Kraftwerk Boxes

it was somewhat different.

And now, it's somewhat the same.

What is this is 3D thing anyway?

It seems to be wrt the Blu-ray/DVD for 3D TV, you know, the technology they just sacked.

The "TheMix" disc is a special "3D for Headphones" mix.

Me Neither.

so are these new/revamped takes their entire back catalogue like Minimum-Maximum? or just punched up remixes? what exactly is this? and should I buy it?

Live versions from the "play the albums in 3D" tour. The blu-ray set has 2 discs of performances and 2 discs of just the projections (but the deluxe booklet is quite nice and the box is the red equivalent of the 'catalogue' box so looks nice of the shelf if you are an anal collector spod).

except the red box is 5" square, and the 'catalogue' box is 12" square.

IIRC "Planet of Visions" is a re-worked version of "Expo 2000."

Ta. Yeah, Expo 2000 seemed to have gotten forgotten of late.

Is there a list of non-album tracks? Starting with the Kohoutek single...

that's the whole list

Aside from that, Tour de France was a non-album single for about 20 years! Then there's Expo 2000. The rest is just alternate-language versions and remixes.

speaking of, Hutter's been talking about a new album for what, 8 years now? how likely is it we'll ever see anything new? 50%? 10%? he seems so content just boxing up the same material over and over and over again, what's left to do?

i love min-max so have no issue re the new versions,
and have only recently picked up the remastered editions of the originals.
i.e. i am good.
then i heard that all tracks are a lot shorter than the originals,
so, seriously i don't understand the reason to get the new editions other than having a love for bigger sonics,
colour me old school, but i kinda like the lo-tech sonics of the originals.

kraftwerk aren't really the sort who busted out with solos or soething in their live sets

I am interested in seeing the video though; the show I saw was one of the best shows I've ever been to

The longest victory lap in history just keeps on going and going.

Love the 70s-era concert recordings where they are actually playing stuff like Autobahn live, fiddling around with very limited gear and basically doing the opposite of this.

I thought there was some track swapping around the Electric Cafe album..

Oh, and I have a 7" edit of Autobahn that's on a promo for the original 'Catalogue' box that's not the same as the actual hit single.

Talking of which, I also have a US 7" with two edits of A, neither etc..

The 7" of Kommetenmelodie 2 I have is a unique edit (I think) and has a unique edit of Von Himmel Hoch on the other side. Neither are essential though I like the shorter K2 a lot. They probably won't make Kohoutek available because it's pretty scrappy sounding.

I know y'all enjoyed the concerts etc but I can't stand what Kraftwerk's aesthetics are all about these days. It's really quite different to what they were doing back when they actually wrote and recorded this stuff.

It is, but it is on an album (Exceller 8) "ref:"Comet Melody 2"

The short Vom is unique to that single, its a bit longer than the label says, mind..

No, it's shorter than the Exceller 8 version.

This is the one.

https://www.discogs.com/Kraftwerk-Kometenmelodie-2/release/218141

No wait, sorry, it is the same version apparently.

Funnily enough, I do have one of the Kohoutek's on a daft pair of albums from Italy that edited the first four albums to one side each. All legit, if not actually authorised by R&F

That single was to promote the "Elektro Kinetic' album, but that has the longer version on it, ha.

I thought there was some track swapping around the Electric Cafe album..

On the remaster, now called Techno-Pop, they added "House Phone," which I guess was a non-album B-side as it is on the Telephone Call 12".

I guess there's still no rush for the "early years" albums..

― Mark G

there were abbreviated versions of the first four albums (one lp side per album) issued in italy in the early '70s! i've kind of wanted to hear them for years...

Just gonna chime in to say the Nippon Numbers bootleg is absolutely essential for those who want to hear them as they were in the early 80's.

xpost I know, I have them, just mentioned them too..

THere was a great compi lp called Exceller 8 that I picked up in the late 80s and wish I hadn't lost in the mid 90s.
Had some edited versions of some early tracks on and Kometonmelodie 2 amongst other stuff.
Has anybody ever covered Kometonmelodie 2 sounds like something that you could work up in to something very different. Based on a folk air or something.

Ever get the feeling yr being blocked?

Ever get the feeling yr being blocked?

― Mark G

i'm not blocking you, sorry, i'm just very tired and my reading comprehension is low. :(

ah, was just kidding really

except the red box is 5" square, and the 'catalogue' box is 12" square

The deluxe blu-ray with the book is 12".

We Are The Reboots

The longest victory lap in history just keeps on going and going.

otm

i love kraftwerk but i'm already beyond annoyed at whatever it is that passes for new material from them these days, and i've only been a fan since like 1999 or so. pumping out endless versions of the same material in various expensive-ass boxsets and concert experiences kind of seems like an asshole move, almost exploitative but we're willingly forking over money for it so that's probably not the right word

I'm really happy with having the original eight LPs up to Computer World + "Tone Float" + "Concert Classics" and don't feel like I need to ever get anything else by them. Agreed with mark e that they really don't sound like they are in need of a remaster.

If they have to constantly rehash everything then I wish they'd put some thought into the first three LPs, but resigned to that never happening.

they did a good job on the 5.1 / Atmos surround mixes for this set. their approach to surround was pretty extreme, but didn't always work in the bigger concert venues; it's best at home on a good system. putting this out as a DVD/BluRay would have been perfectly sufficient.

I'm an avid collector of all the 70s live kraftwerk boots. they really were a fantastic live band, with 100% live percussion, extended improvised solos -- the concerts defined what electronic pop music could sound like in a live context to the same degree that the records mapped out what was possible in the studio. there are enough board recordings and I'm sure they have more -- I can't even pick a top 10 favorite list of 70s boots anymore, and that should be the box. even when they started locking things down with pre-recorded elements in the early 80's, the live versions had different arrangements from the records & had long extended spaces for solos. even the 97/98 tour, the 1997 digital retool of 'Numbers' was fantastic and I liked the three new songs better than anything on Tour de France Soundtracks (especially their Basic Channel ripoff).

since 2004 they used softsynth libraries to revert to close emulations of the original sounds and the result is pretty lifeless. they're still doing the delay sends & filter sweeps live, and Ralf occasional dares a simple tune, but it's a pretty crass decision to make these commercially available as a box of 30 minute stereo CDs.

yeah giving them a listen, it's unclear that these are anything more than shortened remixes of the original albums. i guess curious as a novelty but not worth the purchase (which I didn't)

to be fair, three are short, one is much longer and thee rest pretty much match.

I wish Sparks had done one.

having failed on the day of release due to crap website crap,
today i got 2 cancellation tix for the bristol show this saturday (bloody fantastic seats as well by the looks of it).
i am beyond excited.
mk2 though is pretty miffed as it means he has an evening disconnected from his beloved playstation as i have decided he is coming along with me.
subsequently, i have ordered the new boxset.
sod it.