Roedelius

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

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!