― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Thursday, 20 May 2004 21:54 (nineteen years ago) link
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).
― (Jon L), Thursday, 20 May 2004 22:20 (nineteen years ago) link
― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Friday, 21 May 2004 02:29 (nineteen years ago) link
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.
― (Jon L), Friday, 21 May 2004 03:49 (nineteen years ago) link
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...
― Bimble (bimble), Friday, 21 May 2004 20:36 (nineteen years ago) link
― Bimble (bimble), Saturday, 22 May 2004 05:56 (nineteen years ago) link
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!
― Broheems (diamond), Saturday, 22 May 2004 06:36 (nineteen years ago) link
― Bimble (bimble), Saturday, 22 May 2004 06:54 (nineteen years ago) link
I've actually never heard those records with Beerbohm. I totally want to, though; especially after reading milton's approbation above.
― Broheems (diamond), Saturday, 22 May 2004 07:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― Bimble (bimble), Saturday, 22 May 2004 07:10 (nineteen years ago) link
― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Saturday, 22 May 2004 14:15 (nineteen years ago) link
― Joe (Joe), Saturday, 22 May 2004 14:19 (nineteen years ago) link
― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Saturday, 22 May 2004 14:28 (nineteen years ago) link
― Bimble (bimble), Saturday, 22 May 2004 14:52 (nineteen years ago) link
<envisions watching clothes go round in a dryer in a public laundromat while listening to Harmonia>
― Bimble (bimble), Saturday, 22 May 2004 19:22 (nineteen years ago) link
that's how they started out at least. Selbstportrait III actually includes dates for each track, some go back to '73.
Volumes IV and V were retroactively titled, wenn der sudwind weht and flieg vogel flieg don't make any mention of being a part of the series. they also might actually date from the early 80's, but the aesthetic is consistant; no acoustic instruments, just pure sinewave chords & melodies.
Volume VI returns to the archive, the first half feels like the last leftovers but the second to last track 'hommage a forst' is a 25 minute collage mixed from solo outtakes & alternate mixes from Music von Harmonia sessions, it's super dupes.
I'm spending a lot of time writing about the solo releases, but you only move on to these after getting the 71-84 work... there's no rush either, I bought these records from 1985-1992, even when the vinyl was slightly easier to find, it took years. I'm outing myself as a true obsessive with these posts but there are few bands I spent this much time with...
― (Jon L), Saturday, 22 May 2004 20:13 (nineteen years ago) link
Still overcome with love for Jardin Au Fou above all right now!
Tonspuren I like better than Harmonia's "Musik Von", though the latter has it's good points.
Gonna give De Luxe another listen right now.
Can't wait until my very own Japanese remastered reissue of Sowiesoso comes in the mail. The last one on the planet? I shall have my fun!
― Bimble (bimble), Monday, 24 May 2004 07:01 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dadaismus (Dada), Monday, 24 May 2004 08:08 (nineteen years ago) link
― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Friday, 21 October 2005 17:55 (eighteen years ago) link
― Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, 21 October 2005 18:04 (eighteen years ago) link
― Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, 21 October 2005 18:05 (eighteen years ago) link
― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 25 October 2005 09:10 (eighteen years ago) link
roedelius - mein freund farouk
finding it impossible to track down the early selbstportraits or jardin au fou. surprisingly i didn't like what i heard of durch die wuste. i figured i would love it since its the earliest of his solo things but the trademark melodies are missing and the guitar on it is pretty bad.
― amon (eman), Wednesday, 26 October 2005 02:48 (eighteen years ago) link
― BarabadabaDadaismus (Dada), Wednesday, 26 October 2005 11:17 (eighteen years ago) link
― amon (eman), Wednesday, 26 October 2005 22:40 (eighteen years ago) link
― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Wednesday, 26 October 2005 23:33 (eighteen years ago) link
― terry lennox. (gareth), Saturday, 28 January 2006 13:23 (eighteen years ago) link
― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Saturday, 28 January 2006 18:26 (eighteen years ago) link
i have zuckerzeit, but have only played it once
― terry lennox. (gareth), Saturday, 28 January 2006 20:06 (eighteen years ago) link
― |l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l| (eman), Saturday, 28 January 2006 20:14 (eighteen years ago) link
curiosum isn't for everyone, but it's definitely for me. really subminimal.
like I said upthread, the reunion records are very skippable. but I've got a board recording of their KFJC FM 96 set that hand down beats anything off any of the live albums they released.
