专辑简介

The earlier days of electronic popular music brought a sense of wonder and discovery. Well before its larger acceptance and radio play, bands such as Kraftwerk captured the imaginations of many. Towering modular synthesizers were used to create rhythmic patterns overlaid with simple melodies made for exploring possibilities of a new emerging world derived from technology and art. Though the means have changed a bit, this essence is at the heart of this album. You will find that science-fiction is a common theme throughout this album.

The title Trans-Europa Infobahn is partially credited to the inspiring album from Kraftwerk (substitute in Autobahn). Whereas the Autobahn had such an incredible influence on mobility in a physical world, the Infobahn (or information superhighway) is where our new mobility is found. Saturated in information, the song cries out "information overload!" amidst the warning bells of a nuclear meltdown of information. The song Global Warming describes a playful short story of solving global warming using huge air-conditioners! This was composed with a mindset transposed to the start of the 20th century, when it was thought that technology could solve everything. We know better. As you may guess, Robots have a special place as an ongoing theme in this album and "Red Planet" doesn't escape the trend. This track chronicles the journey of robotic travelers to the Red Planet... Mars. Another Robot track, "Tin Man" introduces the complexities of human emotion, and how a Robot struggles to find its way through the complexity of integrating them. "Magnetic" further expands on the theme of emotions, as our robotic AI explores love and attraction. Flugzeug steps back in the machine evolutionary scale, with a soft electronic instrumental piece where the background mental imagery is flying through the air while piloting one of the very first flying machines, a turn of the 20th century biplane. Fast-Forward to the year 2058 for a glimpse of the robot gone astray, the War Machine. "Tinsel Town" is a brief instrumental interlude inspired by the movie AI Artificial Intelligence, where a city of lights and technology (and of course, robots) flash and pulse throughout the night. "I Believe" is about faith. This track nods to the short-lived TV series called "Crusade" (a follow-up on the longer run Babylon 5). You will hear these famous words from Galen, the technomage: "Who do you serve? And who do you trust?". "Solar Storm" is a pulsing, jazzy electronic piece evoking the energy wave dissipating from a Solar Storm, and heading for... Earth. "Mona Lisa Overdrive" is a tribute to the author William Gibson, credited with the cyberpunk literary genre. In these cyberpunk books, a common theme is that of "wet-ware" of the beginnings of the merging of man and machine (cyborgs) and a portrayal of some of the sub-cultures which evolve out of it. "The Shadow Men" is a tribute to all those people who work in the shadows, observing, noting, making nudges here and there to the social fabric, keeping the plans on track... "The Chase" is an instrumental interlude attached to the theme of the previous track. The last track of the album "Wir fliegen" goes back to the theme first explored in the earlier track, "Flugzeug". This last track shares the exhalation of flight. From manned to unmanned air flight. Airborne robots can enjoy flying too... Can't they? Enjoy this SciFi inspired retro-electrical album!