Roedelius

'Lustwandel' and 'Durch Die Wuste' are the two good ones with actual piano.

I myself like the 'Selbstportrait' series, but must admit sometimes the music borders on such simplicity that the only sane reaction is "you have got to be kidding". But he isn't kidding, and there was one summer where those records were some of the only music that could calm me down...

Several of the later records feature some entirely solo piano performances, ' Variety of Moods' and 'Piano Piano' have nice moments, but most of the later records really push the line between lovely and vapid. I'll post individual album points after I get some work done.

Roedelius is incredible to me because I have been craving some nice piano instrumental music for a long, long time. There were these two Felt b-sides I really liked in '89 or so. Might have been the Ballad of The Band 12" or whatever the single was after that one. Anyway, so people said these b-sides were like Erik Satie, so I got some Satie, but it wasn't what I was expecting at all, I was disappointed.

And though I hoped for nice piano based instrumental music like those Felt b-sides, none appeared until Jardin Au Fou. What a pleasant surprise.

While we're on the topic, am I the only one who ever noticed that Felt's "Red Birds" (from 'Poem of the River') is musically - listen to that organ refrain - a straight cop of Amon Duul II's "Liquid Whisper" (from the maligned 'Hijack', although I've always loved that album)? For that matter, the extended guitar solos on "Riding on the Equator" seem to borrow a lot from the extended guitar solos on ADII's "The Only Thing" (on the even more maligned 'Pyragony X' album). And thematically and lyrically the two songs seem ... similar.

(And I guess I shouldn't even get into the fact that I figured out that "Liquid Whisper" is, musically, a straight cop of Savage Rose's "Listen to This Tune from Mexico" some years before that Felt album ever existed. Perhaps I think about these things too much.... )

http://www.temporaryresidence.com/www/trl_html/descriptions/TRR66.htm

anyone got anything to say about Wenn der Südwind weht?

like, should i buy it?

Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrm... yeah... why not? It's like the Selbstportrait albums, it's a bit lo-fi and DIY, not as polished as some of his stuff

yes it's great

cool, thanks. "lo-fi and DIY" sounds encouraging!

Roedelius guide: if it was originally released on Sky Records, or was recorded between 72-82, you want it

1978 Durch die Wüste
1979 Jardin au fou
1979 Selbstportrait I
1980 Selbstportrait II
1980 Selbstportrait III
1981 Lustwandel
1981 Wenn der Südwind weht (Selbstportrait vol 4)
1982 Offene Türen (almost Moebius / Tietchens levels of weird lo-fi pop)
1982 Flieg' Vogel flieg' (Selbstportrait vol 5)
1982 Wasser im Wind (first one with violins & saxophones, but still arranged in selbstportrait mode)

after that -

1984 Gift of the moment (selbstportrait-type songs but recorded chamber music style - some of it very pretty)
1990 Variety of moods (sax & violin increasingly dominant but ends with half hour of solo piano)
1991 Der Ohrenspiegel (very strange arrangements & editing)
1991 Piano Piano (solo piano)
1994 Sinfonia Contempora No. 1 (return to abstract sound collage -- still some sax & violin at moments, but Tietchens contributes some sounds)
1995 Selbstportrait VI - The diary of the unforgotten (this one is basically all the fragments & snippets recorded from 72-78 that didn't make vols I - III, the centerpiece is 'Homage a Forst' made from solo outtakes from Harmonia & Cluster sessions)
1996 Sinfonia Contempora No. 2: La Nordica (another abstract one, the 30 minute opening is quite strange & good)
2001 Acon (w/ Schnitzler) - takes about 20 minutes to achieve peak velocity, but a good session

the later selbstportraits are contemporary & recorded on new equipment and I can't handle them

"1984 Gift of the moment"

love this album. just listening to it the other day. kinda hits my durutti column/penguin cafe orchestra spot.

it's very Penguin Cafe, makes sense that it came out on EG records

if I had to pick 4 absolute favorites

1978 Durch die Wüste (probably the absolute best - Roedelius / Plank prog rock album)
1979 Jardin au fou (pop tunes from the Garden of Madness - walking a line between lighthearted & demented)
1980 Selbstportrait II / Selbstportrait III (super lo-fi demos from Zuckerzeit / Sowiesoso era not originally intended for release. contains versions of tunes reworked on later studio records, less produced but once you become a diehard Cluster fan these two records can easily start to seem like the center of the whole discography)

"Jardin Au Fou" = said it before, will say it again, lovely lovely lovely

Almost perfect in fact

if it's not perfect I'd love to hear something that is

What?? He's got a solo piano album called "Piano Piano"? Yikes. I'm hopping right on that thing. Seems like I might want to check out Gift Of The Moment, too.

