Das Modul – “Computerliebe” single cover
“Computerliebe” by German group Das Modul is a cover of the song “Computerliebe (Die Module spielen verrückt)” as released by Paso Doble in 1984.
The cover is quite striking as for the aesthetics of the North European hardcore movement. Das Modul is part of the happy hardcore movement between gabber hardcore and pop.
Within this style we find a common aesthetic in terms of color and experimental illustration. This cover features an early CGI image which was a new digital technique at the time. Such a use of computer technology was quite common in 1990s hardcore covers.
I-D Büro is one of the pillars of this aesthetic, see “Forever Young” by Interactive. The new digital means induced a fancy typography evocative of computers, as with Data 70 used for the title. Data 70 is emblematic for designs created with a computer. The typeface used for the tracklist also fits in this idea of computer design – it’s an unidentified LCD-inspired design similar to Quartz Mono, but inclined.
Oblong is used for the Das Modul logo. The letters are always in Oblong but their ligature and layout changes between the covers.
This single is iconographic of the hardcore movement, a scene that emerged in Germany and the Netherlands, and that claims the use of new technology. In the title and in the aesthetics, “Computerliebe” defined the band’s vision and its position in the movement. Their “Kleine Maus” single, also from 1995, would clearly take up the aesthetics of computer graphics.
