Kraftman

Kraftman has had a passion for electronic music for over 40 years, right from the minute he saw Tubeway Army perform "Are Friends Electric?" on Top Of The Pops, during the 80s he amassed a massive vinyl record collection, which he still has, that included releases by the likes of The Human League, Depeche Mode, Erasure, OMD, Howard Jones, Heaven 17, Simple Minds, Tears For Fears, John Foxx, Gary Numan, Pet Shop Boys, Thompson Twins, Duran Duran, Soft Cell, Ultravox, New Order and of course Kraftwerk, in a nutshell, a who's who of 80s synthpop and electronic music!

Over the years he has taken a very keen interest in independent/unsigned electronic music artists from around the world, including Metroland, Eurotix, Machinista, Empathy Test, Parralox and 808 Dot Pop and so many more, and follows the independent Machine-Pop music scene too, being a big fan of the likes of Maschine Brennt, Datapop, Neon, Sector One and many others.

As a fan of Kraftwerk for over 40 years, Kraftman has focused on two independent conceptual electronic band from Belguim, called Metroland, and 808 Dot Pop, he discovered them when they released the brilliant single "The Passenger", a track Kraftwerk themselves would have been proud to release. He raved about the band in OMD's forum and this was spotted by Passenger S of the band and a friendship was soon struck up, so much so, he has made official promo's for Metroland and 808 Dot Pop releases and made a multimedia documentary film about them, which got an official release. Metroland have released several albums so far, the brilliant debut "Mind The gap", "Triadic Ballet", "Things Will Never Sound The Same Again" and "Men In A Frame", as well as a compilation box set, a remix album and a compilation called "Pictures To Listen To", plus numerous singles and EP's. Recently Passenger S of the band, started a side project, called 808 Dot Pop and once again KRAFTman has played a part in their debut release "The Colour Temperature", by providing promo video's for singles that are to be released, in addition, he has also provided his first official remix for the 808 Dot Pop track "Gamma Rays".

Kraftman's first official release will be the 7 track single "Florian", a tribute to Kraftwerk co-founder Florian Schneider, the single will include mixes by Kraftman as well as remixes by 808 Dot Pop and Maschine Brennt, the single will be released on August 14th 2020 and is available via Bandcamp here.

Kraftman and Passenger S have struck up a really good friendship, as they connect so well, with the music they produce, and both have creative energy that works so well together.

It is the music of Metroland and 808 Dot Pop, that has inspired KRAFTman to record several Kraftwerk cover versions, over the years he has learnt a lot about production techniques and wanted to put those skills to good use by recording and releasing some of his Kraftwerk cover versions and also release his own material.

The full story evolves below......

The debut single by Kraftman, "Florian" was released as a 7 track Digital Download on August 14th 2020, the single featured KRAFTman's original version (which featured on the "We Are Machine Pop 6" compilation) and the KRAFTman Matrix 12 Inch Version, in addition the single featured remixes by Metroland and Maschine brennt, a combination mix was also included, which was the song constructed using sections of 3 of the mixes included in the release.

The 7 track single is available from Bandcamp here

It is also available from leading Digital stores here

On September 11th 2020, Kraftman released the single "The Robots (7 Inch Version)", a cover of the Kraftwerk track,again as a Digital Download, that featured the lead track, as well as, a 7 Inch version of Kraftwerk's track "Metropolis" and  a special Re-Programmed 12 Inch Version of "The Robots". This was the lead single from the album "The Man Machine (Recreated)".

The album "The Man Machine (Recreated)" was released on October 30th and features a complete recording of all the tracks featured on the iconic Kraftwerk album, as well as, 12 Inch versiions of all 6 tracks, all of which are unique arrangements. The Digital Download is available via Bandcamp here.

On April 2nd 2021, Kraftman releases some brand new material by way of a 4 track EP called "Electrique Musique", this is an EP that features edited versions of tracks that will be featured on the new KRAFTman album "Electrique Fabrique", also to be released in April.  Tracks featured on the EP are, "Bundesautobahn 52", "A Face I Knew", "Gamma Rays" and "Electric Cafe (English Version)".

The EP is available as a digital download via Bandcamp here

On August 13th 2021 Kraftman released the album "Electrique Fabrique", the CD edition, featured 4 bonus tracks, not included on the digital release. The 11 track album featured 9 original compositions written by KRAFTman, as well as, a version of the 808 Dot Pop track "Gamma Rays" and an English version of the Kraftwerk track "Electric Cafe", which is unique, as Kraftwerk never recorded an English version of the track.

The digital download is available via Bandcamp here

It is also available on leading Digital stores here

The initial CD copies of the album "Electrique Fabrique", sold out fairly quickly, however, Razgrom Music were approached to see if they would be interested in releasing the album on their label and wanted to, on this edition of the CD the 4 bonus tracks were different than those included on the original release.

