Beats and Bikes

Düsseldorf is home of Kraftwerk, the pioneering electronic group best known for its 1970s albums Autobahn and Trans-europeexpress. In 1983, the group released the piece “Tour de France,” which incorporated mechanical sounds of bicycles and human sounds of exertion. The music reflected members Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider’s love of the sport, one that put Hütter in a brief coma after a crash that came in the midst of the recording of the song. In 2003, Kraftwerk expanded on the single and released the album Tourdefrancesoundtracks, which includes tracks entitled “Prologue,” “Chrono,” “Elektro Kardiogramm” and “La Forme.” On July 1, the group will perform the entire album in its hometown.