A 22 Minute Accelerated Dash-Cam Journey Set to Kraftwerk's Autobahn.
Written by John Diliberto with Johanna Baumann on August 3rd, 2016
Kraftwerk performing “Autobahn”
It’s been over 40 years since Kraftwerk released Autobahn, the breakout album that lead to international success for the German electronic group as well as the popularization of synthesized sounds in popular music. The 22-minute title track was condensed and released as a single, which peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Top 200 in the US. Autobahn strayed from Kraftwerk’s previous instrumental approach, incorporating unprocessed vocals along with live instruments, intertwined with synthesized sounds of the Minimoog, ARP Odyssey, and EMS Synthi AKS.
Last year, someone came up with the brilliant idea of timing a trek down the English version of the German Autobahn, speeding up the 230 mile journey to accompany the 22 minute track. It’s pretty captivating and amazing how much the visual accidentally synchronizes with the music. It’s why I always love listening to this stuff traveling on a train and watching the landscape zooming by. I looked for something similar on-line with the actual Autobahn, but surprisingly, couldn’t find it.
Below, watch 230 miles of dashboard camera footage accelerated to perfectly fit the album version of “Autobahn.” The video is like a real-life version of the animated roadway projection Kraftwerk uses during live performance of the song, albeit with a lot more auto action, capturing the repetitive but mesmerizing quality of the track while staying true to Kraftwerk’s vision.