This CD is available via Bandcamp here Poponaut here and from Razgrom Music here

It is also available on leading Digital stores here

The second single released off the albumn "Electrique Fabrique" is the track "Call Me Up", which was released on 19th November 2021 and featured 7 tracks, including a remix by 808 Dot Pop, an exclusive B Side "I Am A Machine" and a cover of the Kraftwerk track "The Telephone Call".

The 7 track single is available via Bandcamp here

It is also available on leading Digital stores here

On May 6th Kraftman anounced details of a new album, a concept album about the professional cycling road race,"The Giro D'Italia", which looks at the history of the event. On the same day the first single from the album was released, as a 4 track digital download, featuring the lead track "Riding Through The Alps", as well as, a cover of the Kraftwerk track "Kometenmelodie 2", an instrumental remix of the track "Riding through The Alps" and an extended version of the song

The 4 track single is available from Bandcamp here

On the 22nd July 2022 Kraftman released a further single taken from the forthcoming album "Giro D'Italia", "Giro '22" is the featured song of the 4 track single, which as well as remixes of "Giro '22" includes a Kraftman recording of the Kraftwerk track "Tour De France"

The 4 track single is available from Bandcamp here

On the 2nd September 2022 Kraftman released the album "Giro D'Italia", a concept album all about the "Giro D'Italia" professional cycle race, the album features 13 new recordings, including 12 songs written by Kraftman, the album features the singles "Riding Through The Alps" and "Call Me Up".

The album is available as a digital download from Bandcamp here

The album is available via Digital Download stores here

On November 24th 2022 Kraftman released the 5 track "King Of The Mountains EP", a further track from the latest Kraftman album "Giro D'Italia".

The single features a 7 inch version of the lead track "King Of The Mountains", a 7 inch version of another track from the "Giro D'Italia", "La Gazzetta Dello Sport", as well as 80s style extended versions of both tracks, and Kraftman's cover version of the Sparks track "When Do I Get To Sing My Way".

The 5 track EP is available from Bandcamp here

On December 2nd 2022, Kraftman released a special 3 track Christmas EP, called "3 For Christmas", it features Kraftman's interpretations of 3 of the biggest Christmas singles ever released, it features, "Do They Know It's Christmas Time?" (Band Aid), "Last Christmas" (Wham) and "Mary's Boy Child" (Boney M).

The EP is available from Bandcamp here

On the 14th January 2023 Razgrom Music released a Special Edition CD of the Kraftman album "Giro D'Italia", which featured 3 bonus tracks. Initially available from Razgrom Music, Poponaut and other outlets.

On April 6th 2023 a special 12 Inch Mixes CD was released through Razgrom Music, the album features 12 Inch versions of the tracks featured on the album "Electrique Fabrique", just like the 12 Inch singles released in the 80s, longer formats of the original recordings.

On July 21st 2023  special remix edition of the "Giro D'Italia" album was released titled "Giro D'Italia (Longer Format)", this was released on CD via Razgrom Music, the album featured 10 new 12 Inch mixes of tracks from the original album, plus a bonus remix by Arvid Tuba of the track "Riding Through The Alps", the album was also released as a digital download.

Kraftman released the first single from a new album called "Chernobyl" on November 3rd 2023, the album is a concept album all about the Chernobyl disaster and "Meltdon To The Core" is the lead single from the album and features 6 tracks, including remixes by Metroland and Arvid Tuba, as well as 2 additional mixes by Kraftman, including an extended mix PLUS the exclusive track "Dancing In The Square".

Kraftman released the EP "AZ-5", a track from the forthcoming album "Chernobyl", on March 1st 2024. The EP features 5 tracks in all, a "Radio Edit" of "AZ-5", Kraftman's "Detonation 12 Inch Version", a remix of "AZ-5" by Arvid Tuba, and two Kraftman versions of the Telex track "Moskow Diskow", which are in English, including a unique 12 inch version.

The album "Chernobyl" was released on March 15th and is a concept album all about the Chernobyl disaster, that occured in 1986.

The CD edition of the album has been released through Razgrom Music and is also available as a Digital Download, the CD edition includes a special bonus 40 minute "Concept Mix", that features all the tracks off the album and additional recorded material, that tells the listener the story of the disaster.

The album includes the singles "Meltdown To The Core" and "AZ-5".

On the 3rd of May 2024 the 4 track EP "Skala System" was released, as a digital download, the main track was written and recorded after the completion of the album "Chernobyl" and is a song about the computer system that was installed at the time of the incident in 1986. The EP contained Kraftman's original version of "Skala System" as well as an extended version, the single also included a remix of the track "Dancing In The Square" by Synthception and a remix of the album track "Anatoly Dyatlov" by i-Replicate.