Kraftwerk
Trans-Europe Express
scum stats: I got none, pressed in the billions no doubt
So with three little girls running around this place like savages around the bonfire, I've had to adapt. Change my way of thinking. Try new ideas.
The one I'm most proud of involves my middle child, Mabel. As she strongly resembles me (and I too am a middle child) I have a feeling she may end up being my favorite. I write that reluctantly, but also realize that none of my daughters will ever have Vault subscriptions to be able to read it here.
Mabel, if left to her own devices, will stay up until 10:30pm. That just ain't cricket. It's been driving us nuts.
Frustrated a week ago around 9:15pm, I grabbed that beautiful little girl and strapped her into her carseat and just started driving. Fifteen minutes later, she was out, successfully transferred to her bed, and mom and I were able to enjoy the brief five minutes we had together before we passed out in a stupor.
And thus it's become my routine to drive Mabel around at night to get her to go to sleep. Soundtrack is key, as the Rockabye Baby and Vitamin String Quartet comps would seem to be no-brainer knock-outs for a two-year-old. But beware, those cause her to stay awake and HOUR in the backseat of the car and I ain't got time for that shit.
Without a doubt, the best soundtrack for getting baby girl zonked is Kraftwerk. And Side A of "Trans-Europe Express" is as good a three song combo you'll ever find anywhere in the world. "Europe Endless" is my savior. Sometimes, she doesn't even make it through that song, but I'll sit just a little bit longer in the driveway enjoying the electronic symphony painting fanciful still lifes of the Rhine River valley in my mind.
PS. Is anyone else downright PISSED that Kraftwerk went and changed the cover of this album to some bullshit black-and-white illustration of a train? What gives? I get that train is the "Trans-Europe Express", but changing the cover FORTY years after the album came out? Bush-leagues. The oil-painting portrait is one of my favorite album covers of ALL TIME and deserves to be seen every chance possible. Rant over.
Completely agree with the artwork thing – Ralf Hütter appears to be a bit of a revisionist now he is the sole member left of the classic line-up, and has taken quite a few liberties with the reissues, removing past band members from covers and diminishing their contributions in the credits, completely rearranging track listings, taking an age to complete it and then not reissuing their earlier pre-electronic albums and still not recording any new material. I don’t know, I love Kraftwerk but it kind of puzzles me why he feels the need to tinker so. Please Ben, if you have any say in 30 or 40+ years time don’t let anyone do this kind of thing with Jack’s music.
Finally a Blackwell record of the week I have in my collection and the story line is all about putting people to sleep. I have over 3,000 12 inch vinyl records and over 700 7 inch singles and this is the the first Blackwell match. I am a big Kraftwerk fan. I have every album, several singles, a few picture disks, colored vinyl, and several rarities. I have the original Trans. Anyway, enough typing…time for my nap. Oh! BTW, try some Tangerine Dream or even some Ennio Morricone if your kids “tire” (pun intended) of Kraftwerk. Or, better yet, save some gas and get a white noise machine. I have one to drown out my teens who always stay awake later than me, and they work! Not sure if they have a vibrating dryer setting, but at least you don’t have to strap them down.
Ben, Bless your heart and your wife’s, too! My children were always lulled into sleepiness with either my reading a story — or rocking and singing to them while lightly rubbing their foreheads. It took them right to Sleepytown! But for my sister’s son, this never worked. He was a drive around baby, too. But some nights, this just wasn’t feasible (bad weather, etc.) So, my sister would strap him into a carrier, put the carrier on the dryer (while steadying it the whole time, of course) and turn on the dryer. The motion of the dryer would simulate the movement of riding in the car. She would sing or read to him and most times, he would drift off to sleep. Hope this helps… God bless you and your precious family.
I have really strong childhood memories tied to “Computer World,” and I feel like “It’s More Fun to Compute” turned out to be strangely Nostradamian. ??♀️ My sister, I’m told, was a drive-around-to-sleep baby. I, on the other hand, learned to scale my crib to put myself to bed. I’ve always be content to sleep when I’m tired. May Miss Navy find the beauty in sleep on her own very soon!
(Cont) reason for replacing the portrait other than a fanciful shot at increasing sales or cutting the first artist out of some residuals, which I suspect was at the heart of the decision.
I enjoy when certain LP covers are redesigned to avoid litigation (the Stones’ Some Girls and the Clash’s Combat Rock come to mind) or out of respect for the surviving family (Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Street Survivors). In this case, there doesn’t appear to be any justifiable
I absolutely agree. Cover art is so much about what vinyl is about; a detriment to the whole experience.
Ch ch ch changes turn and face the pee and poop ch ch changes pretty soon their gonna be older I may change diapers but changing diapers won’t change me look out you rock and rollers
Congrats on the new little one. David Byrne’s “Catherine Wheel” is worth checking out for nappy time.
I moved my office to my home last December, and have the entire Kraftwerk collection downloaded on an old iPod. Some days I’ll start the loop, and the next thing you know I’m re-wiring the garbage disposal. Go figure.