Has any other Kraftwerk song been covered as often as The Man Machine’s durably popular “The Model?” Off the top of my head, I know a handful of ukulele versions, a few arrangements for string quartet, and versions by high-profile alt-type bands like Rammstein (awful) and the Cardigans (wonderful). Then there’s the notoriously noisy version on Big Black’s swan song Songs About Fucking, and even a third-wave ska version (awful because third-wave ska).

Despite synth music’s enduring reputation for coldness and sterility, the themes in “The Model” are downright wistful; its melodies recall the mournful strains shared by Europe’s Jewish and Roma musics, which could explain why the song is such a great fit for groups with violins and clarinets. But it’s the song’s simple and abiding charm that accounts for how well it seems to work in literally every genre, from opposite-of-Kraftwerky garage rock primitivism to slick, frosty techno.
 

 

 
But back to Jewish and Roma music—the version that’s been occupying my brainspace most lately is by the Knoblauch Klezmer Band, an international group based in Berlin, none of whom are named “Knoblauch,” unless the band’s eponym is secretly the accordionist who goes by the handle “Mystery Man.” The most recent posts on their Facebook page that actually concern the band suggest a new album forthcoming, but those posts date from last October. Their web site doesn’t seem to have been updated in about a year, so it could be that the band is doing some woodshedding. While the world awaits that album, though, there are two E.P.s to sate us, an eponymous debut from 2012, and 2013’s Fruit of Life from whence comes their Kraftwerk cover.
 

 
And here they are tearing it the fuck up in concert.