Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

10. KraftwerkComputer World

Sebastian Thomson: In around 1984 when I was a prepubescent my family went on vacation to Europe. We had lived in France and Holland when I was very young but I didn’t remember it well, so this trip was a second round of culture shock.

We went to the Centre Pompidou in Paris and that same day my older brother bought Computer World by Kraftwerk on cassette. We would take turns listening to it on his Walkman while walking around and looking at a Mark Rothko exhibit. That day left a big impression on my young mind – that there was this whole world of sophisticated, sexy, intelligent robot people that I wanted to be part of. It was a real escape from suburban D.C.. Needless to say the entire Kraftwerk catalogue became a huge inspiration for Trans Am.

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