Cycling and techno mingle in 'France'

The Kraftwerk single and its latest album's title track, "Tour de France 03," is a Tour de Fun. The song follows in the tradition of Kraftwerk's minimal beat style, however it has been updated to fit with the times. Kraftwerk seems to have been influenced by current trends in electronic music, even though it helped pioneer the genre in the early '70s. This single is not to be confused with Kraftwerk's other "Tour de France" from 1983, which sounds much different. Yet, "Tour de France 03" does have the same feeling as the band's hit "Autobaun." In that song, Kraftwerk was able to simulate an electro-musical interpretation of a casual Sunday drive cruising along a major German roadway. The duo does the same thing in Tour de France 03, except now it's about competitive cycling.\nKraftwerk is far past its experimental prime. Since it aided in pioneering pure electronic music for the masses, people will probably remember them for that alone. However, the important thing about Kraftwerk is that it makes electronic music that is easy on the ears. Some of its more monotonous songs are still good as background filler. Luckily, Tour de France 03 is an exciting and picturesque work. Kraftwerk may no longer be creating anything revolutionary, but it is still making music well. How many other German techno bands from the '70s can we say this about?