I couldn't agree with you more, Ian. Myself I would go so far as to say that they don't have to release any so-called "new" albums, I'd be perfectly happy with a new "mix" every four years or so. They could vary the tracks a bit of course, I'm still waiting for an updated Airwaves, Telephone Call (imagine that track with the pop Karl Bartos added lifted out, very interesting indeed) and more or less the entire Trans Europe Express album (excluding the already worked-upon title track of course)... And pretty please with sugar on top, let's hope they forget about Neonlights and The Model... ;) All this said, I don't mind them releasing new material either! =) / Petter ----- Original Message ----- From: "ian tyson" <i_tyson@hotmail.com> To: <Kraftwerk@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2003 6:36 AM Subject: [Kraftwerk]
"First new album in 17 years", people who say that have absolutely no clue...
What do you mean? The Mix was a remix compilation, not "a new album" as such. You say the article is wrong about that?
In my humble opinion The Mix was certainly a "new album". It is more than
a
simple remix compilation. A remix album is usually a producers reworking of master recordings. I think of The Mix as a concept album. An interpretation of KW by KW themselves (KW through the looking glass!). The album may use previous compositions, but it is digital rerecordings creating new sounds by the artists themselves. I think that concept has been lost on a lot of people. I would not like to say that the article that featured the above quote was "wrong", that is open to interpretation. My viewpoint is that "The Mix" is an original KW album (and one of the best KW albums) and is in the true spirit of KW in that it has a theme or concept. And in true KW style it has a concept that is quite innovative for its time. In this case the concept has moved away from tangible subjects such as transport, communication, computers etc, to something much more abstract; identity (digital reincarnation??) identity through time perhaps? (anti nostalgia!).
I look forward to hearing the new album. I have always been slightly disappointed that the cycling concept album was (apparently) abandoned. Perhaps the experience of cycling was a bit too abstract a subject at a time when people found it revolutionary for KW to release an album solely about computers, with bizarre sci-fi ideas like people dating via computers. As we move towards a post technology era where people are rarely awe-struck by new inventions (mobile phones can now transmit photographs.... who cares!) perhaps we can now appreciate the superior technology of the bicycle, superior because of its minimalism (and I would expect the new album to be minimalist), its environmental compatibility, and above all, it is fuelled by an aesthetic synergy between man and machine.
ian t
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