Autobahn - Kraftwerk and Köln

A nice piece in 'The Guardian' explores the legacy of 'Autobahn'. It's fifty years since the LP was released.

Tim Jonze explores the legacy of this album and in particular, the main title track.

Astonishingly for a 22-minute 43-second song about the German road network, it somehow managed to change the musical landscape forever.

I remember my Uncle Stan playing me this album on his quadrophonic sound system - it must have been shortly after it came out.

There is a connection with Köln here too, which I visited last month for Practical Pedagogies.

For me the classic Keith Jarrett concert is the main connection I think of with the city.

The story behind its creation is also fascinating.

I'm working on something inspired by Matt Podbury's Music and Geography session at the conference. Check out his unit.

Comments

On the trail of the 'Detectorists'

As I was in Suffolk last week, I headed for Framlingham as I knew that there were various locations from the series 'Detectorists' and also a wonderful pub just a few miles away where we could go for lunch. Parked up in the Market Square, and from there it was a short walk to several locations. Here are plenty more on a map. Managed to track down four locations: the outside of the 'Two Brewers' pub (the interior was filmed elsewhere), Lance's upstairs flat, the shop where Lance's former partner sells Spiritual goods and scented candles, and the village hall where the DMDC met. Here's me outside said hut. Don't forget the uniformbooks book of course. Still available and an excellent read.

Jonathan Meades on Sustainability

Have blogged about Jonathan Meades before, and his particular presentation style which I like... Lunchtime today was spent in the company of the first in the series "Off-Kilter", made for BBC Scotland and was about Aberdeen . I liked the look of the area known as Fitty. Towards the end, he moved on to Donald Trump and his controversial plans for a golf course in the sand dunes close to Aberdeen. He called the planned development "New Trumpton on Sea" and talked about gated communities and their absentee residents. He riffed on the idea of ' sustainability ' and how every architect and development trumpeted its sustainable credentials. New words like : "Sustain-abulous" and "Sustain-astic" ! Called it "architectural correctness"... "It's a slogan of conformist unoriginality..." "The very act of making a building is energy hungry and vastly wasteful even if the building is an eco-igloo of Fairtrade otter dropp...

Street Art trail of Reykjavik

I'm heading for Iceland again in April, and have made a start on updating my notes for the group I will be taking. I do this for each group that I take, and also have a chat with the group leader to ensure that I pitch my explanations and talking on the coach (and in situ) correctly. There is plenty of street art in the city of Reykjavik (and of course in other parts of the country). I've added a few images that I've taken below. These are mostly off the street called Laugavegur. I know roughly where they are, but am going to try to map them and then piece them together to make a nice map. Images: Alan Parkinson Guide to Iceland has produced an illustrated list of their own favourites. This is not easy to navigate as each icon needs to be clicked on. I've produced a Google Form where you can enter the location of your favourite street art. If you know the What3Words address that would be an additional extra. The form link is here: It would be good to eventually h...

Cultural Geography Blog

Search This Blog