Bought Wüste/Lustwandel/Südwind a few years ago cheap on LP and enjoy them all a lot, though I agree that Durch die Wüste is the best. I also love his collaboration with Tim Story as Lunz. Very pretty. Will def. go after Jardin Au Fou..

anyone hear this:

http://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs071/1102000774575/img/93.jpg?a=1102125099325

Hans-Joachim Roedelius & Tim Story - Inlandish

okay i just listened to an mp3 of a song from it and it doesn't really thrill me actually.

yeah not really my thing either. gotta say, 75% of post-1986 roedelius leaves me feeling a little restless, even when it's lovely. what the pioneers started doing with digital in the 80's didn't sound as distinctive, 1983-1995 was the dark age of synth interface design.

They had copies of Stephen Iliffe's Roedelius book at the tour. Thumbs up for fans, looks / feels beautiful, lots of great pictures starting from his career as a child actor & lots of 70's shots, fascinating life story, long section on Cluster, compiles tons of anecdotes & interviews with collaborators & press quotes all in one place, and there's complete record review guide 1969-2003 - I don't agree with all his picks, but at least when someone reviews _everything_ you stand more of a chance of being able to triangulate your tastes against theirs

http://www.roedelius.com/index.php?menu=4&site=1

hey gosh

Roedelius' group Human Being - "Pictures from the 1969 film by Dietmar Buchmann shows scenes from Conrad Schnitzler's Zodiak Free Arts Lab"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBUa4EFDc_M

looks like R at 1:02

Human Being: Live at the Zodiak - Berlin 1968 is going on your 1001 psych list once it's out

one fairly recent I missed upthread that I like a lot - 'Nevertheless' by Roedelius & Morgan Fisher. Two very long tracks at the end & Fisher's mixing & guitar playing is in the tradition of those Made To Measure ambient Tuxedomoon solos and side 2 of Vangelis' 'L'Apocalypse Des Animaux' (Fisher is of course contemporary with those guys and still going)

jardin au fou is getting reissued on vinyl/cd in march
http://www.bureau-b.com/

cover is truly frightening
http://www.bureau-b.com/images/Roedelius%20Highres.jpg

?

he looks like a zombie!

Are the lack of Harmonia (and hence Harmonia '76) recommendations because it would be too obvious? (If so, no probs.)

Granted, I've been listening to Live 1974, Musik Von Harmonia, Deluxe, and Tracks & Traces recently. Goooooood stuff. Probably best for the Harmonia thread tho.

live '74 is excellent

I saw Mani Neumeier play last week, acid mothers dude was in hospital and couldnt play :[.

still he was rilly fun to watch anyway

I saw Jardin au fou at Dusty Groove for a nice price, but wanted to read up on it before I took the plunge. Looks like I need it *sigh*

that second Roedelius / Story CD that Scott linked upthread 'Inlandish' ended up being a lot better overall than the mp3 sample. still definitely on the glossy side of new age but some of the textures are nice & the melodic keyboard compositions are exactly the thing I wish there'd been slightly more of on the new Cluster record. though there too, that new Cluster record kind of grew on me a bit.

just jumping in to declare my undying love for jardin au fou. my vinyl copy arrived in the post today and i've played it 5 times already! can't wait to fall asleep to this tonight

how is durch die wurste? i see bureau b have reissued it

It is good.

they also just reissued Cluster's 'Curiosum', which is huge for me. they're doing the packaging so well on those reissues it makes me want to buy them again

Nepenthe also just reissued 'Offene Türen' from 1980 -- more produced out than the selbstportrait series, some of the sounds land on the cheesy side, but there's also a couple of pretty odd numbers that makes me think he was taking in the other records on Sky by Moebius/Plank & Asmus Tietchens -- definitely get 'Jardin Au Fou' / 'Durch Die Wuste' & the first three Selbstportaits first but overall this one's still pretty much in the classic period

just listened again, the second half of this is pretty great. less cosmic than just plain old strange

i've seen the curiosum reissue around town, now you've endorsed it i'm gonna buy it tomorrow. i've got every cluster record up 'til that and if it's huge for milton then it's good enuff 4 me

how many selbsportraits are there? i've only got iii (on mp3 for shame) but it's on constant rotation. in a way, when i first heard jardin au fou i was a little disappointed that it didn't sound more like selbsportrait iii

Curiosum was the one where it seems like they got back to their home studio roots after the high production on Grosses Wasser, which I like but overall it's a little stiff. Curiosum is just back to being a really strange record, everything's out of tune but it's all still very addictively catchy

first three selbstportraits were actually titled volumes 1-3, and it was all archival 70's material. then it gets confusing -- the original Sky issues of 'Wenn Der Sudwind Weht' and 'Flieg Vogel Fleige' didn't have 'Selbstportrait' anywhere on the packaging, and they sounded like new recordings, but recorded on the old farfisa equipment so they sound more like 'Selbstportraits' than albums like 'Lustwandel' & 'Offene Türen', so it was only when he put out 'Selbstportrait vol 6' in the early 90's that it seems he retroactively deemed them volumes 4 & 5

