*** Welcome to piglix ***

The Mix (Kraftwerk album)

The Mix
The Mix.jpg
Remix album by Kraftwerk
Released June 11, 1991
Recorded April 1991
Studio Kling Klang Studio
(Düsseldorf, Germany)
Genre Electronic
Length 65:15
Label
Producer
Kraftwerk chronology
Electric Café
(1986)
The Mix
(1991)
Tour de France Soundtracks
(2003)
2009 Edition
Music video
"The Robots (Single)" on YouTube
"Die Roboter (Single)" on YouTube
"Radioactivity (Single)" on YouTube
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 3/5 stars
Almost Cool 9/10
Drowned in Sound 5/10
Robert Christgau (3-star Honorable Mention)
Mojo 3/5 stars
Q 4/5 stars
Uncut 4/5 stars

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:

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.


...
Wikipedia

...