Harald Grosskopf and Eberhard Kranemann transmit cosmic sonic visions of today, tomorrow and beyond in one of the most exciting collaborations in recent years. Harald Grosskopf played on the early Klaus Schulze albums and recorded with Ashra..  Eberhard Kranemann co-founded the electronic bands Kraftwerk, NEU!

Esmark, named after a glacier at Spitzbergen that debouches into the Ymerbay, is a collaboration between the sound architect Nikolai von Sallwitz (Taprikk Sweezee, Karachi Files) and the experimental artist Alsen Rau (Scheich in China, On+Brr). Both have worked on various experimental and performative projects together since 2001. Esmark's musical setup is mainly build analog. Instruments like drum computers and synth boxes have been connected in constantly changing chains of fx and filters. Some recorded on tape and fed back into the compositions.

The dark and hidden polyphony of their debuts Mara I / Mara II sounds like a dystopic science fiction movie and is a fundamental ground element and origin on which these haunting minimal compositions are based on. Track names are partly reflections of biogeograhy and cartography of the place where the material was recorded.

Der Plan have met in the studio after 25 years and recorded a new album. One can claim without exaggeration that DER PLAN were one of the - and perhaps the most -powerful German bands during the time of musical adventure at the beginning of the 1980s. Maybe they still are?

Jurriaan Andriessen (1925-1996) was a Dutch composer. Although he was actually at home in classical music, he recorded three synthesizer albums in the late 1970s, the first of which, "The Awakening Dream" (1977), is an outstanding excursion into experimental ambient and minimal music. Andriessen himself, 52 years of age at the time, called it a "a trance symphony". The music-perhaps surprisingly for a contemporary classical composer-is less in the tradition of his peers such as Pierre Boulez or Karlheinz Stockhausen and more in tune with the electronic sounds of the Seventies emanating from Berlin, Dusseldorf or Forst, the likes of Cluster, early Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream, in places echoing Conrad Schnitzler.

In their 23 years of existence, KREIDLER have often made music that might be described as "dystopian". Kreidler were in a recording studio, in Mexico City, when they were hit by the news of the election of US President Donald Trump. With renewed vigor they realized the studio live sessions of “European Song”, a record that maintains the suppleness and the icy nonchalantly of the the German quartet, but contaminated by a slight claustrophobic feeling, an intensification of the accents as if to face up to exorcised, the fulfillment of such a political event similar to a nightmare that had seemed, until then, rather remote.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Another masterful collection from Kosmische masters Kreidler. Clanging industrious electronics, driving hypnotic basslines, and Kreidler's textbook execution make this another well-deserved notch on their musical bedpost. As brilliant as expected.

Subtitled "ELEKTRONISCHE KASSETTENMUSIK DÜSSELDORF 1982-1989".

Düsseldorf in the early 1980s. Punk was finished, but its pathos still drifted desolately through pubs and shared flats. At the same time, synthesizers had become increasingly affordable due to digital electronics, allowing more and more people to make music. This music pushed ahead slightly in order to dock onto the electronic sounds of the 1970s Krautrock scene - no one called it "cosmic music" back in those days.

But most chose the detour via records by Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, Eric Random, Human League or the more unfamiliar experimental sounds gathered on a somewhat morbid-looking compilation entitled "The Elephant Table Album". They were pioneers of a music which would later develop into Drone, Ambient or Hypnagogic. Feat Ralph Dorper, Strafe für Rebellion and a host of others. 

From 1971 to 1977, Peter Baumann was a member of the legendary Berlin band TANGERINE DREAM. The group were pioneers of the so called Berliner Schule (Berlin School) which had such a profound impact on electronic music. He produced a number of momentous albums at his Paragon Studio (by the likes of Conrad Schnitzler, Cluster, Hans-Joachim Roedelius) and also enjoyed success as a solo artist. His first two solo works are now being reissued with extensive liner notes and rare photographs. The influence of Tangerine Dream can clearly be heard on "Romance 76", although the arrangements are comparatively minimalist-a state of affairs for which David Bowie can be held partially responsible (see below).

With Peter Baumann on board, Tangerine Dream grew into one of the most influential bands in electronic Krautrock, sited somewhere between experimental electronica and progressive rock. Open to new ideas, Baumann's positive aura and eagerness to experiment galvanized the band's music almost instantaneously. His catchy melodies, rich in positivity, propelled Tangerine Dream into the charts.