Selbstportraits 7 & 8 are recent ones recorded on new gear and I'm not into them, but 1-3 & 6 = pretty much my favorite records of his along with Jardin & Wuste. And I played #5 'Flieg Vogel Fliege' again today and man, that's kind of a must have, really needs to come out on CD

but for all those hordes of Cluster fans getting into this stuff, all you need to know is that Selbstportraits 1, 2, 3 & 6 = the 4-track recordings Roedelius made in his bedroom at Forst studio in the 70's when he wasn't recording with Harmonia & Cluster -- they're all the home demos & have plenty of timing errors and if you're one of those earless fools who thinks that the Harmonia & Eno record isn't good music then you don't need to worry about them, but if you're already more than a little into the Cluster catalog then you really, really want to find these

there's just something so sweet and charming about those selbsportrait iii melodies. even when it gets slightly darker and more absract, its never threatening. i love how people praise cluster for their experimentation but deep down its all about roedelius just wanting to compose these little timeless ditties

"if you're one of those earless fools who thinks that the Harmonia & Eno record isn't good music"

pretty sure nobody like this actually exists

how is durch die wurste?

it is so good. has some surprisingly krautrock moments on it (as opposed to pure synth stuff).

i think bureau b also reissued moebius' first solo album?

Hmm, in my opinion the best Roedelius albums are as follows:

-Musik von Harmonia (Harmonia-1974) (can't beat the drifting organ/guitar sounds and the fluffy rhythm boxes, a lot more structured than Zuckerzeit, the album that usually gets recommended, and so IMHO better.)

-Cluster and Eno (Cluster and Eno-1977) (beautiful underplayed piano and organ with Brian Eno's inventiveness to top it off)

-After the Heat (Cluster and Eno-1978) (mostly Eno dominated, but when Roedelius gets on the tape his piano work is first class. 'The Shade' is probably my favourite Roedelius piano track)

Selbstportrait I & II (Roedelius-1979/1980) Very similar albums, I own the CTR 1 CD release, I was so hooked when I bought it that I listened to nothing else for 2 months)

Lustwandel (Roedelius-1981) The best of Roedelius' work with Peter Baumann as his producer, very pretty piano tracks of the Selbstportrait school of thought.

Like the Whispering of the Wind (Roedelius-1987) Indebted to iTunes for this exceedingly rare album, definately my favourite of all his albums. Piano solo but played in a way that you've never heard before, a pity he didn't do more like this.

Romance in the Wilderness (Roedelius-1992) Electro-ambient-jazz experiments. Underplayed keyboard and achingly beautiful sax work, a beauty of an album.

Sinfonia Contempora #1 (Roedelius-1994) Collage work, I have always loved this medium. The first track is basically a condensation of whats good about Roedelius.

Neverless (Roedelius and Fisher-2008) Droney work, Morgan Fisher adds his own unique touch, pure bliss.

Fibre (Roedelius and Noh1) Like Cluster and Eno it owes its beauty to underplayed piano and almost jazzy improv. His best album since Romance in the Wilderness and one of my favourites!

I haven't heard much of the uber-rare vinyl stuff so don't hold me to account if that is wonderous too. Believe me, I'd like a copy of Selbstportrait III, Wasser im Wind and Weites Land too!

(p.s. I don't understand why everyone loves Jardin au Fou, Peter Baumann's production just doesn't suit it, it's a bit aimless to be frank.)

lmao at the cover art for the 90s cd reissue of Jardin Au Fou

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/yarrost/Roedelius.jpg

Like the Whispering of the Wind (Roedelius-1987) Indebted to iTunes for this exceedingly rare album, definately my favourite of all his albums. Piano solo but played in a way that you've never heard before, a pity he didn't do more like this.

I just bought this on iTunes the other day on KosmischeSynth's recommendation -- agree it's very interesting and need to listen more.

Milton, what do you think of it?

Ok, so I just pulled down Durch Die Wüste -- and was not expecting the guitar jam that opens this record. Whoah.

guitar jam at the beginning of Durch Die Wüste I always took as a direct reference to the opening jam of David Bowie's Station To Station, with inserted spacey-pastoral breaks

Like the Whispering of the Wind

I should download the mp3's, my vinyl copy is noisy to a degree that interferes which is maybe why I never quite got into it. But it is a unique record for him, most of his other solo piano records are mantric & pulsey and this one is just washes, it takes work to keep music this formless.

it takes work to keep music this formless

It sure does. I realized while I was listening to it walking home last night that there's some sort of tape delay system at work. Certain phrases he's playing that repeat for a long while as he plays new parts over them. The result, in places, sounds a little like Harold Budd.

It made me think that I'd love to read an interview with Roedelius about his working methods more generally. A lot of his non-Cluster material is just him alone in the studio (or with Baumann or Plank at the board) -- with lots of overdubbed parts. I'd be sort of interested in hearing how he builds all his stuff (whether he sits and plays loops for five minutes or uses tape edits to loop smaller parts, etc.) and how he constructs compositions out of them. All of this, of course, has been made so much easier to do in the modern studio. But when these records were made, it was brutally hard.

there's some mentions in all the liner notes of the re-releases and a lot of details in Ilife's book on Roedelius.

one of the big selling points of the 70's Cluster / Harmonia / Roedelius Selbstportrait albums is that the repetitive riffs are all hand-played, the layers keep evolving & varying because they're not loops, they're manual

Yes, that's true. Was there no tape looping at all? In the case of Like the Whispering of the Wind, it really does sound like a loop, not a manual part. But then again, these guys are loop machines.

