Jøhnny Fävòrítê (it means "hypnotist collector")
2006-08-15 08:24:57 UTC
hello, devo fans! i don’t really read this group anymore, but i’ve got a
story to tell, and i can’t think of any place better to put it, for reasons
that will become evident as i go along, i hope.
many of you know who karl bartos is, of course. he was one of the two minor
members of kraftwerk for fifteen years, both of which finally got fed up and
quit about 1990, because the two major members were being primadonnas.
karl’s post-kraftwerk band was called elektric music. i heard about the
“group’s” first album right here in this newsgroup, many years ago. it’s
called ‘esperanto,’ released in 1993. i don’t merely *like* it, i’d say that
the title track is probably my favorite electronic track of all time. my
itunes library says i’ve listened to that one track over 200 times, and that’s
not counting how often i played the cd, before i moved my music collection to
a hard disk.
i suppose ‘esperanto’ didn’t sell, because karl’s next record is called simply
‘electric music,’ from 1998. karl ditched the ‘edgy’ spelling of his band’s
name, and took all the interesting stuff out of the music as well, in an
apparent sell-out attempt. i consider that record all but unlistenable.
in browsing around the intarwebz, i discovered that karl has a third record
that i didn’t know about, from 2003. he has ditched the pretense of a band
altogether, and released it under his own name. it’s called ‘communication.’
that’s what i’m here to write about today, friends. i had to pay an arm and a
leg for it, as a japanese import with two remix tracks, which was apparently
delivered via garbage scow. it took four weeks to arrive.
i was really looking forward to this. it didn’t quite live up to my
expectations, but almost. it’s not as good as ‘esperanto,’ but not anywhere
near as unlistenable as ‘electric music.’
if you’re a fan of kraftwerk, you’ll like this record. it’s about 85 percent
in the same mold as your average kraftwerk tunes from the eighties, right down
to using the exact same raspy “electronic singer” featured prominently on so
many kraftwerk tracks. wolfgang flür’s post-kraftwerk band is called yamo,
and he diverged from the kraftwerk sound significantly, which makes it all the
more apparent how close karl has stayed to the sound of his old band.
i think karl is a genious technically. his records are always competent and
polished. every track feels complete and whole, like an egg. alas, he’s
never been very creative, and by the third record, he is completely out of
ideas. the album name, the track names (“15 minutes of fame,” “electronic
apeman,” “the camera”), and the lyrics are all tired, sad clichés.
music lyrics always seem more wise and insightful than they really are, due to
the delivery mechanism, which has already gotten you into a heightened
emotional state before you start paying attention to the words. alas, that
bit of “bounce” doesn’t seem to help karl at all. i’ve always felt like he
doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about. sample lyric: “we expect the
future to be like a wave.” OH REALLY??! and karl’s voice is breathy and
thin, which might explain why he leans so heavily on the kraftwerk-style
“electronic singer.” karl is such an expert at knob-twiddling and production.
if only he’d work with a vocalist with a good set of pipes, and with a
lyricist who knows what she’s talking about, he could be making some really
amazing music again.
but really, that’s all just nit-picking. karl has already ascended to the
hall of the immortals as far as i’m concerned. this is music that hits me
right where i live, and i’ll listen to it over and over again. i bet there
are at least a few of you reading this who will feel the same way.
further reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Bartos
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Flür
story to tell, and i can’t think of any place better to put it, for reasons
that will become evident as i go along, i hope.
many of you know who karl bartos is, of course. he was one of the two minor
members of kraftwerk for fifteen years, both of which finally got fed up and
quit about 1990, because the two major members were being primadonnas.
karl’s post-kraftwerk band was called elektric music. i heard about the
“group’s” first album right here in this newsgroup, many years ago. it’s
called ‘esperanto,’ released in 1993. i don’t merely *like* it, i’d say that
the title track is probably my favorite electronic track of all time. my
itunes library says i’ve listened to that one track over 200 times, and that’s
not counting how often i played the cd, before i moved my music collection to
a hard disk.
i suppose ‘esperanto’ didn’t sell, because karl’s next record is called simply
‘electric music,’ from 1998. karl ditched the ‘edgy’ spelling of his band’s
name, and took all the interesting stuff out of the music as well, in an
apparent sell-out attempt. i consider that record all but unlistenable.
in browsing around the intarwebz, i discovered that karl has a third record
that i didn’t know about, from 2003. he has ditched the pretense of a band
altogether, and released it under his own name. it’s called ‘communication.’
that’s what i’m here to write about today, friends. i had to pay an arm and a
leg for it, as a japanese import with two remix tracks, which was apparently
delivered via garbage scow. it took four weeks to arrive.
i was really looking forward to this. it didn’t quite live up to my
expectations, but almost. it’s not as good as ‘esperanto,’ but not anywhere
near as unlistenable as ‘electric music.’
if you’re a fan of kraftwerk, you’ll like this record. it’s about 85 percent
in the same mold as your average kraftwerk tunes from the eighties, right down
to using the exact same raspy “electronic singer” featured prominently on so
many kraftwerk tracks. wolfgang flür’s post-kraftwerk band is called yamo,
and he diverged from the kraftwerk sound significantly, which makes it all the
more apparent how close karl has stayed to the sound of his old band.
i think karl is a genious technically. his records are always competent and
polished. every track feels complete and whole, like an egg. alas, he’s
never been very creative, and by the third record, he is completely out of
ideas. the album name, the track names (“15 minutes of fame,” “electronic
apeman,” “the camera”), and the lyrics are all tired, sad clichés.
music lyrics always seem more wise and insightful than they really are, due to
the delivery mechanism, which has already gotten you into a heightened
emotional state before you start paying attention to the words. alas, that
bit of “bounce” doesn’t seem to help karl at all. i’ve always felt like he
doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about. sample lyric: “we expect the
future to be like a wave.” OH REALLY??! and karl’s voice is breathy and
thin, which might explain why he leans so heavily on the kraftwerk-style
“electronic singer.” karl is such an expert at knob-twiddling and production.
if only he’d work with a vocalist with a good set of pipes, and with a
lyricist who knows what she’s talking about, he could be making some really
amazing music again.
but really, that’s all just nit-picking. karl has already ascended to the
hall of the immortals as far as i’m concerned. this is music that hits me
right where i live, and i’ll listen to it over and over again. i bet there
are at least a few of you reading this who will feel the same way.
further reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Bartos
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Flür
--
Computer science is the womanizer, and math is the pure-hearted girl
he won't call the next day. -- Shannon Behrens
Computer science is the womanizer, and math is the pure-hearted girl
he won't call the next day. -- Shannon Behrens