Cold War Electronica: Atomic Anthems

Three Danes, one Finn, two bands, one called Liima, one called Efterklang, a UK tour, a couple of pints and chat about what’s what. Confused? It’s easily done

With the imminent release of a bumper box set of his solo work, one-time Can man Irmin Schmidt looks back over his illustrious career and talks about fleeing war-torn Berlin as a child, learning his trade under Stockhausen, and his sonic adventures in the worlds of classical music, experimental electronics, film soundtracks and fantasy operatics

They pooled their gear to record their first singles, which they then released on their own labels. Thomas Leer and Robert Rental, old friends from the town of port Glasgow on the Clyde, were the original bedroom producers and key players in the nascent diy electronic scene of the late 1970s. And they didn’t own a single synth between them

From Paris to Vienna to Düsseldorf, our very own man on the train follows the route laid out on ‘Trans-Europe Express’ for a unique Tour De Kraftwerk