BLC-Anigif

today

8:30 a.m. Audubon Society Field Trip See Event Description

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9 a.m. Arcata Farmers' Market Arcata Plaza

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9:30 a.m. Discovery Walk: Unknown Waterfront See Event Description

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9:30 a.m. Manila Dunes Restoration Manila Community Center

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10 a.m. Manila Dunes Guided Walk Manila Community Center

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10 a.m. Library Book Sale Humboldt County Library

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10 a.m. Dia de los Muertos and Mexican Folk Art Sale Private Eureka home

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10 a.m. Final Arcata Farmer's Market Arcata Farmers' Market (off the plaza)

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11 a.m. Donlin Foreman Dance Workshop Dell'Arte

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2 p.m. Humboldt Coastal Nature Center Draft Trails Plan Walk Stamps House

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5 p.m. Bati Zado and Show Redwood Raks World Dance Studio

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6 p.m. The Tumbleweeds Chapala Cafe

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6 p.m. Ali Chaudhary (jazz duo) Libation

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6:30 p.m. Not Evil, Just Wrong Humboldt Area Foundation

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7 p.m. Guitar Stan (country) Old Town Coffee & Chocolates

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8 p.m. Guitar Orchestra of Barcelona Arkley Center for the Performing Arts

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8 p.m. Stones in His Pockets Arcata Playhouse

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8 p.m. A Christmas Carol North Coast Repertory Theater

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8 p.m. Donna Landry Swing Dance Moose Lodge

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8 p.m. North Coast Wind Ensemble Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU

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8:30 p.m. The Last Minute Men (international) Cafe Mokka

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9 p.m. Ian McFeron Band (folk rock) Six Rivers Brewery

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9 p.m. The Michael Paul Band WAVE @ blue lake casino

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9 p.m. The Generatorz (classic rock) Central Station Cocktail Lounge

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9 p.m. Taxi Bear River Casino

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9 p.m. VJ Itchie Fingaz Pearl Lounge

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9 p.m. Jack Ruby Presents + Blue Street + Acufunkture (DIY rock) Jambalaya

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9 p.m. 2nd Annual Scorpio Bash The Red Fox Tavern

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10 p.m. Music by DJ Sidelines

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10 p.m. DJ Icy Hot Aunty Mo's Lounge

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10 p.m. Jemimah Puddleduck (rock) Humboldt Brews

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10 p.m. White Manna + Midday Veil + The King Salmon Duo (rock) Jambalaya

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11 p.m. Radio Moscow (psychadelic blues) + Mosquito Bandito (one-man surf/garage) The Alibi Lounge and Restaurant

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previous columns

Oct. 2, 2008

Brown Submarine

By Boston Spaceships. Guided By Voices, Inc.

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Sept. 25, 2008

Carried To Dust

Calexico. Quarterstick/Touch&Go

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Sept. 18, 2008

Letter Home

By Lila Nelson. Madeline Music.

read >
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  • 'Kraftwerk and The Electronic Revolution' 'Kraftwerk and The Electronic Revolution'
<em>Kraftwerk and The Electronic Revolution</em>

Kraftwerk and The Electronic Revolution

Produced by Rob Johnstone. MVD Visual.

By Spencer Doran

Kraftwerk is a tough band to cover in a documentary because the scope of their influence on modern music is so wide that it's nearly impossible to grasp, and their discography is so multidimensional that something is bound to be left out. A comprehensive and interesting history on the band seems like a difficult task, certainly beyond the makers of this film, which, though focused, seems to miss the big picture. It's worth noting that this DVD is not authorized by the band, and there are no interviews with Florian Schneider and Ralf Hütter, the two main members, only contributions from less-involved ex-members, academic experts and German/British intellectuals, as well as some of the band's key contemporaries in the 1970s German electronic scene (Conrad Schnitzler, Moebius Roedelius, etc).

The archival footage is worthwhile, but nothing an intense Kraftwerk fan hasn't already seen on bootleg DVDs or YouTube clips. Despite the filmmakers' attempts, it's by no means a visual documentary, relying mostly on talking heads and voice-overs done over close up shots of album covers and the like. Though it may be appropriate, considering Kraftwerk's brittleness, the whole thing is almost painfully dry, and the highly academic-bent of many of the interviewees likely won't fair well with casual viewers.

It's a shame because the material is interesting, but the uneven focus on the band's more experimental years means not enough attention is given to their later achievements and resulting influence. Still, the film advances some interesting arguments about the band (one of the more interesting being that Kraftwerk was key in establishing a new kind of distinct Germanic identity after World War II) and displays a deep understanding of the context that they must be understood in, even if it's articulated in a somewhat inaccessible way. Unfortunately Kraftwerk's very direct influence on hip hop and Detroit techno is mostly skipped over, and the way they helped to shape electronic music into club culture is largely ignored. Instead the film focuses on their heavy influence on the brief 1980s electro-pop fad, when in reality they have sown a much deeper seed in popular music.

On the whole the film is more of a critical analysis of the zeitgeist from which Kraftwerk sprang forth, spending almost as much time tracing the surrounding music scene and conditions behind the band's development as it does actually discussing the band. They're not even implicitly mentioned until roughly an hour in, making it more of a documentary on German electronic music than on Kraftwerk themselves. If you have an equal interest in electronic krautrock/kosmische this is fine, but at three hours plus, it will undoubtedly bore the casual Kraftwerk fan.

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