Pioneering electronic act Kraftwerk are set to release the German-language versions of their classic repertoire on streaming services for the first time ever.

On Friday, July 3rd, the original versions of Trans Europa ExpressDie Mensch-MaschineComputerweltTechno Pop, and The Mix, will be available to stream.

The band will also be releasing a Dolby Atmos/HD Surround mix of the documentary 3-D The Catalogue. The film will be available to watch via Amazon HD and Tidal.

On April 21st, Florian Schneider, co-founder of the seminal electronic synth-pop outfit Kraftwerk passed away at the age of 73.

Confirmed by former bandmate Ralf Hütter, it’s known from a statement from Rolling Stone that Florian Schneider died “from a short cancer disease just a few days after his seventy-third birthday.”

The German musician was one of the founders members of the groundbreaking band serving as a multi-talent with background vocals, violin, synthesisers, computer-generated vocals, live saxophone, percussion, acoustic and electronic flute, vocoder, and electric guitar featured across his 38 years in the group.

Peter Hook of Joy Division paid tribute to the late Kraftwerk founder Florian Schneider — acknowledging that the electronic trailblazers were one of Joy Division’s most profound influences.

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“I was so sad to hear of the death of Florian Schneider. My first memory of Kraftwerk was given an LP by Ian Curtis. He gave me ‘Autobahn’ and later ‘Trans Europe Express’. I was absolutely fascinated by both. Ian suggested that every time Joy Division goes on stage, we should do it for ‘Trans Europe Express”’. We did it from our first show, until almost our last,” he shared.

“Ian’s music education was fantastic. He taught us everything from doors to Can. He put these artists in front of Barney [Sumner, bandmate] and me and they have become so important to us. Joy Division was very connected to Kraftwerk, but it wasn’t until we got to New Order and were able to afford to buy the toys that our main source of inspiration became, ‘Kraftwerk Scammers.’ Their music was seductively simple, but impossible to reproduce.”

Hook continued: “They were one step ahead of everyone, even electronically. They were making their own sequencers years before everyone else.”

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