After five years of chart appearances and extensive touring through Europe and North America, punctuated by several albums-including "Atem", John Peel's nominated import album of 1973-Baumann called time on his solo career with "Romance 76". "We found some time between tours and record productions, so Edgar recorded a solo disc and helped Christoph and me to develop our own music too. 'Romance 76' resulted from the urge to create new music. I felt we had begun repeating ourselves in Tangerine Dream and I was keen to discover new things, to carry on experimenting. Improvisation had been common to us all, but on your own it isn't quite so simple. I started to work on my own pieces." This shift in focus led him to leave Tangerine Dream towards the end of 1977. He and a friend set up the Paragon Studio in Berlin, which would earn a prominent place in music production history, but that's another story.

Still a member of the band in 1976, Baumann rented a hall in the ufaFabrik, Berlin to record "Romance 76". Sonic similarities to Tangerine Dream can be explained by the fact that the group used the same space for gig rehearsals, giving Baumann access to their instruments. The distinctive sound of a modular synthesizer system christened "The Big One" can be detected on "Romance 76", for example, along with a Mellotron.

Some tracks on the album, such as "Romance" and "Phase By Phase", are relatively minimalist in character. This airiness lends the unusual synth sounds space to unfold in all their glory. A state of affairs for which David Bowie is partially responsible, as Baumann recalls: "We were in Berlin and met him for dinner, then he would call in while I was recording the album, listening carefully to what I was working on. I explained to him what still needed to be done, but Bowie suggested: 'Leave it as it is, there's enough there already.'" At which point Baumann decided to look at the tracks in question as finished.

TRACK LISTING

1. Bicentennial Presentation (4:52)
2. Romance (6:08)
3. Phase By Phase (7:41)
4. Meadow Of Infinity Part I (3:48)
5. The Glass Bridge (3:45)
6. Meadow Of Infinity Part II (6:45)

Adelbert von Deyen is a protagonist of the so-called Berlin School (Berliner Schule) of electronic music. On his debut album Sternzeit, he takes his time to develop sound structures, often drifting, floating blissfully into tonal interference. The listener also requires time and patience, but will be rewarded with a Zen-like state of contemplation. Adelbert von Deyen's musical backstory follows a less than typical path.

He recalls: "To make the best use of my evenings, I finally bought a second-hand synthesizer, various electronic keyboard instruments and a tape machine, plus a few bits and pieces you need to make music. If I didn't have enough money, I asked the bank. During the day I worked as a retoucher for a newspaper and in the evenings, I composed my celestial electronic sounds, invariably deep into the night. It took me around eight months to finish my first compositions. I made tape copies which I sent out to various record companies. I struck lucky straight away: Sky Records in Hamburg were interested in my music and my first record was granted a worldwide release in 1978. I called it Sternzeit and I painted the cover myself."

This was indeed a stroke of luck for a newcomer like Adelbert von Deyen. Founded by Gunter Kurber in 1975, the label had already hosted acclaimed releases from electronic and Krautrock stars like Michael Rother, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and even Brian Eno. A decent level of public interest was thus guaranteed.

The Sternzeit album was issued as catalogue number SKY 019, one of the early releases on the label.In principle, many elements on this first album reappear on the two which followed (to be reissued January 2017): rich analogue layers, the swirling winds of the ARP Odyssey, masterful synth effects sprinkled so delicately.

The second side of the record is devoted to a single track which is based on an incessant organ tone and played with vibrato, engendering a hypnotic sense of weightlessness. Keyboarders often taped down keys on their organs or synthesizers to create such effects back in the day. Adelbert von Deyen is an unconventional musician. When he performs, he sits down with his back to the audience, focussed on his arsenal of equipment. The way he has unreservedly followed his passions for music and artistic creativity speaks volumes about his free-thinking nature. Adelbert von Deyen mixed and produced this album in his own small studio on a Revox A77 tape recorder.