Just ordered the book online -- it sounds fascinating.

Haven't gotten the book yet, but I've been listening quite intently to Lustwandel, Durch Die Wüste, Selbstportraits I, II and III, and Like the Whispering of the Wind. I'm really digging Selbstportrait stuff, which I've actually had for a while but only listened to intermittently.

As Milton had said some of the tracks are works-in-progress, it's worth noting that "Staunen Im Fjord" off of Selbstportraits I is an early version of "The Belldog" without the Eno vocal or synth sequence.

hey you're right! never noticed that before.

Other Selbstportrait tracks that are demos for later tracks:

vol 1 'Inselmoos' = Eno Moebius Roedelius' 'The Shade'
vol 2 'Übern Fluß' = Eno's 'By This River'
vol 6 'Homage du Forst' begins with the basic track for Harmonia's 'Watussi'

hey you're right! never noticed that before.

Other Selbstportrait tracks that are demos for later tracks:

vol 2 'Übern Fluß' = Eno's 'By This River'
--Milton Parker

"Allen Jahre Wieder" on vol. 1 is also a great demo of "Legende" on Lustwandel with that great rising melodic cadence.

The Roedelius book is pretty good though I'm not too keen on the odd reviews of his records at the end.
I love Roedelius' music. Having chatted with him once last year I can also attest to his being one of the straight-up nicest, most unpretentious artists I've met.

The man himself is doing a show at cafe oto on monday, anyone seen any recent shows?

^ Many thx for telling us about this, I'd have missed this otherwise!

Oh no, I've just received an email, it's been cancelled! He's in hospital in Germany, his gall bladder's playing up (my Mum is just out of hospital with the same problem)

just now getting into all the Roedelius piano solo stuff—Bimble otm as usual

thoughts on Momenti Felici here

My good friend Tobias (does he still post here?) did a long and wonderful interview with Roedelius a few years ago in Austria, where Roedelius lives now. Roedelius treated Tobias like his son, from what I remember. (The whole interview was in German.) I have it somewhere, and I'll post it once I find it.

One of the nicest musicians/inspirations I've met. We sat and talked for awhile before and after his last concert in NYC. Very sweet person.

Oops - forgot I posted almost the same thing a few months back. Damn short-term memory lapse.

does he speak good English?

Perfect English.

Yes a lovely guy. I met him a few months ago in Vienna in the unlikely surroundings of a Lloyd Cole gig. I think they share a label or something and there was even some talk of them collaborating on music.

I've grabbed a mini-slew of the Bureau B reissues lately, and they've been slaying me, particularly the first two "Selbstportrait" volumes and "Wenn der Sudwind Weht"... A shame I went so long without delving in, given how long I've been a Cluster lover, but Roedelius on his own is really its own thing. I appreciate the way his less self-consciously experimental style allows the tenderness of the melodies and the beauty of the textures to take center stage.

Yes a lovely guy. I met him a few months ago in Vienna in the unlikely surroundings of a Lloyd Cole gig. I think they share a label or something and there was even some talk of them collaborating on music.

thats probably due to lloyd cole doing a remix for the lunz project that roedelius was involved with.

http://www.discogs.com/Tim-Story-Hans-Joachim-Roedelius-Lunz-Reinterpretations/release/476107

they're making an album together for Bureau B. i think Roedelius was a big fan of Lloyd Cole's Plastic Wood album or something and really wanted to work with him

hearing wie das wispern des windes for the first time. wow. so beautiful

a good reminder i need to get some of those bureau b reissues.

also, he has some live dates coming up:
29.09.2011 CA Montreal Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival
01.10.2011 US Asbury Park, NJ ATP Silver Qluster
02.10.2011 US Brooklyn, New York Littlefield
04.10.2011 US Pittsburgh, PA The Thunderbird Cafe
05.10.2011 US Richmond, VA Strange Matter
07.10.2011 US Asheville, NC The Grey Eagle
08.10.2011 US Atlanta, Georgia Eyedrum
09.10.2011 US Knoxville, TN The Pilot Light
12.10.2011 US Washington, DC Velvet Lounge
13.10.2011 US Philapelphia, PA M Room
17.10.2011 CA Toronto, Ontario The Garrison
23.10.2011 US Portland, OR Mt. Tabor Theatre
26.10.2011 US San Fransisco, CA Swedish American Hall / Cafe Du Nord
27.10.2011 US Los Angeles The Echo
30.10.2011 US Asheville, CA Moogfest

the pilot light is such a tiny, scummy, awesome joint. may have to take a bit of a roadtrip.

