Karl Bartos -‘Off The Record’ (Bureau B)
Karl Bartos was one quarter of what is regarded as the classic line-up of Kraftwerk between 1975-1990. Whilst his former bandmates are touring the classic albums (and bringing the Tate’s box office into meltdown), he has given the world a new album.
Does it sound like Kraftwerk? Well, yes it does, and to be honest, I think most people would be disappointed if it didn’t. And when the sound that he helped create laid the blueprint for so much of what happened (let’s see: house, hip-hop and electro, post-punk, techno…this could be a whole PhD thesis, and in fact it probably is), then why not?
The reason for the name of the album is that d
uring Kraftwerk’s heyday he kept what the press release describes as a ‘secret acoustic diary.’ This consisted of melodies, chord, sounds and the like which has produce
d these twelve new songs.
Given
that this could have end up with an album that felt like half-baked doodles from the cutting room floor (and these are frequently served up to the world as ‘mixtapes’ now), it’s all the more impressive that this holds together as a coherent albu
m. Whilst I personally could pass on ‘Vox Hum
ana’ , there’s s mu
ch on offer here – opening track ‘Atomium’, ‘ International Velvet’ and ‘Without A Trace Of Emotion’ that feel like glorious POP songs.
This could have felt like a difficult album, so kudos is due once again to Herr Bartos for producing such a strong, listenable and enjoyable record.
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Off The Record is released on Bureau B on March 18.
