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The Mix (Kraftwerk album)

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Untitled
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Almost Cool9/10[2]
Drowned in Sound5/10[3]
Robert Christgau(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)[4]
Mojo[5]
Q[6]
Uncut[7]

The Mix is a 1991 remix album by Kraftwerk. It featured re-recorded and in some cases re-arranged versions of a selection of songs which had originally appeared on the albums Autobahn through Electric Café. Hütter stated in interviews that he regarded The Mix as a type of live album, as it captured the results of the band's continual digital improvisations in their Kling Klang studio. The band had made a return to the stage in 1990, after a nine-year hiatus from touring, and since then the band's live setlist has used arrangements drawn from The Mix rather than the original recordings.

Stated reasons from the group explaining the release include:[citation needed]

  1. The group didn't want to release a traditional "Greatest Hits" or "Best of" collection.
  2. At the time, the band were in the process of reconfiguring their Kling Klang studio from analog to digital recording technology; integrating MIDI into their setup and creating sound archives from their original master tapes that were stored onto computers. This proved to be an ongoing task, as new upgrades and equipment were continually made available in the years following the album project.
  3. Despite no new, original recorded material or live tours outside of Europe, Ralf Hütter did not want Kraftwerk to appear defunct to the public.

The album met with a rather mixed reception on its release. Many were disappointed at the lack of new compositions and, moreover, the production values of the re-recorded tracks did not strike many listeners as particularly cutting edge, something which Kraftwerk had previously been renowned for. The Mix was created entirely digitally, albeit during a period when the technology had yet to reach its maturity, and thus featured a sound which many listeners tend to find somewhat "sterile" compared to the analogue electronics employed on most of Kraftwerk's previous recordings of these songs.

The album sleeve was somewhat obtuse in the information it offered. Production is credited to Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, and Fritz Hilpert, the latter of whom had replaced percussionist and stage set designer Wolfgang Flür after Flür left the group in 1987. Karl Bartos also left the band in 1991 and was replaced by Fernando Abrantes. Bartos claimed in later interviews that much of his programming work was still featured on The Mix, uncredited.

A newly remastered edition of the album was released by EMI Records, Mute Records, and Astralwerks Records on CD, digital download, and heavyweight vinyl in October/November 2009. Because of licensing restrictions imposed by Warner Music Group, this version has only been made available in the US and Canada as a part of The Catalogue box set.[8][9]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Robots" ("Die Roboter")
8:56
2."Computerlove" ("Computerliebe")
6:35
3."Pocket Calculator" ("Taschenrechner")
  • Hütter
  • Bartos
  • Schult
4:32
4."Dentaktu"
  • Hütter
  • Bartos
  • Schult
3:27
5."Autobahn"
  • Hütter
  • Schneider
  • Schult
9:27
6."Radioactivity" ("Radioaktivität")
  • Hütter
  • Schneider
  • Schult
6:53
7."Trans-Europe Express" ("Trans Europa Express")
  • Hütter
  • Schneider
  • Schult
3:20
8."Abzug"
  • Hütter
2:18
9."Metal on Metal" ("Metall auf Metall")
  • Hütter
  • Bartos
4:58
10."Home Computer" ("Heimcomputer")
  • Hütter
  • Bartos
8:02
11."Music Non Stop" ("Musik Non-Stop")
  • Hütter
  • Schneider
  • Bartos
6:38
  • "Home Computer" also includes elements from "It's More Fun to Compute"
  • "Music Non Stop" also includes elements from "Boing Boom Tschak"

Personnel

The original 1991 release gives credit for "Music Data Mix" to Hütter, Schneider, Hilpert. The 2009 remaster release gives more detailed credits for Hütter and Schneider in addition. Fernando Abrantes is shown as fourth member in the booklet's centerfold.

  • Ralf Hütter – album concept, music data mix, voice, vocoder, synclavier.
  • Florian Schneider – album concept, music data mix, vocoder, speech synthesis
  • Fritz Hilpert – music data mix (electronic percussion)

[10]

Images

Promotional poster for The Robots
Promotional poster for The Mix

References

  1. ^ Henderson, Alex (2011). "The Mix – Kraftwerk | AllMusic". allmusic. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  2. ^ http://www.almostcool.org/mr/635/
  3. ^ Power, Chris (2011). "Kraftwerk – The Mix: Remastered / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound". drownedinsound.com. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  4. ^ Christgau, Robert (2011). "Robert Christgau: CG: Kraftwerk". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  5. ^ Snow, Mat (November 2009). "Gut Vibrations". Mojo (192). London: Bauer Media Group: 110. ISSN 1351-0193.
  6. ^ Q (5/95, p.123) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...a revised history of the band, throbbingly danceable and one of the best party records of the past decade..."
  7. ^ Cavanagh, David. "Uncut Reviews: Kraftwerk – Reissues". Uncut. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
  8. ^ "Der Katalog (The Catalogue) remasters release info". Astralwerks Records. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  9. ^ Images for Kraftwerk – The Catalogue Discogs.com Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  10. ^ The Mix (Digital Remaster) (CD). Kraftwerk. Great Britain: Mute Records. 2009. CDSTUMM309.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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