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Ralf und Florian

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Ralf und Florian is a 1973 album by Kraftwerk. English versions of this album are titled Ralf and Florian. Along with their first two albums it has, to date, never been officially re-issued on CD. However, it remains an influential and sought-after work, and bootleg CD discs were widely distributed in the 1990s on the 'Germanofon' label. The band have 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 Hütter and 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 photo 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 stuck on the walls in an attempt at soundproofing.

The album is still almost entirely instrumental (some wordless yodelling appears in "Tanzmusik", and "Ananas Symphonie" features the band's first use of the vocoder, which would later become a Kraftwerk trademark). Instrumentation begins to show more obvious use of synthesizers (Minimoog and EMS AKS), however most melodic and harmonic keyboard parts are performed on Farfisa electronic piano/organ. Flute and guitar are still much in evidence. The band were still without a drummer, and several tracks, particularly "Tanzmusik", make use of a preset organ rhythm machine. "Kristallo" features a striking rhythmic electronic bassline (actually a combination of flute played with various treatments by the vocoder[citation needed]), however in general the album is much gentler and less rhythmically precise than Kraftwerk's classic 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.

Track listing

  1. "Elektrisches Roulette" ("Electric Roulette") – 4:20
  2. "Tongebirge" ("Mountain of Sound") – 2:50
  3. "Kristallo" ("Crystals") – 6:20
  4. "Heimatklänge" ("The Bells of Home") – 3:45
  5. "Tanzmusik" ("Dance Music") – 6:35
  6. "Ananas Symphonie" ("Pineapple Symphony") – 13:55

Note: The above English translations are taken from the US version of the album issued by Vertigo in 1975.

Credits

  • Ralf Hütter – vocals, keyboards, string-instruments, percussion, electronics; cover design.
  • Florian Schneider-Esleben – vocals, keyboards, string- and wind-instruments, percussion, electronics; cover design.
  • Emil Schult – "musicomix" poster design.
  • Konrad "Conny" Plank – sound engineer.
  • Barbara Niemöller – rear cover photo.
  • Robert Franck – front cover photo.

Release details

Country Date Label Format Catalog
Germany October 1973 Philips Vinyl 6305 197
October 1973 Philips Cassette 7105 147
France 1973 Philips Vinyl 9118 004
United Kingdom January 1974 Vertigo Vinyl 6360 616 Different front cover design
United States August 1975 Vertigo Vinyl VEL-2006
August 1975 Vertigo Cassette VCR-4-2006
August 1975 Vertigo 8-track VC-8-2006


File:RF-E-front.jpg
The version released in Britain on the Vertigo label, with metallic inks and a heavily embossed sleeve resembling a circuit board.
File:RF-E-back.jpg
Back cover photo by Barbara Niemöller, showing Ralf & Florian relaxing in their sonic playroom, with their names in neon lights.
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