― milton parker (Jon L), Sunday, 29 January 2006 01:47 (eighteen years ago) link
― Special Agent Gene Krupa (orion), Sunday, 29 January 2006 02:33 (eighteen years ago) link
― nerve pylon (flat_of_angles), Sunday, 29 January 2006 02:47 (eighteen years ago) link
though if you needledrop yourself straight into the middle of the rhythmic bit on side 2, you'll be likeably confused for a few minutes
― milton parker (Jon L), Sunday, 29 January 2006 09:19 (eighteen years ago) link
http://mitglied.lycos.de/neuschnee/Clusterdiscs.htm
― milton parker (Jon L), Sunday, 29 January 2006 11:11 (eighteen years ago) link
― Bimble brings a lawn chair to antartica so he can sit and drink silver coff (Bim, Sunday, 29 January 2006 18:19 (eighteen years ago) link
― Bimble brings a lawn chair to antartica so he can sit and drink silver coff (Bim, Sunday, 29 January 2006 18:24 (eighteen years ago) link
― Bimble brings a lawn chair to antartica so he can sit and drink silver coff (Bim, Sunday, 29 January 2006 18:35 (eighteen years ago) link
i was curious about those Ersatz lps, any other opinions? they (Ersatz lps) are hard to find!
― nerve pylon (flat_of_angles), Sunday, 29 January 2006 20:13 (eighteen years ago) link
― telephone thing, Sunday, 29 January 2006 22:27 (eighteen years ago) link
actually it is worth getting and i take back my earlier comment. i downloaded it in full and it's very good. think i'll buy it when i get a chance as this mp3 rip is pretty bad.
― smokemon (eman), Monday, 27 March 2006 01:58 (eighteen years ago) link
-Harry
― Harry Dangel, Monday, 10 April 2006 15:11 (eighteen years ago) link
the pfm review of the Eno/Cluster discs last week was good, had one factual error: the Gyroscope CD reissues dated from 1996, not 1984/5
I was the one posting upthread about these so sorry to post again -- I like them, though seldom play them often or even all the way through. The sounds are very similiar to what Moebius was doing on Moebius & Plank's En Route, which was recorded in 1986 but sounds unfinished and was only released later. The Ersatz records use the same clanking 80's drum machine and new digital synths, but they sound finished & weirder.
If you haven't heard Moebius & Beerbohm's Strange Music, get that first. It didn't strike me at once, but man has that record aged well, sounds like a couple of sessions recorded fast to tape but all the noises are incredibly bizarre -- I think Beerbohm's a drummer, several songs sound very punk. A record like this from 1982 is why I can't find the patience to listen to Black Dice. The second Moebius & Beerbohm record Double Cut is shockingly minimal -- side one is basically just someone strumming a few notes on a bass really fast into delay with no other sounds whatsoever and that's it, there's your money -- but y'know, it actually sounds great -- and side two is a 20 minute lo-fi 2/4 drum machine stomp with a simple two note riff and a lot of phasing & delay -- probably not enough to impress most people but me I wish it lasted forever
― milton parker (Jon L), Monday, 10 April 2006 17:43 (eighteen years ago) link
― nerve pylon (flat_of_angles), Tuesday, 11 April 2006 02:17 (eighteen years ago) link
― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 11 April 2006 08:36 (eighteen years ago) link
if you don't like Moebius/Plank/Neumeier's Zero Set, I can't help you
Tonspuren is Moebius pop melodies and the closest he ever got to Roedelius. Released around the same year as Roedelius' Offnen Turen which is the closest he ever got to Moebius' weird motorik rhythms
― milton parker (Jon L), Tuesday, 11 April 2006 19:01 (eighteen years ago) link
― name (eman), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 02:28 (eighteen years ago) link
's okay, I like it, I have no need of your help!
― D.D. Disappointed Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 13 April 2006 16:05 (eighteen years ago) link
the Lillental is up at '8 days in april'. apparently ripped from a CD -- news to me it had ever been reissued on disc, I've got to find that. the Lillental is Moebius' group from '78, released around the same time as Durch Die Wüste. most of it is simple atmospheric meandering sub-floydian pulse, but I like it more than a lot of things and there are a couple of standout weird tracks like 'Wattwurm'
Asmus Tietchens' interview in a recent issue of E|I magazine mentioned an unreleased 1978 Roedelius/Tietchens album -- he says it wasn't good enough to put out, apart from one track -- I bet a lot of people would love to hear that track
― milton parker (Jon L), Thursday, 13 April 2006 18:34 (eighteen years ago) link
― Porcupine Kiss, Novacaine Lips (Bimble...), Sunday, 16 April 2006 17:35 (eighteen years ago) link
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
― frogbs, Wednesday, 19 October 2022 18:49 (one year ago) link
lol YES
― J. Sam, Wednesday, 19 October 2022 19:17 (one year ago) link
Tristan in Der Dryer
― J. Sam, Wednesday, 19 October 2022 19:51 (one year ago) link
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.
― frogbs, Thursday, 24 November 2022 04:27 (one year ago) link
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..
― lets hear some blues on those synths (brimstead), Thursday, 24 November 2022 19:05 (one year ago) link
frogs u should listen to moebius's tonspuren if you haven't already, def has that childlike vibe
― clouds, Thursday, 8 December 2022 16:46 (one year ago) link
oh yeah that one's on my wantlist. I recall hearing it once a while back and really liking it.
― frogbs, Friday, 9 December 2022 20:33 (one year ago) link