Bartos, Karl
Communication
Communication is the debut solo album by ex-Kraftwerk member Karl Bartos. Originally released in 2003 - 13 years after leaving the legendary electronic group - it has now been entirely and pristinely re-mastered for re-release, complete with the bonus track Camera Obscura - a song that eschews the term bonus and in the context of the re-release becomes essential. The album is a concept record that deals with communication at the incredibly pivotal time in electronic media and digital culture, shortly after the turn of the millennium. "Communication is about the way images shape our view of the world and how electronic media is going to change the contents of our culture." (Karl Bartos, 2003) However, such was the sense of foresight and depth of thought that Bartos applied to the world of communication in a vastly-shifting aeon that this theme remains as relevant as ever in 2016. The world of media described and envisioned back then has now simply become a day-to-day reality. Communication is a definitive piece of work that continues to resonate even in the present day, which alone would be enough to justify its re-release but there is another reason.