CLUSTER: I have fallen in love with this band, please help

The two Harmonia records are great and should be mentioned nearly as much as Neu!. Harmonia still sounds very modern and holds up well today. Bowie and Eno copped a bunch of the Harmonia sound on the instrumental tracks for Low and Heroes. Oddly enough, that Harmonia 76 record with Eno isn't nearly as good.

I've never been able to find a copy of "Cluster & Eno" or "Zuckerzeit" that wasn't priced to lunacy, so I can't anything about them.

I used to have an odd, perhaps boot CD version of "Sowiesoso", but the mastering was complete shit done poorly from vinyl. The music was pretty good, but the sound was really bad. Beware.

I wish someone like Warp or another decent sized electronic label would start up an imprint to reissue old electronic albums from artists such as Cluster.

All 3 Kluster (Schnitzler, Roedelius, Moebius) albums - 'Klopfzeichen', 'Zwei Osterei', and 'Schwarz' are fantastic. The Schnitzler/Roedelius CD from a couple years back is also worth tracking down. The Liliental LP (Moebius, Plank, Asmus Tietchens, etc.) is a lost classic. Why has this never been reissued on CD?

'Curiosum' is amazing; 'Grosses Wasser' is OK. I grew to like 'One Hour' after some time. Have some patience with this one - it's well worth it. The last piece on there is really eerie but also strangely moving. I do admit that 'Apropos Cluster' (credited to Moebius/Roedelius) and that Live in the USA CD have never done much for me. The Cluster & Farnbauer cassette from 1980 is quite good too - it's now added to the 'Klopfzeichen' and 'Zwei Osterei' Kluster-with-a-K CDs as bonus tracks. Doesn't exactly belong there, but is good nonetheless and nice to have.

Roedelius solo: 'Durch die Wueste', of course. But I'm very fond of 'Lustwandel' from 1980. This one never gets talked about, for some reason. (Idiots dismissed it as "laid back" w/o having a clue about the real achievement of this album; I'm sure they never got past the second track.) It's quiet - sort of like Cluster teams up with Satie and then they all hop into the time machine in order to play parlor music in the Middle Ages. Very unique and charming. Just the record for those wintry grey rainy days. The 'Selbsportrait' series has great things scattered throughout. 'Der Ohrenspiegel'is another classic - right up there with 'Lustwandel'. Except 'Der Ohrenspiegel' is the most disturbing and extreme Roedelius album there is. Perfect Janus Head sonic thingy: 'Lustwandel' and 'Der Ohrenspiegel'. This man is a genius, truly. (There's also about 1,438 Roedelius albums I haven't heard.... )

Has anyone ever read that book about Roedelius? I didn't know about his early life - child film actor in the DDR, serving 2 years hard labour in same after trying to escape for the first time. Interesting indeed.

Moebius and Beerbohm is nice and trippy; much as I love Moebius and Mayo Thompson, the Moebius/Plank/Thompson collaboration disappoints, unfortunately. I wonder how the recent Dieter Moebius/Michael Rother concerts sounded?

Schnitzler: 'Conal' is probably his best, certainly his first "mature" work. This came out around the same time as 'Lustwandel' - I remember I got them both on the same day. Hard to describe the sonic texture of this one. Very unique. More subtle than prior Schnitzler works. His recent 'Piano Works' is quite something, like Nancarrow on acid. No one ever seems to mention Schnitzler's work after 1979. Honestly, his best work comes AFTER 'Con', but all I ever read is 'Rot' this and 'Blau' that. Good records, yeah, but he did move well beyond this in later years. ('Con 3', however, is a left-field electro pop album that he now disowns. It does have it's moments of inspired stupidity, though, but get all other Schnitzler records before dealing with this, as it's not in the least bit representative of his work. I do have to admit that these irritating, surreal ditties stick in your head whether you want them to or not. Consider yourself warned.)

Just remembered another great Schnitzler CD: 'Con Brio'. This has some of his earliest piano experiments and a whole suite of medieval- sounding weirdness. Is this the frantic answer record to 'Lustwandel'? Never thought of that before. I should listen to both tonight and compare. I haven't heard these in a few years.

There's a lot to discover here. Try it out. Some things you'll like better than others but I've never heard anything that's outright terrible from any of these people.

I also have a Roedilus solo record with a white cover with like, red and yellow bits on the cover from the early 80s? I think it may be on EG, I don't know. I just know I'd listened to a lot of the solo stuff and never been that into it but this one struck my fancy, very beautiful.

I have a pristine Japanese vinyl copy and yet there is still too much surface noise for such a delicate album. I might have to find a cd copy.

Cluster II is really underrated - this record and '71 are IMO their most ambitious stuff, and darkest (unless you count the Kluster records). It's strange because right after this they really scaled back the experimental stuff (though I like their "pop" sound too).

