Karl Bartos - Communication [Trocadero Records]

A long thirteen years after its initial release we see the re-release of Karl Bartos' album "Communication" these days - recut, remastered and on a new label. And although the man behind this album has already made his mark in music history as a member of the great Kraftwerk his longplay solo effort has aged surprisingly well and still provides an interesting 52 minutes journey into electronic music. The opener "The Camera" pays homage to the sound pallet of the super groups "Die Roboter" whilst providing a positivity and playfullness often found in the Electro / Proto-ElectroClash tunes of the early noughties and late 90s, "I'm The Message" is a deep, timeless late night vocoder jam, "15 Minutes Of Fame" still is the anthemic SynthPop smash it has ever been and - in retrospect - can be seen as a wise prediction of todays social media and trash TV hype machine whilst "Reality" takes us into the deepest underground venues of The Hague. Imagining himself as "Electronic Apeman" Mr. Karl Bartos creates another panorama homage to the world famous Proto-Electro super group whilst adding an additional layer of pathetic, Pet Shop Boys-reminiscing SynthPop, "Life" comes across as an uplifting hybrid update of the Madchester / SynthPop sound, "Cyberspace" is retrofuturistic as darkish retrofuturism can get and the "Interview" still is able to move glitzy ElectroDisco dancefloors for sure. Furthermore the "Ultraviolet" aura of the track of the same name takes you into dramatic sci-fi battle scenarios with massive stabs and spiralling synths, the "Camera Obscura" fuses a technoid attitude with classic, well-beloved bleeps and the closing tune "Another Reality" waves farewell as a sweet, twisted Synth / Cosmic ballad for the space age. Nice one.