OUGD601 - Practical research - Production ideas

Following research I deemed it necessary to begin idea generation on how to present the three Kraftwerk albums. As a consideration relating to the theory from the essay, I needed to consider how Kraftwerk would release music today and what they'd be aiming to achieve. The aim is to be unique and act against the modernist ideals in music, such as the examples I looked into first hand in HMV etc. In contrast, I looked into unusual examples of music packaging and visual presentation which have influenced my thoughts for practical.

The first idea is to use floppy disks as the main medium for the music. Firstly because it has become such an obsolete object but for more than two decades, the floppy disk was the primary external storage device used. However, it links to how Kraftwerk used objects and ideals from the past to communicate their ideas, as I discuss heavily in the essay. As the floppy disk has been overtook by  USB flash drives, flash storage cards and portable external hard disk drives, it is against the models that exist in storage today. So if this was a medium for music, it would be unusual and unique which I believe suits Kraftwerk's ideals. Furthermore, even though its unusual for music today, floppy disks are handled and seen; even a novice user can identify a floppy disk. So its identifiable as an everyday object and has a slight idea of DIY and home recording to it.

The second idea is to present the music as a tape recorded album. This idea is heavily influenced by Aphex Twin's Mt Fuji album for a number of reasons such as the idea of rarity and fandom surrounding it. Additionally, it is similar to the floppy disk idea and how it is against modernist models in music mediums today. When Kraftwerk were releasing the albums in the 70s, tapes were a norm but as time has past they have become outdated for obvious reasons. Artists today still release tapes as seen with Aphex Twin, and other artists who act outside the mainstream produce tapes and are typically underground/bedroom/DIY producers. But what I like about tape production in music today is the 'collectors item' tag associated with it, whoever purchases the tape obviously appreciates the music but also the packaging with it. It is considered rare and a piece of music to be cherished unlike a file stored on a streaming service. It can also be argued that tapes may have a surge like vinyl has had in recent years and I wonder if Kraftwerk would be ahead of the curve if they were releasing tape music today.