What if Kraftwerk made a Dune concept album? Now we know the answer.

Joel Hamburger is a music producer who owns Gödelstring Studios in Brooklyn. As far as I'm aware, he's also the only person to ever make an entire Dune-inspired concept album in the style of Kraftwerk. "The schtick is basically that Kraftwerk were 4 musical mentats," he told me. And yes, it's just as delightful as it sounds.

Here's Hamburger's hilariously detailed backstory for the album:

Circa 14500 AG, the archeologist Hadi Benotto discovered a buried no-chamber in Dar-es-Balat on the planet of Rakis (formerly Arrakis) which contained the secret journals of God Emperor Leto II now known as The Stolen Journals. 

Careful examination of these records revealed a previously unknown historical episode that occurred around 12500 AG. 

For undisclosed reasons God Emperor Leto II dispatched a trusted fish speaker envoy to the planet of Chusuk. The envoy's task was to recruit young children with promising musical talent who also scored exceptionally high on the Mental ability battery that was employed during this era shortly before the Great Scattering. 

16 suitable children between the age of 5-8 years old were brought back before Leto II on Arrakis. Of those 16, the God Emperor determined that only 4 displayed the depth of talent and mental adaptability to become Musical Mentats. 

Leto ordered an unnamed trusted Naib to return to Sietch Jacurutu located in the deepest desert, The Tanzerouft to repopulate and occupy the Sietch in traditional Fremen fashion. The Naib obeyed the God Emperor's commandment and brought his most trusted bonded tribes-people to accompany him and fulfill the mission. 

Once the Sietch was determined to be secure and operational sufficient, Leto II sent the 4 fledgling prodigies along with their Mentat trainers to Jacurutu to learn the ancient Fremen ways. These 4 children soon grew to be adults with prodigious mental and musical talents. 

Amongst the ridulian crystal papers, a shigawire recording was found . The Musical Mentats had created a testament to honor the God Emperor and the recent history of the creation of what is now known as the Golden Path. 

This recording is the only extant record of the works of these nameless musical geniuses. 

Tanzerouft [BURGR / Bandcamp]

Image: Raph PH / Flickr (CC-BY-SA 2.0)