The beat hammers like the pulse of a pair of lovers on the run from a gang of racist thugs - the sound is manic, but from it speaks a seemingly insurmountable inner strength. This arch of tension is home to Camera. The Berlin band is rightly compared with icons of seventies Krautrock such as Neu! and La Düsseldorf, with a tight and driving sound, yet they are still somehow unpredictable. Hardly any other band understands how to mutate tiny musical nuances into volcanic eruptions like they do. Camera is a motor running at full throttle, where an explosion could occur at any second. Once you have embarked on this crazy journey, you will be fascinated by the alternating current somewhere between a flash flood and roller coaster running off the rails. The cascades of sound convey a blurry image of a boundless desire to revolt, with each blink of an eye threatening to end in purgatory, yet it is damned near indestructible.

Michael Drummer is the ethereal Indian paleface who pummels his drums at every show as if we're in the midst of a 17th Century incarnational ritual. In Steffen Kahles, who hails from the world of film music, he has found the musical partner he needed to enrich the tribal kraut beat with diverse motifs and bold sounds. On the third Camera album "Phantom of Liberty", we hear the clever use of playful sounds such as synths that beam us back into the Commodore 64 computer games of 1984; or slightly cranky keyboard pads, as if created by deliberately manipulating the speed of an old tape machine. With "Phantom of Liberty" Camera show that they have become more mature and complex without losing any of their tremendous energy.

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: This third album from Berlin trio Camera continues along a similar, if slightly more meandering, Kraut-rock path as their previous releases, a path already well trodden by the likes of Neu! and La Düsseldorf. The scope of their sound has expanded this time around though, and along with the pummelling drums and motorik rhythms we expect, there are a whole host of keyboard experiments going on: fluid synth washes, spacey swooshes, bleeps and squiggles. At times it sounds like they're soundtracking an 80s computer game, and at others the eerie electronics would be the perfect backdrop to a sci-fi movie. They've definitely upped their game on this album.

TRACK LISTING

1. Affenfaust
2. Fröhlichkeit
3. Festus
4. Nevernine
5. Ildefons
6. Reindenken / Raus
7. Tjamahal
8. Tribal Mango

Lloyd Cole is mostly know for his outstanding pop music, but he certainly has a taste for electronic music. In 2013 he released an highly acclaimed album together with electronic music legend Hans-Joachim Roedelius (BB124 "Selected Studies Vol. 1") for whom he also curated a compilation of his electronic music recordings (BB187 "Kollektion 2. Roedelius - Electronic Music. Compiled by Lloyd Cole"). Finally we are happy to announce the release of a solo album with lloyd's electronic music on September 4th: "1D Electronics 2012-2014". Some pieces were originally created with overdubs by another in mind. Some were simply experiments. One or two may have had loftier ambitions…. None of the pieces involves the use of a piano keyboard or a computer, except to record it. Some modulations were executed by hand. Most were generated by programmed sequencers and logic. Each piece is a self contained electronic circuit.

RICHARD FEARLESS (Death In Vegas) curates KOLLEKTION 4: a compilation featuring a selection of almost 200 Bureau B releases in the past 10 years, released as a 2-CD compilation and three single 1LPs! 

About Bureau B and the KOLLEKTION series: Bureau B sees itself as a platform for exciting varieties of electronic, free-spirited music. The spectrum ranges from pop to avant-garde. The label has amassed an impressive catalogue of reissues and new productions in recent years, including classics from the genre of electronic music in the 1970s and early 1980s popularly classified as Krautrock (Cluster, Roedelius, Moebius, Plank, Schnitzler), alongside new recordings by such formative artists as Faust, Kreidler, Roedelius, Tietchens, Moebius, to name just a few. To provide an overview of the various musical styles in which Bureau B specializes, the label has created a new series entitled KOLLEKTION. Each release in this series will be curated by a musician perfectly suited to the task. The fourth instalment in our series fills us with particular pride: Richard Fearless has listened his way through our entire (!) archive and now presents his own very personal selection from the catalogue on two CDs or three LPs. 

About the curator of this Kollektion: Richard Fearless is best known as the leader and founder of British band DEATH IN VEGAS. German electronic music can be heard as an influence on many of his albums - indeed even in his song titles, like 'Sons of Rother'. Fearless has worked with Iggy Pop, Bobby Gillespie, Paul Weller, Liam Gallagher and Hope Sandoval and has developed into a successful producer and remixer. 

