8-Bit Operators: The Music of Kraftwerk was released in 2007 by the group 8-Bit Operators on Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...

's US homelabel Astralwerks

Astralwerks

Astralwerks is a New York-based record label that releases primarily electronic music. It is owned by Virgin Records/EMI and distributed by Caroline Distribution in the United States....

 and EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

 Records worldwide. It features cover versions of Kraftwerk songs by several prominent chiptune

Chiptune

A chiptune, also known as chip music, is synthesized electronic music often produced with the sound chips of vintage computers and video game consoles, as well as with other methods such as emulation. In the early 1980s, personal computers became cheaper and more accessible than they had previously...

 artists. Inspiration for the project as quoted by Jeremy Kolosine (credited as Executive Producer of the release, and noted founder of the early 80's electronic group Futurisk

Futurisk

FUTURISK was an electronic synthpunk group based out of Lighthouse Point that recorded and performed live in the late 1970s and early 1980s in South Florida, and are believed to be the first electropop/synthpunk band in the American South....

 and chipmusic band Receptors.) "Well the first thing that comes to my mind when I saw a gameboy show

Game Boy music

Game Boy music is a type of chip music produced using a portable gaming console of the Game Boy line. To produce music of the genre, one needs a Game Boy and a cartridge containing appropriate tracking software, such as LSDJ.- Software :...

 was Kraftwerk's Computer World

Computer World

Computer World is the eighth studio album by the German electronic music band Kraftwerk, released in May 1981. The album deals with the themes of the rise of computers within society. Critics see this album as a peak in the career of Kraftwerk, along with Autobahn and Trans-Europe Express...

 Tour from 1981, where four of them played various handheld devices during the song 'Pocket Calculator'. Plus it came up in a print from a Glomag quote, and an 8 Bit Weapon

8 Bit Weapon

8 Bit Weapon is a chiptune music band created by Seth Sternberger. The instrument set of 8 Bit Weapon consists primarily of old 8-bit and 16-bit computers such as the Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, Commodore Amiga 500, and the Apple II, as well as game consoles such as the Nintendo...

 April Fool's joke that backfired.."
This Kraftwerk covers compilation was somewhat unique in the fact that Kraftwerk's Ralf Hütter

Ralf Hütter

Ralf Hütter is the lead singer, keyboardist, and reportedly leader of the electronic-music band Kraftwerk. Since the departure of Florian Schneider in 2008, he is also the group's sole remaining founding member....

 selected the final track line-up, "So Jeremy was a little nervous when meeting Kraftwerk's Ralf Hütter after a concert by the group in New York last year. He passed along to him a sample of the compilation. Later Hutter said he enjoyed it and even offered some editing suggestions"
In a subsequent interview, when asked about the 8-Bit Operators release, Ralf Hütter responded, "It is mind stimulating, the minimum/maximum coming from sound levels and thoughts and ideas. Like Autobahn and Trans-Europe Express

Trans-Europe Express (album)

Trans-Europe Express is the sixth studio album by German electronic music band Kraftwerk. Recorded in mid-1976 in Düsseldorf, Germany, the album was released in March 1977 on Kling Klang Records. The album's themes were influenced by friends who suggested writing songs about the Trans-Europ...

 are very basic and elementary ideas, but they offer a pattern or concept for improvisation."
In March, 2007, the CD release reached as high as number 1 on the CMJ RPM (North American college Electronic) charts.

CD Track listing

Vinyl

A vinyl 12 inch single version was released on 24 February 2007 as a precursor to the full-length CD, and reached as high as number 17 on the Billboard magazine

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Hot Dance Singles Sales Chart.
Side A of the vinyl consisted of 8-Bit Operators' “Pocket Calculator(Megamix)"' version by Glomag,(featuring 0x7f, Bit Shifter, Bubblyfish, firestARTer, Hey Kid Nice Robot, Ladybug, M-.-n, Nullsleep, Psilodump, Random, Sidabitball, and David E Sugar).
Side B was an alternate cover of Kraftwerk's "The Robots" by the Los Angeles chipmusic rap group 8-BIT.