Long before computers became commonplace in recording studios, Kraftwerk invented the idea of a post-human musical future. The German group didnât set out to be electronic-music pioneers: Founding members Florian Schneider and Ralf HĂźtter met as conservatory students in DĂźsseldorf in the late â60s, and their self-titled 1970 debut as KraftwerkâGerman for âpower plantââwas in keeping with the shaggy avant-rock of the late â60s. But postwar Germany was modernizing rapidly, a process Kraftwerk captured in their increasingly streamlined music. On 1974âs Autobahn, the group channeled the nationâs freewaysâa metaphor for freedomâinto sleek, hypnotic grooves, including a 22-minute title track that sounded like infinity distilled. Synths and programmed rhythms increasingly came to the fore, and the groupâs influence grew: Trans-Europe Express, from 1977, introduced textures and pulses that would soon ripple across nascent American hip-hop and Detroit techno, while 1978âs The Man-Machine drew the robotic blueprint for synth-pop and New Wave. While new material slowed in the following decades, the group remained active across various lineup changes, masterminding new audiovisual techniques in their extensive tours (which continued under HĂźtterâs direction even after Schneiderâs death from cancer in 2020). Kraftwerkâs legacy is incalculable; their synthetic DNA is a part of dance music, pop, rap, and virtually every style of music that requires a power adapter.