I disagree a bit w/ the "Sowiesoso is ambient" tag — it's clearly one step after Zuckerzeit and a touch more pastoral, but still has those great clavinet-synths-with-drum-boxes sound of its sugartiming predecessor...

I disagree about the difference between Sowiesoso and Zuckerzeit, Dan. They seem practically married to each other for me.

I heard the second track on Cluster '71 and thought "I have never heard music in my life that could SCARE THE LIVING BEJESUS OUT OF ME like that."

I found myself remembering the Fall lyric from Dragnet's "Dice Man":
"Some say music should be fun/like reading a story of love/but I want to read a HORROR STORY!"
---------------
I heard the first track on Cluster '71 and thought "Jesus! That is so fucked up! This music is so wonderfully totally FUCKED UP!"

Cluster are definitely related to Aphex's SAW II, no doubt. I mean, that's really the only adequate comparison at all that I know of.

I'm an absinthe virgin, unfortunately. Heard good things, though...

Dan, I will be more than happy to agree to disagree.

(x-post)

BTW, pardon the ignorance, does "x-post" mean "somebody already said this"?

Because, if so, that last bit was an x-post...

I own every single one of the solo records, 1978-1984, and wouldn't sell any of them. If you're hunting, I'd recommend 'Durch Die Wuste', 'Selbstportrait II' (or III), 'Jardin Au Fou' for Roedelius, and 'Rastakraut Pasta' & especially 'Zero Set' for Moebius & Plank (this one more futuristic by the year, still very few records in existence that have integrated live drumming this well, let alone in 1984. If you have not heard this record, buy it immediately).

The reunion records 'Appropos Cluster', 'One Hour', the two 1996 live records -- I don't have as much time for these. I saw three of the '96 shows, all radically different -- real improv. The shows I saw were much more aggressive and weird than the relentlessly mellow stuff they chose to release.

Roedelius once sent me an email (after reading a web review I had done of one of their '96 concerts) with his phone number in Austria and told me to look him up next time I was over there. Still have it, too...maybe it's time to visit! ;)

But it's no 'Zero Set', which is maximal & covered with overwhelming detail.

All these records were reissued on Gyroscope in the late 90's, and are _already_ all out of print again. 'Durch Die Wuste' already going for $30 used through amazon.com retailers. So if you find them, do not hesitiate.

Stylus should really do a two-part overview...

I wouldn't call the Harmonia/Eno CD 'failed'; it's a collection of demos, not an album. It wanders around a bit, but I still like it a lot (though I always skip the first track).

seriously could not live without everything from 71-84, but here's my bloodstained guide to post-84 solo albums:

Moebius: the first three albums with Plank are the place to start: 'Rastakraut Pasta', 'Material' and 'Zero Set'.

I like 'Tonspuren', a lot.

Both the albums with Beerbohm: 'Strange Music' lives up to title. Noisy, demented, repetitive. 'Double Cut', even more minimal.

'Blue Moon' - his Casio CZ-101 album. a few effective simple tracks I enjoy very much, but wouldn't start here.

avoid Moebius & Plank's 'En Route'. attempt at coming to terms with new digital gear, quirky but stiff & unfinished, and the Moebius/Plank/Thompson 'Ludwig's Law', which is simply Mayo Thompson ranting over a lo-fi dub of 'En Route'.

'Ersatz' and 'Ersatz II' by Moebius & Renziehausen -- soft spot in my heart for these. Though they are pretty silly & have a lot of preset sounds, they are mainline motorik fun, and strange.

His recent solo album 'Blotch', don't like much. And the recent live reunion album with Neumeier, advertised with the line 'Sounds like Zero Set' -- no. It's not bad for a mellow improv session, but that's all it is.

Roedelius went increasingly acoustic after 84. avoid anything that mentions saxophones on the back cover, except for 'Sinfonia Contempora No. 1', 'La Nordica' and 'Der Ohrenspiegel'; he got back into experimenting with electronic textures on those three, they all have great moments.

The 2001 collaboration with Conrad Schnitzler 'ACON', is a single evolving drone split across many tracks; they spend about 20 minutes warming up, then get into some interestingly bent textures. Worth picking up used if you can find it.

The Selbstportrait series are archival compilations of the solo tracks he made in the 70's while in Cluster; basically sinewave organ chords & melodies with no further ornamentation. They're braindead simple, and beautiful. especially II, III, and 'VI (Diary of the Unforgotten)', which has a lot of excellent demo tracks & mixes from the Harmonia period.

The CD of 'Selbstportrait I & II' drops several outstanding tracks from the vinyl version of volume II. Skip the disc, find the vinyl.

Cluster II reminds me of Spacemen 3, oddly enough. The Harmonia is okay, but I eagerly await the other Harmonia album.

