The Beau Brummels – Triangle (1967) & Kraftwerk – The Man-Machine (1978)

[Albums 756 & 757 / 1001]

What do The Beau Brummels & Kraftwerk have in common?

In all likelihood, very little.

For me, however, they’ve formed an inextricable connection…as both groups make me think of Flight of the Conchords.

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Why are the Flight of the Conchords (FOTC) tunes so terrific?

I believe in part because they aren’t in the business of making mean-spirited parodies.

Instead, through their amusing tunes, I’d argue they are winking admiringly at their source material.

And as a result, instead of insulting another artist or making them seem ridiculous, the listener develops an even greater appreciation for the wink recipient.

For example, after hearing FOTC’s Inner City Pressure? I’ve never been a bigger fan of Pet Shop Boys!

Ditto with Cat Stevens (Father & Son) and David Robert Jones (Bowie’s in Space).

With the psychedelic sounds of Triangle (especially when combined with the cover costumes), it’s hard not to picture Bret & Jemaine dancing / prancing / leaping in the woods.

Similarly, when listening in the present to a vision of the distant future, as presented in the past by Kraftwerk, how does one not imagine the binary-solo from the music video for Robots?

But in both cases, instead of the associations trivializing either record, it actually made me enjoy both that much more.

If it’s good enough to sound like source material for New Zealand’s 4th most popular folk duo, that’s the kind of thing that I think I might be into!

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Verbalize the Positive

I enjoy how the FOTC tune, Foux du Fafa, can help students learn basic grocery store French vocabulary!