Kraftwerk
The Mix

Electronic music today is a very substantial genre in the entire artistic musical consideration. Sometimes words are not needed; many representative contexts and many emotions can be conveyed with the sole help of music and thus with a rightful and spot-on combination of artificially reworked sounds.

Much of the credit for this music goes to Kraftwerk, who could, in a sense, be considered the inventors of "computerized" music. The group, which to this day is second only to Rammstein in popularity in Germany, was founded in 1970 with the union of Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider, who had already been playing with sounds in the Organisation. It was with the entry of Emil Schult, and the creation of the third album: "Ralf & Florian," that massive doses of pure electronics were added to the sound experiments. The group began to be appreciated, and their songs started to be heard by all fans of futuristic music. Electronics threw music into disarray; some protested and insisted that computers and electronic machines could never prevail over classic musical instruments. But Kraftwerk, through their music, became aficionados of electronics understood as "matter," especially when they discovered the synthesized sounds produced by the pads they themselves obstruct and patent. As if that wasn't enough, they inserted elements like flutes and guitars... thus, the duo soon underwent various lineup changes until achieving its historical combination with the arrival of percussionist Karl Bartos. The records tackled themes about nuclear power, radios, the future, cybernetics, and robotics. The 1975 single "Autobahn" would make them icons of a genre distinguished from all other artists. Kraftwerk was able to give rise to a vast array of musical genres such as new wave, new-romantic/synth-pop, and '80s dance.

What I'm proposing to you is their tenth album: "The Mix," from 1991... many years have passed, Kraftwerk are now revolutionaries and ambassadors of digital music, they take command and initiative. It's an excellent collection of their masterpieces from 1974 to 1986, even though it's not just the songs that are considered marvelous, but every single sound of this special music, which, moreover, for the occasion, has been reworked, modernized, and melodized. Bases are added, pieces are extended, and new spatial, futuristic, robotic sounds are inserted... it feels like exploring the future in an '80s sci-fi vision. It begins with "The Robots" with its slow and easy rhythm, delightfully sustained and simple but which greatly conveys the idea of robotic art that was always at the center of literature and film in the '70s. It continues with "Computer Love," where a rough, robotic voice intervenes over soft digital impulses and electric bases, creating a fantastic psychedelic rhythm.

The effects in "Pocket Calculator" are excellent, reminiscent of the typical sounds of speakers in machines enhanced and fluid. It's a song with a great base featuring a rhythm composed of an excellent sequence of clear and resonant bass lines and synthesizer games. The track talks about pocket calculators, and it is surprising that the original version from the '80s included sounds from real calculators and Mattel toy keyboards. The fantastic Bee Gees Rhytm Machine. The track, occasionally offered in Italian ("piccolo Calcolatore"), also has a Japanese version, the following "Dentaku," enhanced and accessorized with sounds. What follows is "Autobahn", a historic song even in more disco environments, my favorite and one I recommend to everyone, widely known for perfection. The bass is obtained using monophonic synthesizers (Minimoog), and the voices are filtered through vocoders. The original track is the first of the homonymous album and lasts a good twenty-two minutes; the version here, seven minutes long, is equally enjoyable. Following is a historic piece for the band: "Radioactivity" which on this occasion even has modified lyrics, with talk of "anti-nuclear" instead of radio as in '75. In some parts of the track, Morse code reading keys are even used. Other masterpieces that can only be explained through listening are "Trans Europe Express" and "Home Computer".

A band that has specifically left its mark in the world of music, an album to discover, capable of captivating and making one reflect... recommended.