborator of Kraftwerk's to the present day. The cartoons illustrated each track on the album, as well as the city of Düsseldorf, with the caption "In Düsseldorf am Rhein, klingt es bald!", which translates literally in English as "In Düsseldorf on the Rhine, it will sound soon" (perhaps the phrase "the sound gets around" captures the snappy feel of the maxim better). Also note that this is kind of a reference to Kraftwerk's Düsseldorf based Kling Klang studio.

The album was a modest success in Germany. Drummer Wolfgang Flür was recruited to play with Ralf and Florian for a subsequent promotional TV appearance in Berlin, for the German WDR TV arts show Aspekte. He became a member of the group thereafter.

Note

Track listing

ide one

# "Elektrisches Roulette" ("Electric Roulette") – 4:20
# "Tongebirge" ("Mountain of Sound") – 2:50
# "Kristallo" ("Crystals") – 6:20
# "Heimatklänge" ("The Bells of Home") – 3:45

ide two

# "Tanzmusik" ("Dance Music") – 6:35
# "Ananas Symphonie" ("Pineapple Symphony") – 13:55Note: The above English translations are taken from the US version of the album issued by Vertigo in 1975.

Credits

* Ralf Hütter – vocals, keyboards, electronics, string instruments, drums and percussion

* Florian Schneider-Esleben – vocals, keyboards, electronics, string and wind instruments, percussion
* Emil Schult – "musicomix" poster design.

* Konrad "Conny" Plank – sound engineer.

* Barbara Niemöller – rear cover photo.

* Robert Franck – front cover photo.

Release details