No Chicago? :(

Yeah, weird routing. Maybe a Chicago date will appear between Toronto & Portland?

no boston either :(

no texas!!

a good reminder i need to get some of those bureau b reissues.
also, he has some live dates coming up:
29.09.2011 CA Montreal Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival 
01.10.2011 US Asbury Park, NJ ATP Silver Qluster
02.10.2011 US Brooklyn, New York Littlefield 
04.10.2011 US Pittsburgh, PA The Thunderbird Cafe 
05.10.2011 US Richmond, VA Strange Matter 
07.10.2011 US Asheville, NC The Grey Eagle 
08.10.2011 US Atlanta, Georgia Eyedrum 
09.10.2011 US Knoxville, TN The Pilot Light 
12.10.2011 US Washington, DC Velvet Lounge 
13.10.2011 US Philapelphia, PA M Room 
17.10.2011 CA Toronto, Ontario The Garrison 
23.10.2011 US Portland, OR Mt. Tabor Theatre 
26.10.2011 US San Fransisco, CA Swedish American Hall / Cafe Du Nord 
27.10.2011 US Los Angeles The Echo 
30.10.2011 US Asheville, CA Moogfest
the pilot light is such a tiny, scummy, awesome joint. may have to take a bit of a roadtrip.
― dronestreet, Saturday, July 9, 2011 11:08 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark

wait--what?? no midwest dates?!?! not even chicago?!?! it's funny, my g.f. is from knoxville but we never seem to be there when great shows are happening.

also asheville, for a town of its size, gets great live music.

yeah...still hoping for a chicago or columbus date in-between the 17th & 23rd. knoxville is closest for me but still a 6-hr drive...boo.

I am stoked to see this in DC.

Yeah, weird routing. Maybe a Chicago date will appear between Toronto & Portland?

so odd that so many of these tours skip Boston, too...there are plenty of people willing to drop money on a show like this

The Asheville date is part of Moogfest.

I'm going to keep this thread bookmarked until he announces a Chicago date, like a vigil.

http://wiesenfeuer.ansteorra.org/animated-flame.gif

that animated gif is hurting me

'durch das Feuer' - the long-awaited sequel to 'durch die Wüste'

a couple more dates have been added here: http://www.media-loca.com/roedelius/dates

i'm definitely going to make the cincinatti show. anyone know anything about this "mockbee" space? their web presence seems to be woefully underdeveloped for 2011.

dang, cincinnati and oberlin but not chicago?! i would love to see him, but i don't think i'm able to drive for 4+ hrs each way in order to do it.

yeah, no chicago is still really strange. oberlin kind of blows my mind. must be some college radio person who has money to blow to throw a show for 10 people. :) (or wait, maybe that's what i did in college).

i live in indianapolis...just drove 3 hours each way to see olivia tremor control, so i am psyched to only drive 90 minutes to see roedelius in cincinatti of all places.

yeah the cincinnati show is on a thursday -- so not gonna happen
this is disappointing
i want to see roedelius in a beautiful pastoral setting, like a country church

or preferably in a small venue in Chicago

We are going tonight! Did anyone see him this past weekend?

seeing him on saturday + I'm super-stoked.

I'm planning on seeing him next Wednesday in DC. Very stoked.

I missed him in NY the other night. bummer.

what type of material is he doing on this tour?

saw him in montreal last weekend - was so charming and great. piano & gear was on the floor of the theater and we were basically sitting right in front of it as he played away in his white suit. and then whenit was over he smiled and said, "well, that was eet!"

It was great! Xambuca started, and played for about 15 minutes, then Roedelius joined him on the stage and they played together for a while, then Xambuca left and Roedelius played on. He had a keyboard, mixer and a couple CD players. About half of his time on stage he played various piano bits and the other half tweaked the keyboard and mixer.
We talked to him before and after the show, he is wonderful and charming!
Ha, also, several times before and after he payed, he stood around and shot video of the club and audience with his Iphone. We had a great time!

roedelius is playing the john cage conference at black mountain college this weekend!

http://www.blackmountaincollege.org/index.php/bmc-conference/193-bmc-international-conference-2011-draft-schedule

"charming" descriptions OTM. he is adorable!

how was the show?!

I've heard one track of the new Roedelius Schneider album (Schneider is apparently a former member of Kriedler), and it's pretty great. Also heard positive reviews of the new Qluster album (Roedelius + Onnen Bock, sans Moebius), but I haven't heard any of the music.

At one point last night during his set he said something to the effect of "Half of it is real music and half of it is fake." He got some pretty big laughs, the crowd loved him. Oh, and he wore a Roedelius tour T-shirt from 1999.

going to try to hit the dc show

qluster is great. "los geht's" could be on an old school cluster album

>during his set he said something to the effect of "Half of it is real music and half of it is fake."

He and Moebius make very creative use of prerecordings when they play as Cluster, I'm sure he uses them too when playing solo.

The new Qluster CD is all electronic, some good new equipment and sounds -- no compositions or melodies, so much closer to early K/Cluster in structure. There's already a second vinyl-only Qluster record, which isn't surprising -- it's very spontaneous / improv in feel. I don't know how many times I'm going to play this as a CD but I'm looking forward to the Bay Area shows.

& gotta say, calling it 'Qluster' is a pretty territorial move on his part

& the new Moebius album is better

doo dah

At one point last night during his set he said something to the effect of "Half of it is real music and half of it is fake." He got some pretty big laughs, the crowd loved him. Oh, and he wore a Roedelius tour T-shirt from 1999.

