The Mix (Kraftwerk album)

The Mix
Studio album by Kraftwerk
Released	11 June 1991 (1991-06-11)
Recorded	April 1991
Studio	Kling Klang (Düsseldorf, Germany)
Genre	Electronic
Length	65:15
Label	Kling Klang EMI Elektra
Producer	Ralf Hütter Florian Schneider
Kraftwerk chronology
Electric Café (1986) The Mix (1991) Tour de France Soundtracks (2003)
2009 Edition
2009 remastered edition cover

The Mix is the tenth studio album by German electronic music band Kraftwerk. It was released on 11 June 1991 through Kling Klang and EMI in Europe and through Elektra Records in North America. It featured entirely re-arranged and re-recorded versions of a selection of songs which had originally appeared on the albums Autobahn (1974) through Electric Café (1986). Some of the songs even came with new additional melodies and/or lyrics ("The Robots" and "Radioactivity" for example).

Despite its somewhat confusing title (inspired by the inflationary tendency in the early 90s to remix classic Kraftwerk songs), The Mix is not a remix album in the proper sense, and the band itself never called it a remix album. They always listed it as their "Number 7" studio album since their turn to electro pop with Autobahn in 1974, as it can be seen in their "Catalogue" releases.

Ralf 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.

Background[edit]

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 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.

Reception[edit]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Almost Cool	9/10[2]
Drowned in Sound	5/10[3]
Robert Christgau	[4]
Mojo	[5]
Q	[6]
Select	[7]
Uncut	[8]

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. Nevertheless, The Mix placed first in The Wire's year-end poll, the first time the magazine—previously known for its focus on jazz—opened up an all-genre category.^[9]

Re-release[edit]

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.^[10][11]

Track listing[edit]

Personnel[edit]

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.^[12] Abrantes can also be seen in the video clip for the album's single release "The Robots"^[13] and on press photos regarding the album release.^[14]

• 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)
• Fernando Abrantes

^[15]

Charts[edit]

Weekly charts[edit]

Certifications and sales[edit]

Images[edit]

• Promotional poster for "The Robots"

• Promotional poster for The Mix

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Kraftwerk the Official's channel on YouTube
• The Mix at Discogs (list of releases)