Curiosum leaves me a bit cold. Too woozy. Haven't yet spent a lot of time with their earliest works, but stay tuned...

Deluxe really comes alive at night, I think, or in the dark. It conjurs up the color orange, for me. Amorphous 70s architecture. The soundtrack to Romper Room, maybe. Did Romper Room have a soundtrack? I can't remember. Anyway, some long-buried early childhood impressions of sound. I guess that's the kind of thing people get out of Boards of Canada or something, I dunno. I get it from these classic two records, which were in fact released in the 70s.

I just love the title cut, with that simple rhythm box backing, those vocals, and the way it breaks down into that long meditative middle part before the reentry of that big glorious fanfare. I love Rother's slide guitar on "Walky-Talky". I love the way that marching theme on "Notre Dame" just falls away, and all these sparse synth blurps take over, before it returns again. And I find something really affecting about the melody of "Kekse", the final track. It's very sweet, like a lullaby. And then it melts away into those marsh sounds, insectoid chirps and amphibious croaks... Yeah, top 3 AM stuff!

I've actually never heard those records with Beerbohm. I totally want to, though; especially after reading milton's approbation above.

go Geeta

http://blog.frieze.com/interview-dieter-moebius/

i want to start a Zuckerzeit vs. Sowiesoso poll but i don't know if enough people here have heard those albums

lol @ this

tbf I think a lot of those posters left but yeah lets do it

36 votes: CLUSTER / Moebius & Roedelius solo & group recordings 1970-1986 poll

almost started Moebius solo poll. there is no Moebius solo thread.

Cluster II, the one with the stars on the cover, we made with Conny Plank. It was all very big improvisations, and we recorded it in Hamburg. We didn’t have a lot of time, because it was not our studio. I think we made it in one night, or something like that.

good interview

there is that 15 minute track 'Live In Der Fabrik' on Cluster II, so probably not quite all in one night. but yeah these guys had this music on tap, those early records are incredible

yes, sweet interview! I would love to participate in a Moebius solo thread or poll, I think I have almost all the albums. The other poll had way too many great albums so it was impossible to really get any worthwhile results IMO.

thanks for reading, guys! glad this is finally up, so i can focus on the next Big Frieze Piece, which also involves germany & the 1970s & electronic music

germany & the 1970s & electronic music

<3

(plz to link on ILX when up, thank you)

saw Moebius live a year ago and he seemed genuinely touched that people (and a pretty young crowd) came out and were into it - seemed like a super nice guy

(plz to link on ILX when up, thank you)

i will! if you liked the moebius piece you will love the next one - it incorporates some quotes from moebius & also new insights from eno & many other people i'm talking to for it - it's a real labor of love along the lines of the conrad schnitzler piece i did a few months back

geeta, are these pieces heading in the direction of a book? b/c that would be nice

ha!

from what i've heard, a book on krautrock is already in the works with a major publisher & it's not by me

but i wouldn't want to write a 'krautrock' book per se but something more specific

For those of you who might be interested, I have posted the entire Kluster / Cluster / Harmonia / Roedelius discography here - along with the album reviews here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stepheniliffe/sets/72157624709969408/

Best wishes, Stephen Iliffe (author of Painting with Sound - the life and music of Roedelius)

Qluster?

new lp sounds great on first listen

a fourth one already? yikes

being a return to analog synth sound design, these are some of the most casually listenable Roedelius CDs in a long time; they're pretty and floaty, like new age versions of the first three Kluster records. but as unedited improvs, with no tunes, there's not much to hang on to once they're over. I'd probably love this live.

wait, who is Qluster

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Qluster

Lauschen very synthy, yes. i had a quick listen to one of the others (Antworten) online and it was more acoustic piano.

The updated complete album reviews of Cluster/Harmonia/Roedelius albums is now available here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stepheniliffe/sets/72157624709969408/with/5209118924/

are you any relation to April Iliffe, formerly of the Legendary Pink Dots?

wow, can't wait to read these

I have to rep for the first two Selbsportrait volumes, extremely pretty pastoral stuff. Roedelius is a true genius.

Digging around spotify tonight thinking about Moebius led me to check in with Roedelius - did not realize Qluster just put out a new album a couple of weeks ago, Taten: http://open.spotify.com/album/3aJzfWhyzzkk8ixFTF6xlg

er, Tasten

What is this "Cluster" tour notice for an April show in MA I just got in my Songkick? Qluster?

