Kraftwerk - The Mix

SO pleased that this was released on vinyl. For me, this is THE definitive Kraftwerk album--and I am well aware that there is no shortage of people who would disagree with me on that. Also, this was my first exposure to Kraftwerk in high school; I played this CD to hell and back. So take that with a grain of salt.

Regardless, this vinyl was such a long time coming. The emphasis is on DJ friendliness, with a dab of Detroit influence on the engineering style. The tracks include 909/808-ified mixes of The Robots, Radio-Activity, and other late 70's/early-mid 80's Kraftwerk tracks that were crowning achievements electronic music--but didn't necessarily go out of their way to be urban dance scene oriented.

Not that that's a good or a bad thing, it is what it is.

Be that as it may, this is a fantastic release and I'm thrilled that it has come out on wax.

The Mix is not a compilation or a remix album, it's a batch of old tunes reworked from scratch. While some tracks like Heimcomputer and Trans-Europa Express merely update the old analogue sound without really changing the music, others use the old bits and pieces to make something completely new. Radioactivität adds a stomping beat and a political message to the old classic and in Die Roboter (The Robots) timing of the famous melody is altered to give the song a whole new twist.

Altogether, a great set of music, but naturally not a replacement for the original versions.

Kraftwerk are legends no doubt about that and they have created numerous fantastic albums. But if I had to go for one album, then it would be this compilation, probably due to that fact that I'm a House head by nature and this round up of all Kraftwerk's finest tunes all beefed up to make them even more hypnotic, just rocks my spot pefectly. A great introduction to these electronic pioneers.

Kraftwerk's popular material rests here, compiled, remixed, refreshed, adjusted, and put forth into a set of tracks that can be enjoyed from the start of The Robots to the finish of Music Non Stop. During college, I used to have this one on repeat play all night during term papers.

Kudos to such gifted work on this album. Music . . . Non Stop!!!