Off the Record (Karl Bartos album)

Off the Record is the second solo studio album by German musician and composer Karl Bartos (formerly of Kraftwerk). It was released on 15 March 2013, through Bureau B Records. It is Bartos' first solo album in ten years, though much of the material on Off the Record predates that on 2003's Communication.^[13][14][15]

Off the Record
Studio album by Karl Bartos
Released	15 March 2013
Recorded	1977-1993,^[1] 2010-2012
Genre	Synth-pop
Length	39:45
Label	Bureau B
Producer	Karl Bartos
Karl Bartos chronology
Communication (2003) Off the Record (2013)
Singles from Off the Record
"Atomium" Released: 1 February 2013 "Without a Trace of Emotion" Released: 18 March 2013

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	64/100^[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[3]
Beats per Minute	62%^[4]
Clash	6/10^[5]
Drowned in Sound	5/10^[6]
Exclaim!	7/10^[7]
The Independent	^[8]
Pitchfork Media	5.4/10^[9]
Popmatters	^[10]
Record Collector	^[11]
Rolling Stone Russia	^[12]

Singles

"Atomium" was released as a single on 1 February 2013.

"Without a Trace of Emotion" was released as a promo-single on 18 March 2013.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Karl Bartos except "Musica Ex Machina", written by Bartos, Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Atomium"	3:16
2.	"Nachtfahrt"	3:30
3.	"International Velvet"	4:38
4.	"Without a Trace of Emotion"	3:28
5.	"The Binary Code"	1:42
6.	"Musica Ex Machina"	5:16
7.	"The Tuning of the World"	3:33
8.	"Instant Bayeruth"	3:36
9.	"Vox Humana"	2:56
10.	"Rhythmus"	4:17
11.	"Silence"	0:06
12.	"Hausmusik"	3:30

Notes

• "Musica Ex Machina" is based on a composition which had previously been adapted into "Imitation of Life" by Electronic.
• "Silence" consists of 6 seconds of ambient studio noise.

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2013)	Peak position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[16]	161
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[17]	44
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[18]	47

References

1. Bartos, Karl (4 March 2013). "Remake/Remodel: Karl Bartos Interviewed". The Quietus (Interview). Interviewed by Matt Lindsay. London. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
2. "Off the Record – Karl Bartos". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
3. Allmusic review
4. Pickard, Joshua (10 April 2013). "Album Review: Karl Bartos – Off The Record". Beats per Minute. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
5. Oliver, Matt (12 March 2013). "Karl Bartos – Off The Record". Clash. Music Republic Ltd. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
6. Falcone, Jon (18 March 2013). . Drowned in Sound. Silentway. Archived from the original on 31 January 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
7. Ranta, Alan (20 March 2013). "Karl Bartos Off the Record". Exclaim!. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
8. Gilly, Andy (15 March 2013). "Album review: Karl Bartos, Off the Record (Bureau B)". The Independent. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
9. Neyland, Nick (25 March 2013). "Karl Bartos: Off the Record". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
10. Faulkner, Brent (20 March 2013). "Karl Bartos Off the Record". Popmatters. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
11. Rathbone, Oregano. "Off The Record". Record Collector. Diamond Publishing. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
12. Bukharin, Andrew (7 June 2013). . Rolling Stone Russia (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
13. Tuffrey, Laurie (26 November 2012). "Karl Bartos Announces New Album". The Quietus. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
14. Roffman, Michael (27 November 2012). "Former Kraftwerk member Karl Bartos announces solo album, Off the Record". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
15. Longley, Martin (4 March 2013). "Karl Bartos - 'Off the Record' - Review". BBC. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
16. "Ultratop.be – Karl Bartos – Off the Record" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
17. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
18. "Swedishcharts.com – Karl Bartos – Off the Record". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 April 2013.