He says on Facebook he will tour "all around the world!" in 2016, but the only April listing now is in Belgrade.
https://de-de.facebook.com/Roedelius/

Trivial query: Does anyone know why After the Heat is credited to Eno Moebius Roedelius, rather than to Cluster & Eno (as Cluster & Eno was?). Given the array of collaborative groupings in the Cluster/Harmonia/Neu! universe, it's as if there was deliberate effort to undermine any sense of group identity. I could see putting Eno's name first as a marketing decision, but on the other hand having his name be one of three might indicate his contribution was proportionately less, or that you were getting individual efforts from these three people (as the similarly-credited Begegnungen comps later were, in part; these did have less Eno, overall).

I probably had no idea that Cluster consisted of Moebius and Roedelius when I first saw the albums (not that it's that tough to figure out). Visually, Cluster & Eno (with the microphone in the clouds) had a stronger identity than the three names in a row against a landscape; the first looks more like a progressive rock record and the latter more a jazz/new age/avant garde document.

I think that's exactly right - the songs on Cluster & Eno have more of a Cluster-vibe and the other tracks show more of a dominant Eno-vibe, so they labeled the albums thusly.

It's all some of the most magical music I've ever heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tE32JKmzDA

fun little demo of the Elka Drummer One, which Cluster & Harmonia used quite a bit. I recall some interview with Moebius where he said some of the weirdo rhythms on Zuckerzeit were made by pushing the tango & cha cha buttons at the same time? or something like that? idk I find that super cool, because that album has some rhythms on it which strike me as very "undefined", plus I think this is the exact approach that modern IDM groups use. like I think of Cluster as less the peers of Tangerine Dream or Klaus Schulze and more as a proto-Autechre/Mouse on Mars.

cool! I've always loved the drums on the first track of Zuckerzeit, the way they sound as if they are turning inside out is very trippy

Sly Stone did the same thing recording There's a Riot Goin' On, pressing multiple buttons on his rhythm boxes to get something less square than any of the individual beats.

Hollywood's rhythm track sounds like it's rotating between 2 or 3 different settings at various intervals. I don't know if there's a steady pattern to it. If there is it's probably in some time signature like 29/24 or whatever. I love it too because it's not unlike what I used to do as a kid when my keyboard would generate little rhythms like that

God I love those primitive drum machines so much. I have a Realistic Concertmate Electronic Accompanist, which is a cheap scaled down version of that type of rhythm box sold at Radio Shack in the 80s. Run it through a delay pedal and hit the Rock and Foxtrot buttons, you've got hours of knob-twiddling fun!

I love the fact that one of their frequent collaborators is a guy named Tim Story, always makes me think of On Cinema

husband of semi-famous Windham Hill artist Liz Story!

Curiosum is such a baffling record. I've listened to it 4 times in the last 24 hours and can't figure out if it's a load of wank or a portal to some primitive form of consciousness. "Oh Odessa" has been in my head constantly. "Tristian in der Bar" makes me laugh. "Seltsame Gegend" makes me wanna play QWOP. "Ufer" makes me crank the volume up and then I'm so calm I forget to turn it back down again. This is what they did after Grosses Wasser?? What other albums sound like this?

I'm obsessed with Oh Odessa, it's got this childlike primitive quality that I can't get enough of.

(xp) Maybe some Moebius albums? Though the childlike quality is more Roedelius' thing.

Haha yeah, it's a deeply weird and addictive record. "Portal to some primitive form of consciousness" is OTM. A couple tracks have a kind of "demented clown" vibe, which I'm not that into (e.g. "Oh Odessa", "Seltsame Gegend"). The queasy major-key waltz duo of "Tristan In Der Bar" -> "Charlic" is probably my favorite part of the record.

I haven't heard anything else that sounds exactly like Curiosum, but parts of Moebius and Beerbohm's Double Cut sound like a slightly less primitive version of its more menacing moments, like "Proantipro" with a hardware update.

I heard "Oh Odessa" on a Cluster compilation, sounds to me like a theme song from a public television educational kids' show from the era.

yeah, also get a little bit of a hardcore devo vibe from "oh odessa"

love this record

great 420 record too, close your eyes and put on "Tristan In Der Bar" and you will see a man tumbling around in a laundromat dryer

lol YES

Tristan in Der Dryer

listening to Sowiesoso yet again now and something that comes to mind is that a lot of this sounds like you're hearing the most incredible, cool, and joyous music ever but it's somewhere in the distance. so your mind fills in the blanks. like you know how some people say books are more intense than movies because your mind fills in images that will match the emotion? that it kind of what happens here. I think this is what James Ferraro was trying to do with all those lo-fi "Summer Headrush" albums.

yeah for sure it’s this sorta pointillist quality that it shares with the vibiest lofi stuff eg older James Ferraro and that amazing KWJAZ album. Walking through benevolent fog on a starlit night..

frogs u should listen to moebius's tonspuren if you haven't already, def has that childlike vibe

oh yeah that one's on my wantlist. I recall hearing it once a while back and really liking it.