As someone who's always harboured the suspicion that Kraftwerk were overrated (I think lots of people fall for the robot/dummy schtick and the preppy haircuts), these string quartet cover versions of Kraftwerk classics provide a kind of evidence that kind of backs up my prejudices. Kind of. Because I think the Balanescu Quartet's version of Model outclasses the original. It shows that the shiny synthesiser sheen had an interest and attraction while it was novel, but in the long run the bowing of strings, with the extra harmonics and grain in the sound, is just more satisfying. The strings bring out the melody — and I concede it's an exquisite melody — better. Great arrangement.
OK, it's probably not so good to dance to, and that's what I'm missing. I once saw the brilliant Alasdair Roberts do a solo acoustic version of Kraftwerk's Radioactivity (at this gig), but that's another story.
Back in the early '90s when this came out, such genre-bending cover versions weren't quite as commonplace as they've since become. I can't remember how I came across this one, though I knew of Alexander Bălănescu through his membership of the Michael Nyman Band, and I just liked the idea.
The only problem with the album is that the original material, composed by Bălănescu himself, suffers by comparison to the re-interpretations of others' material (there's also a David Byrne cover). It sounds like a Romanian-inflected Nyman, shorn of some of the wit.
![]() Wikipedia entry for this album Rate Your Music entry for this album Listen to this album in full at Last.fm Listen to this album in full at We7 |
Comments