― International Waters, Sunday, October 9, 2011 9:40 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

hah, you were at the show I was at!

gotta say, calling it 'Qluster' is a pretty territorial move on his part

should have gone with 'qwikster' imo

Or Charmonia

On now. This is fun.

http://instagr.am/p/P-aHK/

Piss: http://instagr.am/p/P-aHK/

Lots of solo piano. Playing The Shade from After the Heat now.

I now have Selbstportrait II and find it lacking next to Jardin Au Fou. I like the fact that in Jardin, there is just the regular normal sound of a piano. I want to hear more of him just on a piano, not necessarily synthesizers involved.

I know this post is many years ago but this is how I feel too (I only have SPI though). SPI is definitely a good "late night" album but I don't really listen to Cluster/Roedelius to hear the synths. Some of my favorite stuff on Soweisoso is on the second half when they bring the piano in.

don't really listen to Cluster/Roedelius to hear the synths

Poor old Dieter :(

Saw the Cincinnati date last night. Very mellow show (save for the opener) in an enormous converted warehouse/brewery space that was pretty fantastic. Crappy weather, pretty small crowd. I dug Xambuca, though I wasn't into it as much when he started bringing in electronic beats. I like my drone beat-less, thank you. Roedelius played probably a 45/50-minute set (kinda tranced out for half of it) that was a nice mix of pretty quiet, ambient, oscillating clicks & synths; and pretty untreated piano. Last 15 minutes was unadorned piano. I dug it. Came away with two (signed!) LPs (Self Portrait VI re-issue; Wasser im Wind o.o.p. edition), and a nice conversation with the man himself afterwards during which he was amazed we'd driven 2 hours to see him play, and were still working in the morning. Then we bid him goodnight before taking up too much time, and to our surprise, my girlfriend and I both got the (customarily European?) hug-and-cheek-kiss goodnight. Definitely a great night for restoring yer faith in artists...I blame playing so much rock-and-roll for feeling jaded/burnt-out 90% of the time.

Anyways...go see the tour. Buy a bunch of records (they take cards via smartphone scanner).

You guys are insane! The synthesizers on Zuckerzeit, Selbstportraits 1 & 2, etc, totally make the records... It's the piano stuff I find harder to get into.

^^^ Exactly.

I've just been completely obsessed with him since this show -- the Selbsportraits in particular. I wonder if it's worth doing a poll of them. BTW, would I be right to think that Flieg Vogel Fleige is the fifth volume?

Yes. wenn is vol 4, flieg is vol 5

Clarke - I agree on Zuckerzeit, haven't heard SP2 yet. I just think that in general I prefer solo piano over solo synth stuff. Even better when he's alternating between synths and piano like in Sowiesoso.

The venue tonight is two blocks from the site of Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, where police have just used tear gas and sound cannons on three to five thousand protesters.

Must remind one of the years immediately preceeding Baader-Meinhof.

the last time there were riot cops in Oakland, Malcolm Mooney was playing a few blocks away from the action.

Shit just follows the dude like a big black cloud.

Went to the protest 9pm-ish, about an hour after the tear gas.

Had quieted down a great deal, still roughly about a thousand people milling around. Took some shots of people sitting crosslegged staring down about fifty policemen behind their barricade of Frank Ogawa Park.

Went to wonderful show.

Listened to music while friend read whispered aloud twitter reports of the police's second round of tear gas around 11:15pm, over incredibly quiet duet by Xambuca & Roedelius.

Could not hear the helicopters from inside

i'm going tonight, are you?

how could you even ask that

apparently it's his birthday

saw him last night in l.a. @ the echo. good enough show, but the echo is such a bullshit, unprofessionally run venue. at the echoplex downstairs they had a bass-heavy electro band who started about halfway through his set and basically ruined it. he played on in reasonably good spirits for another twenty minutes before he was done, but it pretty much sucked.

At the DC show, my friend commented that he thought they could have done a better job booking him at better clubs. Sounds like you agree.

yeah the echo was a bad choice. the crowd was great and cool for the most part, but between the bass interrupting his set (he stopped and said "what is zis? fuck! i don't even want to play!" - albeit in a very charming fashion) and the sound of the hand dryers in the women's bathroom right next to the stage intruding on his music periodically, it was kind of disrespectful to his aesthetic. like i said, the joint is run poorly ime, but this was sort of a last straw for me.

really enjoying this

http://static.boomkat.com/images/484273/333.jpg

just got into the "Offene Turen" album. does he do anymore like this? it reminds me of the goofier parts of Jardin Au Fou and occassionally goes into darker territory. probably one of the best I've heard from him.

http://www.bureau-b.com/coleroedelius.php

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41wa%2BGoqrcL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

sounds pretty good so far!
http://soundcloud.com/lloydcole/sets/cole-roedelius-pre-release/

Wtf

Not that surprising, considering Cole's Plastic Wood ambient-ish record from a few years back.

What next, Pat Kane & Mani Neumeier?

