I am the operator of my pocket calculator

tonight is a paramount night in my history of concert-going: Kraftwerk is playing at the State Theatre in Detroit. For those who may not know, they are basically the godfathers of electronic music, hailing from Germany in the mid-70s. They (amongst others) are a seminal influence on pretty much every form of electronic music that has occurred since. Likewise, Kraftwerk was a huge influence on the Detroit techno sound, so it is fitting that this is one of their five (only!) concert spots during this tour.

From what I've heard, it'll be multimedia spectacle, and I'm giddy as a kid at Christmas. Plus, WDET has been playing tracks all week from their new double-live CD. SO tasty. I've been an electronic music fan for a long time, everything from early Moby and Plastikman to Aphex Twin and Autechre. But I have to say, either electronic music has completely stagnated lately, or I've just lost interest. I think the last album I heard that I really found innovative was Mouse on Mars' 2001 release "Idiology." So I'm excited to see this show. Very old school; lots of analog synths and sine waves, vocoded robot singing, and cold, staccato beats. Bring on the future, circa 1978.