Winter Wonderland

We arrived yesterday in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, after a long flight via Reykjavík to Munich. We had to take the bus from the airport due to train track maintenance. It is winter here, cold and snowy – perfect for a Christmas break.

Even though neither Elke’s dad nor my mother lives in the homes where we grew up anymore, those home visits always trigger a trip down memory lane. So naturally, the announcement of the 50th-anniversary tour for the groundbreaking Kraftwerk album Autobahn made me think about what this German band meant.

Kraftwerk is arguably the most influential German band, appearing in the direct lineage of hip-hop and electronic dance music. They started as part of the Krautrock movement in the early 70s, although their first three albums are not available anymore (I had Kraftwerk 1 and Kraftwerk 2 in my hands one time at a second-hand record store, but they were too expensive). Then, in 1974, they released Autobahn, which marked their ascent as an all-electronic band.

In the early 80s, many people considered them a joke. Their child-rhyme-like lyrics and simple melodies were too much of a contrast to the epic rock of the 70s. Still, many of their songs ran deep in popular culture, and most kids knew how to intonate lyrics like “Fahren, Fahren auf der Autobahn,” or “Trans Europa Express” in the deadpan vocals of Ralf Hütter.

A good way to get into the music of Kraftwerk is the 2005 live album Minimum Maximum (Apple Music | Spotify). We saw them live on that tour at a jam-packed Roseland Ballroom and can guarantee that a Kraftwerk live show is an audio-visual experience.

Have you already checked out your Spotify Wrapped and/or Apple Music Replay? I listen to a lot of different music, so finding interesting patterns in my listening record may be challenging. But at a time when technology companies promise to infuse magic into their offerings with AI, my results were disappointingly pedestrian. Spotify put Emika as my most listened-to artist. She’s one of my all-time favorites, so I take it. But why is Lesibu Grand – a Song Pick of Elke’s – on number 2? And I have no idea how U2 made number five. But it came with a lovely video address by Larry Mullen.

Even more off is Apple Music: they list the New Year’s concert of the Vienna Philharmonics at the top spot because we listened to it on New Year’s Day. I’ve never listened to classical music for the rest of the year, so that should have easily been identified as an outlier. Also, I would appreciate it if Spotify and Apple Music gave me access to the data they collect about me at all times, not only as a marketing stunt at year-end.

Here is some news about our quest for a good holiday movie: Candy Coated Christmas (2021) fits our bill. Likeable characters, a heartwarming story, and boatloads of Christmas spirit. But why do Southern Californian women always believe high heels are appropriate when visiting a winter wonderland?

glamglare favorites

Listen to glamglare favorites on Spotify or below on YouTube.

Today’s five new songs come from 70s and early 80s synth-pop pioneers who helped to bring electronic music from a curiosity to the mainstream. Gershon Kingsley originally composed “Pop Corn” in 1968 on a Moog Synthesizer and released multiple versions in the following years. This song introduced purely electronic music to many people. The same can be said for “Oxygène (Part IV)” by French composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released in 1977.

While most electronic tracks of that time were instrumentals, Kraftwerk always added some lyrics to their compositions. “Computer World” of 1980 is one of my favorite songs by a German band. While the synthesizers by Moog dominated the 70s and early 80s, Suzanne Ciani was a fan of the competing Buchla instruments. “The First Wave (Birth of Venus)” is from her 1982 album, Seven Waves. Space was a French Band with a major hit with “Magic Fly” in the late 70s.

Song Pick of the Day

Listen to/watch all seven songs on YouTube. Follow our daily updated playlists on YouTube and Spotify for the 50 latest Song Pick of the Day features or subscribe here to receive them into your mailbox in real-time. Thank you for following us and sharing the excitement.

• Laura Reznek - Endeavourshttps://youtu.be/bjedATR54B8
• Olivia Reid - Quite Simple
• Milk & Bone - Forgonehttps://youtu.be/eynsFsI3x4k
• Strange Flesh - Chaos Hearts
• Xades - Weighting
• Tabi Gervis - Clearly
• Alexia Thomas - Based on a Dream

Nine Photos of Winterly Garmisch-Partenkirchen