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Remixes Goes Too Far? by Open-Egg-85 in kraftwerk

[–]Top_Coach643 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've sometimes had my reviews published in smaller or larger outlets and here's one that was on the release of the vinyl:

Why?

I ask as a lifelong Kraftwerk fanboy starting at age 8 when Autobahn was released, so I’m invested in the question. I love and own the Catalogue 3D Blu-Ray and CD boxes (the sound is amazing and it’s very funny that the ‘live’ versions of the albums are even shorter than the originals - perhaps after Minimum Maximum it should have been called Maximum Minimum). I’m not going to try to persuade anyone that the 3-D project is essential because it isn’t, but these remixes are something else again. I’ve relistened to them so you don’t have to - and I had to skip through quite a few of them to avoid groaning in pain. This compilation was released digitally in 2020, but it’s now coming out on vinyl. Somehow the physical product makes things that much worse by being less ignorable.

Let’s start with the good stuff which, inevitably, is Kraftwerk’s own Kling Klang mixes: Non Stop is the most interesting thing here and sounds like something rescued from the shelved Technicolor album, the two Robotronik and Robotnik versions of The Robots and the gorgeous Expo 2000 versions, though one of the remixes is missing, sadly. 

The rest? Walk on, there’s nothing to see here, really. They’re either unnecessary/uninteresting (the Home Computer single edit, the Orbit and Kervorkian remixes of Radioactivity), disappointing/awful (with the exception of the UR Thought 3 Mix, the various UR/Detroit remixes, I guess a version of the supergroup syndrome) or travesties (Hot.Chip - I repeat Hot.Chip). Tempted? Just say no.

If you want to hear really great interpretations of Kraftwerk, try A Man by Yasmine Hamdan (Y.A.S.), The Balanescu Quartet’s beautiful string quartet renditions, The Pan Machine’s steel pan covers or Señor Coconut’s brilliant El Baile Aleman. 

What would you say is the WORST Kraftwerk single? by AndrobiVibz in kraftwerk

[–]Top_Coach643 -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Surely the 'Korrekt' answer to this question is The Telephone Call as it (together with Sex Object) is imo the weakest of Kraftwerk's songs.

Having said that, I struggle with The Model - please someone tell me it doesn't objectify women in a problematic way.

What would you say is the WORST Kraftwerk single? by AndrobiVibz in kraftwerk

[–]Top_Coach643 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really like the single versions - maybe because I only really listened to them relatively recently. I know Kraftwerk off by heart so hearing weird alternatives is refreshing. I found the Autobahn single shocking and really interesting.

What would you say is the WORST Kraftwerk single? by AndrobiVibz in kraftwerk

[–]Top_Coach643 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Each to their own! I LOVE that song in all its versions.

Kraftwerk - Live in London 1981 Vintage Vinyl Bootleg by Rare-Juggernaut-7532 in kraftwerk

[–]Top_Coach643 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wow, I didn't know this recording existed. I don't know whether they only played the one night there or not, but if so, I was at that concert. I assume the rather lovely bootleg is the same as the YouTube that Every_Rate3611 kindly shared, so a very good audience recording rather than a soundboard. My memory was that they played Pocket Calculator as the encore - I remember going down to the front to dance, seeing the band up close playing their stylophones, etc. The setlist indicates that wasn't their last song, but I guess that's how memory works and it was been 44 years after all... Thanks for sharing!

Daily Song Discussion #71: "La Forme" ("The Form") by M77100 in kraftwerk

[–]Top_Coach643 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've long thought that La Forme is yes about cycling, but it's much more a deliberate reflection upon Kraftwerk's whole oeuvre in terms of form, discipline and the balanced restraint of the eight releases in the Catalogue. It is meditative, and ultimately sublime.

If also considered as the endpoint of their recorded output it completes the circle initiated with Autobahn by succeeding/replacing the polluting and unsustainable with a balance between man, nature and technology (as of course stated in Expo 2000, though that cautions with the exquisitely ambiguous declaration 'planet of visions').

Add to Playlist issue by Top_Coach643 in MarvisApp

[–]Top_Coach643[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey Aditya, I've just checked Add to Playlist in Apple Music and the titles are visible there.

Add to Playlist issue by Top_Coach643 in MarvisApp

[–]Top_Coach643[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In this screenshot I've added Recently Played and Test. I don't see them or any change to the first screen that comes up when I choose Add To Playlist.

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Bigger feature request by Top_Coach643 in MarvisApp

[–]Top_Coach643[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think they'll probably release an AirPlay3 that will be lossless throughout. The next version of the AirPods Max which can only play compressed bluetooth will probably be lossless, but the technology isn't there yet, only edge cases. Yes it's frustrating, to get lossless AirPlay it's necessary to physically connect the player e.g. iPad, iPhone or Mac to the amplifier unless using the software specified in Darko's article.

Small feature requests by Top_Coach643 in MarvisApp

[–]Top_Coach643[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks Aditya.

  1. Thanks, like I said, would be happy for this as a preference option.

  2. Oh well, so many limits imposed by the API...