Kraftwerk: The Man Machine, Tate Modern

TAD AT 5: KRAFTWERK: THE MAN MACHINE, TATE MODERN A performance of robotic brilliance, but when will Kraftwerk deliver some new music?

A performance of robotic brilliance, but when will Kraftwerk deliver some new music?

A giant arm sweeps across the rapt audience. The newly anointed onlookers all wear the same, white-framed, glasses. A chant is heard:“We are the robots.” Those congregating in the over-sized shoebox of Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall could be at a cult meeting. In gathering to pay respect, the audience share more than a passion for Kraftwerk. They also all wear the same 3D glasses. Performing their 1978 album The Man Machine in full, Kraftwerk restate the uncertainty of the natural order. Whether prophetic or not, their message still resonates.

The Arts Desk Radio Show 9

THE ARTS DESK RADIO SHOW 9 Get your atlas. Includes tracks from Japanese, Lebanese, Welsh, Emirati, Malian and Danish musicians

Eclecticism as ever plus news from Rotterdam

Welcome to the latest edition of The Arts Desk Radio Show, originally broadcast live from London's glamorous Dalston last Tuesday on NTS Live. Once again Joe found himself flying solo as Peter was off on his travels – although this time, rather than visiting his usual far-flung destinations he was on the road, driving Malcolm McLaren's Mercedes back from Paris.

Kraftwerk: Autobahn, Tate Modern

KRAFTWERK: AUTOBAHN, TATE MODERN German electronic pioneers launch their eight-night residency at the Turbine Hall

German electronic pioneers launch their eight-night residency at the Turbine Hall

Childlike wonder is a rare emotion at a gig, so gasps of delight are doubly jolting as the first images appear to float out of the mammoth screen behind the stage and float over our heads. These are notes of musical notation that cascade from a car radio at the moment when the dial shifts in "Autobahn", the track where Kraftwerk’s concepts first properly coalesced and that gave their breakthrough album its title. The German electronica pioneers are to play 1974’s Autobahn in full as they begin an eight-night residency revisiting much of their back catalogue in order.

CD: Fimber Bravo - Con-Fusion

The 20th Century Steel Band leader is sounding fine in the 21st

If you listened to the last archived Arts Desk Radio Show you'll have heard me play a couple of tracks from this, and it was all I could do not to play more. As so often I'd gone into the studio with the previous couple of days' post pile and started picking through it for CDs to play. Usually this is a faff involving flicking through tracks and hoping one will jump out, but as soon as this one went into the machine, every single track got a tick by its name.

RBMA presents LFO, XOYO

RBMA PRESENTS LFO, XOYO Can techno veteran Mark Bell escape the nostalgia circuit?

Can techno veteran Mark Bell escape the nostalgia circuit?

Of all the major acts from the the acid house/rave explosion, Leeds's LFO seem least interested in becoming a “heritage act”. Perhaps it's because Mark Bell (the sole member of LFO since the early departure of Gez Varley) has no need to cash in on the brand, thanks to his lucrative “day job” as producer of choice for the likes of Björk and Depeche Mode.

New Music Exclusive: KanZeOn

Two exclusive free download tracks of stunning Anglo-Japanese improvisations from one of the films of the year

Joe Muggs writes: “KanZeOn is one of my favourite films – not just music films, but in any genre – of the past year. Not quite documentary, not quite art film, not quite music video, it's a slow, abstract audiovisual love poem to Japan and its relationship to sound and music.

CD: Fake Blood - Cells

DJ of long standing drops another decent selection of foot-movers

Theo Keating – AKA DJ Touché - has been creating club-functional tunes for over twenty years. His most high profile moment was as half of The Wiseguys whose song "Ooh La La" was unavoidable in the late Nineties, both in nightclubs and on TV ads. Nowadays he has a secure career on the global DJ circuit, grounded in his eclectic taste and turntable skills developed as a teenage B-boy, but he appears restless, always exploring new areas.