Is there ever a bad time to listen on repeat to 'Jardin au Fou'? I think not

good idea

Let's revive this just because.

Offene Türen is my latest discovery. Offbeat would be a suitable description.

That Roedelius Schneider album from last year was very good. There was another collaboration, also from last year, with Morgan Fisher, which I was less enthusiastic about.

ppl dissing the selbsportrait series on the aphex twin thread = thumbs down.

2nd Roedelius Schneider record 'Tiden' is fairly good. not much in the way of chords & memorable tunes but nice to hear Roedelius piano & riffs & noodles over some good rhythms again

the really truly fantastic new one out of the 5 or 10 he put out last year was the fourth Qluster CD 'Lauschen'. the first three had some good textures & sounds but were maybe a bit tentative, but 'Lauschen' adds a third member and they really focus & turn a lot of corners. still kind of wish the group were not called Qluster but it's my favorite from him in many years.

ppl dissing the selbsportrait series on the aphex twin thread = thumbs down.

I would have thought that 'Diary of the Unforgotten' had mined the last of the usable 73-78 tapes, as a lot of what's on that was fairly minimal but oh man this new box has treasures

http://exclaim.ca/News/roedelius_celebrates_80th_birthday_with_tape_archive_box_set_electronic_music_comp

Which one? Seems like they are releasing two...

talking about the archival box, which is all unreleased (apart from the 'Watussi + ludicrous guitar solo' fragment which he used for a moment in the 'Homage du Forst' suite on 'Diary of the Unforgotten'. the single disc Tim Gane comp looks like a pretty good listen but I already own all of these albums twice over.

on the archive: some of these sketches never got a final melodic layer, but I'm far gone enough that a track with just the drum machine + farfisa percolating chords going for 3-8 minutes is already wonderful listening. all the selbstportrait albums pridefully kept in the occasional off-note, but the tracks on the more tentative side here still have some beautiful tunes. some of it is even more minimal than the last two tracks on 'Selbstportrait III', and some of it is more noisy / chaotic / abstract than 'Durch Die Wuste'

shamefully expensive box and probably only for the real diehards, but if you're one of them, you will not be let down by the content

Yikes, $160 for 3 discs is pretty rough.

That said, I am enjoying these records all over again.

I'm guessing it'll all be on Spotify. They have the Tim Gane Sky Records compilation up already, and it really works as an album despite skewing towards many of the deeper weirder cuts. Somehow all you have to do is put 'The Belldog' in the middle of the sequence and even the 'Curosium' and Beerbohm album cuts end up seeming like pop. This music never ever wears out.

hopefully it'll be on leonardo music journal too

Happy Birthday! <3

5 days old and already a fan ;)

http://i.imgur.com/0fp9y30.jpg

Well done, on both counts! The new Lloyd Cole curated career overview ("Kollektion 02") is excellent as well.

selfiespotrait

rip

whoops i had too many tabs open - rip on the wrong one :(

Don't do that!!!

u dick

Two new albums in the last couple of months.

Qluster: Tasten (Spotify) - minimal piano stuff. The press materials position this as "don't forget who was doing this sort of stuff long before Nils Frahm!!!" and it sorta sounds that way too.

Roedelius Muraglia: Ubi Bene (Spotify) - Like Qluster and Roedelius Schneider, he's once again collaborating with another younger guy. I appreciate that Roedelius sees the value in staying connected to the newer generation of artists. I much prefer this to the Qluster album. It's more varied, moving between electro, ambient, and piano pieces. It sounds somewhat like people Roedelius has influenced rather than the man himself - kinda Mouse on Mars-y in spots, which I'm pretty OK with.

thanks for letting me know about Ubi Bene. it's pleasant. I like how easily Achim has taken to iOS apps. favorite ones of the recent crop are Lauschen and Lazy Arc with Tim. the last two tracks on the latter are really something.

I don't love all of Ubi Bene - first few tracks are great but some of the latter, quieter stuff is pleasant at best, maybe a little hokey. But - "Summer Breeze, Turning" is a gorgeous guitar number.

This man is a treasure - and one of the sweetest personally influential artists I've had the pleasure to meet and talk with. I'm glad he's not tinkering away in some sort of obscurity. Look forward to listening to these new ones!

@dark_shark: Brian Eno: For Achim, September 3-6, 2015, Berlin #HansJoachimRoedelius https://t.co/be3fgR5P2f http://t.co/BL2ni2uMCf

Roedelius' third album since July - this time it's Mueller Roedelius, Imagori.

I highly recommend checking out this fantastic interview with Roedelius looking back on his life & music.
http://www.residentadvisor.net/podcast-episode.aspx?exchange=266

Let's see: child movie star, Hitler Youth, deserter from the East German army, in prison for two years, personal masseur to celebrities (including Henry Miller??!?!), jilted Florian Schneider's sister... fairly uneventful life really.

godDAMNit now that's a chapter of fan fic I now have to change...

