KRAFTWEKR - THE MIX @ 40

 

June 11th marks the 30th anniversary of Kraftwerk’s 10th studio album, The Mix, which was issued on this day in 1991. While chronologically the group’s 10th album, the group has, for some time now, dissociated themselves from their first three releases and now counts this as their 7th proper album in what they now identify as their official canon of 8 releases (1 Autobahn, 2 Radio activity, 3 Trans Europe Express, 4 Man Machine, 5 Computer World, 6 Electric Cafe, 7 The Mix, 8 Tour De France).

Like Computer World a decade before it, The Mix came about at a time of restructuring for the group as they sought to embrace the digital age as it began to become ubiquitous throughout the creative technologies. The last time they’d undertaken this, it was with the objective of modularizing their performance configuration to allow for easier touring. This was again the driving factor in terms of further consolidating and condensing their gear into what we see today as the sleek 4 person workstation arrangement that has come to exemplify their stage presence. The group hadn’t toured since 1982 in support of Computer World with no tours being undertaken to support Electric Cafe in 1986.

By 1991, the personnel for the group had undergone some changes from the classic lineup which had persisted from Radio Activity through Electric Cafe. Both Wolfgang Flür and Karl Bartos were gone by 1991, replaced by long time Kling Klang engineer Fritz Hilpert and then Fernando Abrantes filling out the quartet. After a five year gap since Electric Cafe, Ralf Hütter was concerned that people would assume the group were defunct and no longer a going concern. Rather than attempt a collection of new material or a “Best Of” collection, what with the group working towards reinventing their back catalogue for the stage, they hit on the idea of releasing a collection of updated versions of their classics, utilizing the new equipment and improvisational performance techniques they’d been developing.

Confusingly titled, The Mix, the album is not a “remix” album of any kind. It features brand new recordings of their songs with new instrumentation and new arrangements. It is, in effect, a “live in studio” album as they put into practice the methodologies they would subsequently use on stage for what would become the remainder of their career. The album is their first fully digital recording and, as such, was somewhat controversial for analogue purists who found its sound too cold and sterile compared to the group’s original versions of the songs. They were also criticized for not offering any new songs nor really breaking any new ground. The naysayers, however, turned out to be a minority in the end as the album soon gained traction with a whole new audience being introduced to the band through their revitalized and updated sound. The album even landed the #1 spot on The Wire’s year end album pole, this being the first time the magazine had opened it up to any genre rather than only jazz recordings.

Personally, when this album came along, it was something of a bolt from the blue. As much as I loved Kraftwerk, I’d consigned them to the history bin for the most part as the cutting edge of electronic music had been overtaken by the likes of Acid House and Techno in the prior few years, though the presence of Kraftwerk indeed informed these trends on the most fundamental level. Hearing The Mix was a bit of a revelation to me. Though I was initially skeptical thanks to its lack of new songs, the dramatic reinventions that came forth when I played it immediately won me over to its charms and I was thrilled to hear them update their sound for the final decade of the 20th century.

Since its release, Kraftwerk haven’t been overtly prolific in terms of offering new material. In 1999, they released the Expo 2000 EP and then they expanded on their Tour De France single from 1983 by releasing a full album of new material build upon its foundations in 2003. Otherwise, the group has principally focused on periodic live tours and performances. These continue to represent the same basic approach and sound as was put forth by The Mix. While the group continually refine their tools and presentation, incorporating 3D visual accompaniment in recent years, they have essentially settled on their laurels and that’s okay.

I got to see them perform in Vancouver in 2014 and it immediately jumped to the top of my list of all-time most impressive gigs. I never thought that 4 guys standing at podiums for 2 hours could be so mesmerizing, but the combination of those iconic songs and the integration of the 3D visuals to perfectly illustrate them was thoroughly engaging from the first note to the last. Who knows how long they can continue to offer these experiences to audiences, especially with the world of live music in such shambles after being devastated by the COVID pandemic. If they can ever do this again, you’d be lucky to see it. That mastery of performance began with The Mix and it remains a pivotal component of their catalogue.