Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

Those who claim that Kraftwerk's live double-disc set Minimum-Maximum is just a hits record with crowd noise added in are wrong, and lazy to boot. Showing an impressive cohesion considering that only twice do songs from the same concert appear back-to-back, this is Kraftwerk's version of their 2004 world tour, put together to their liking. Particularly wonderful is the "machine" set on disc two, with "Computer World," "Home Computer," "Pocket Calculator," "Dentaku," and "The Robots," comprising some of the warmest austere(ish) Teutonic techno you've heard in ages. "Tour de France Etape Two," ending a set from a Riga show including "Etape One" and "Chrono," shimmers underneath the spotlights, sexy like a chesty blonde with a single indisputable flaw which only serves to make said blonde more attractive (think Cindy C's infamous mole) - yes, a Kraftwerk song that's actually sexy. The fact that this superbly played, superbly sequenced set in fact fulfills most wishes for a true Kraftwerk hits album is just icing atop icing. This is Techno
101, a class where you'll actually want to pay attention and win your teachers' respect. A