Karl Bartos - Off The Record

Karl Bartos was once a part of the legendary Kraftwerk. However, that was a long time ago and if you remove the nostalgia glasses that so easily blurs your view, is it really something meaty to chew on with his new album 'Off The Record'?

Not really. What I love about Kraftwerk is their way to create unforgettable melodies in almost each and every track they ever made, at least a handful of tracks in each and every release. I mean, check out "The best of" release 'The Mix' from 1991, each and every track has a melody that seems to cross out borders of taste in music, everyone remembers them. The biggest problem with Karl Bartos album is that it more or less do not have any remember able melodies. "International Velvet" has probably one of the better melodies of this album.

However, there are some tracks that could be worth your time, part from "International Velvet", you could check out "Without a Trace of Emotion" and the cute "The Tuning of the World". They are pretty good tracks.

I remember the first time I heard Kraftwerk. I was 14 years old and the year was 1997. It was summer and I was at my friend Thim's room in his mother's apartment which is on Bogegatan in Visby (Gotland, Sweden) and the track was "Pocket Calculator". I can ensure you that I won't remember a single track from 'Off The Record' 16 years from now.

That pretty much sums up this review. Apr 18 2013