Book Presentation - Das Synthesizer Magazin

‘Kälte Pop’: The history of Germany's most successful pop music export - Book presentation with author Florian Völker

At the end of the 1970s, everything that was considered cold was suddenly in vogue in the German New Wave scene: insensitivity and alienation, functionality and artificiality, industry and the big city, snow and ice, concrete and steel, computers and machines.

In his book ‘Kälte-Pop’, pop historian Florian Völker examines the motives, strategies and history of the short-lived cold wave in German pop music as well as its heirs. He explores the question of why bands such as Kraftwerk, DAF and Einstürzende Neubauten suddenly said yes to everything that was usually rejected in the left-wing alternative counterculture and what consequences the staging of the “cold German” had for German and international pop culture.

 Dr Florian Völker researches pop history and is currently a research associate at the Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam (ZZF). He will be presenting his book, which was published by De Gruyter Verlag in 2023. It is also available at www.synthesizermagazin.de

‘Switched On’: Bob Moog and the synthesiser revolution - Book preview with Lukas Hermann

Bob Moog made history in 1964 with his modular synthesizer - and soon everyone wanted a Moog. The Beatles, the Doors, the Byrds and Stevie Wonder discovered his instrument, which can be heard in soundtracks to films such as ‘Apocalypse Now’ and ‘A Clockwork Orange’. The groundbreaking sounds of the Moog characterized the counterculture of the 60s and conquered disco parties in the 70s.

In his multifaceted, knowledgeable book ‘Switched On’, Albert Glinsky draws on exclusive material from Bob Moog's personal archives as well as extensive interviews with Bob's family and a large number of (former) employees. The result is the first comprehensive biography of Bob the man and his legacy.

‘Switched On’ will be published in German by Radial Verlag in autumn 2024. Lukas Hermann, author, musician and translator of the German edition of the book, will be giving a sneak peek of the book and talking about his work on the translation at Superbooth 2025.