New Qluster: Echtzeit

Been digging deeper into Roedelius' back catalog. I've picked up "Flieg Vogel Fliege", "Wenn Der Sudwind Weht" and now "Selbsportrait II". I love the simplicity, the melodies and the abstractness of it all. I can't remember which other album I checked out but it had a bit too much that brought to mind traditional German music. Plenty more to dig into!

Yeah, I've been going through a phase myself! Just finished his biography, which was awful, but nevertheless provided a decent discographical map, especially wrt to the latter-day stuff. I just downloaded both Weites Land and A Friendly Game. Haven't listened to the former yet but the latter sounds like an especially weird ECM release or something. I dig it!

Psyched to see him with Horse Lords in Bawlmer next month.

Whoa Roedelius and Horse Lords! Weird combo but so appealing. That'll be a great show. What kind of stuff does he perform live? Does he have a band?

Saw this link on Facebook, earlier today.

https://www.gofundme.com/hjr2017

yeah i can't wait for that show, Wume are great too

Omg Wume are playing too?! They are A+++

Two new Roedelius albums in 2017 so far:

Hans-Joachim Roedelius & Arnold Kasar: Einfluss - Roedelius on piano while Kasar adds some electronic atmospherics. It's ok on first listen but I don't really feel like I need much more of Roedelius' piano work.

Roedelius/Hauswolff: Nordlicht - minimal drone. Can't think of the last time he made something in this vein!

saw him tonight! he seems in good spirits, his wife read a poem (that he wrote) in german. he read a poem (written 25 years ago acc to him) in english. his set was half computer, half piano. very enjoyable. i think he is just doing whatever because he is 82 (he mentioned his age as "almost 83"). <3 <3 <3

it sounds like you had a better experience than i did when i saw him a few years ago:

saw him last night in l.a. @ the echo. good enough show, but the echo is such a bullshit, unprofessionally run venue. at the echoplex downstairs they had a bass-heavy electro band who started about halfway through his set and basically ruined it. he played on in reasonably good spirits for another twenty minutes before he was done, but it pretty much sucked.

― omar little, Friday, October 28, 2011 7:24 PM (five years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

At the DC show, my friend commented that he thought they could have done a better job booking him at better clubs. Sounds like you agree.

― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, October 28, 2011 8:39 PM (five years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah the echo was a bad choice. the crowd was great and cool for the most part, but between the bass interrupting his set (he stopped and said "what is zis? fuck! i don't even want to play!" - albeit in a very charming fashion) and the sound of the hand dryers in the women's bathroom right next to the stage intruding on his music periodically, it was kind of disrespectful to his aesthetic. like i said, the joint is run poorly ime, but this was sort of a last straw for me.

― omar little, Saturday, October 29, 2011 4:34 AM (five years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah tbh the venue was perfect -- usually they book jazz shows and i have never had a problem there with sound.
last night it was so quiet i could hear the man next to me breathing (through his nose, it was distracting) and no one coughed or sneezed or let their phone go off.

he also took a video of the audience after his set - idk if he posts them somewhere or what

I'm looking forward to seeing him in Montreal soon. He posts somewhat frequently on his Facebook page. I haven't seen anything like that video.

Bummed he isn't playing Boston on this tour.

Just threw in Triptych in Blue, one of his collabs from 2016 w Andrew Heath and Christopher Chaplin. All electronic, pretty nice.

saw him the other night in sf.. same thing as above, bad venue. the acoustic piano bit was beautiful.

New album with Tim Story, Lunz 3. It's nice.

87 tomorrow. Happy birthday, you great man.

Played an impromptu kraut/kosmische set in a record store last week and totally forgot to bring Roedelius. Entschuldigung und herzlichen Geburtstag, HJR!

LOL 87. What a man, what a life story! HBHJR!

After a full immersion in his Sky records, I need to explore further. There's some good pointers in this thread and I usually look at rateyourmusic.com to see what's rated higher.

was just listening to this thing yesterday — https://roedelius-official.bandcamp.com/album/tape-archive-essence-1973-1978
so great ... those versions of "by this river" are sublime.

HBD legend. I've been getting deep into Selbstportrait III lately; the two long tracks on side 2 inhabit a rarified zone-out space that I want to live inside. And the shorter tracks on side 1 are just delightful (though "Fieber" is about as sinister as he gets)

And he just keeps going. New album came out last week.

3 nights at Cafe Oto in July

Huzzah!

5 days old and already a fan ;)

http://i.imgur.com/0fp9y30.jpg

― Abstinence Hawk (frogbs), Tuesday, December 2, 2014 8:46 PM (nine years ago) bookmarkflaglink

follow-up on this...he prefers stuff like "Uptown Funk" more now

just seen he hit 90 a few days ago with a very cute facebook post
hb buddy

Too close to the Rolling Obituary thread but HB HJR!

Really want to hear this:

“Four albums of previously unreleased material from Hans-Joachim Roedelius of Cluster/Kluster and Harmonia fame, recorded between 1968 -1980 to 2-track Revox tape, now packaged in this weighty limited edition box set to celebrate his 90th birthday”

https://boomkat.com/products/90-c07e11be-7990-4225-81af-6e3e3305eb46