A litany of obscurity and genius

Yello – Stella (1985)

The music of Yello, represented the quirky, lyrical, romantic face of technology – old fashioned yet ultra modern, films without pictures; a cast of bizarre characters and outstanding guest vocalists populated this duo’s purple patch in the mid eighties. Difficult to choose one outstanding album, this one, perhaps because of the heavy metal inflected ‘Domingo’ is the one I return to the most. Immaculate engineering and production made this band into a high-fi enthusiasts wet dream – the discerning listener will marvel at the textures, the cleanliness and complexity of the sound. Sonic poetry, grandiose and obscure, Yello set standards that pushed their visionary pop music all the way to the dancefloors of the 90’s.

Kraftwerk – Electric Cafe (1986)

The spartan precision of this music, allied to a grasp of melody equalling if not surpassing the entire output of the Brill Building’s perfect pop production line, propelled Kraftwerk to the forefront of the german electronic underground. Justly lauded for groundbreaking work such as “Computer World”, “Trans-Europe Express” and “Man Machine”, key influencers in the birth of electro and hip hop, the release of Electric Cafe introduced us to a sound as precise and mechanistic as brain surgery. A phantasm of circuits and wires, electronic communication and cyber sex, the album was trailed by the single “Tour de France”, an extraordinary, Tron like journey into the heart of the modern racing bicycle. Titanium perfection gracing every detail, the single perhaps took the gloss off the album, which though lacking a masterpiece, is still the album I seek out when my dreams are beset by the chirrups and clicks of life in the computer age.