Richard Fearless on his modus operandi: 
"I always listen out for music with a sense a space; where compositions are stripped down to the barest components while retaining the power to conjure emotion. It’s for this reason that I’m so drawn to dub, techno and German avant-garde minimalist music. To me the bands and labels in the Bureau B archive, current and past, were looking to distant lands, their own 'Neuland', whether in the future with bands like YOU and Riechmann, or from a more remote past, like medieval folk band Ougenweide. They were creating something radical and experimental, something that didn’t draw on the same rhythm and blues, Anglo-American rock that was saturating the airwaves at the time. They were pioneers in every sense of the word. With all due respect for the music that forged these paths, it was on hearing the mental guitar on Faust’s 'Herbstimmung' that I knew to look not only at the so-called golden years of this era, but to look at what these artists were doing later, as well as the new bands that were emerging from those schools. Artists who are still creating, still innovating. I hope you enjoy the journey." - Richard Fearless.

RICHARD FEARLESS (Death In Vegas) curates KOLLEKTION 4: a compilation featuring a selection of almost 200 Bureau B releases in the past 10 years, released as a 2-CD compilation and three single 1LPs!

About Bureau B and the KOLLEKTION series: Bureau B sees itself as a platform for exciting varieties of electronic, free-spirited music. The spectrum ranges from pop to avant-garde. The label has amassed an impressive catalogue of reissues and new productions in recent years, including classics from the genre of electronic music in the 1970s and early 1980s popularly classified as Krautrock (Cluster, Roedelius, Moebius, Plank, Schnitzler), alongside new recordings by such formative artists as Faust, Kreidler, Roedelius, Tietchens, Moebius, to name just a few. To provide an overview of the various musical styles in which Bureau B specializes, the label has created a new series entitled KOLLEKTION. Each release in this series will be curated by a musician perfectly suited to the task. The fourth instalment in our series fills us with particular pride: Richard Fearless has listened his way through our entire (!) archive and now presents his own very personal selection from the catalogue on two CDs or three LPs.

About the curator of this Kollektion: Richard Fearless is best known as the leader and founder of British band DEATH IN VEGAS. German electronic music can be heard as an influence on many of his albums - indeed even in his song titles, like 'Sons of Rother'. Fearless has worked with Iggy Pop, Bobby Gillespie, Paul Weller, Liam Gallagher and Hope Sandoval and has developed into a successful producer and remixer.

Richard Fearless on his modus operandi:
"I always listen out for music with a sense a space; where compositions are stripped down to the barest components while retaining the power to conjure emotion. It’s for this reason that I’m so drawn to dub, techno and German avant-garde minimalist music. To me the bands and labels in the Bureau B archive, current and past, were looking to distant lands, their own 'Neuland', whether in the future with bands like YOU and Riechmann, or from a more remote past, like medieval folk band Ougenweide. They were creating something radical and experimental, something that didn’t draw on the same rhythm and blues, Anglo-American rock that was saturating the airwaves at the time. They were pioneers in every sense of the word. With all due respect for the music that forged these paths, it was on hearing the mental guitar on Faust’s 'Herbstimmung' that I knew to look not only at the so-called golden years of this era, but to look at what these artists were doing later, as well as the new bands that were emerging from those schools. Artists who are still creating, still innovating. I hope you enjoy the journey." - Richard Fearless.

The musician: Rudiger Lorenz was a pharmacist by trade. He produced and marketed a total of eighteen electronic music albums until his death in the year 2000. As only a few hundred copies of each were circulated, Lorenz's works remained largely unknown. This reissue will change that! The music: Southland originally released in 1984, is stylistically between the new Dusseldorf School (Ata Tak/Pyrolator) and the old Berlin School (Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze). Just when you thought you had heard everything that German electronic music of the 1980s had to offer, up pops an artist who has resolutely stayed off the radar all these years, in spite of having a discography which lists no less than 18 albums. Then again, this is not so remarkable in the case of Rudiger Lorenz: The (hobby) musician completed an album almost every year from the early 1980s, beginning with limited runs of two to three hundred on cassette, switching to vinyl in 1983 and CD from 1990. His last album was released in 1998. Two years later Rudiger Lorenz died unexpectedly and far too soon.

Born in 1941, Lorenz actually got into music at a young age, although his activity at this stage was confined to playing in a beat group. But as a musically open-minded character, his record collection grew to over 10,000 discs, acquainting him early with bands like Kraftwerk, NEU!, Can and Cluster. These bands had a lasting influence on his relationship to music, guiding him towards electronica.

Populäre Mechanik was a post-punk, jazz bastard project created by Wolfgang Seidel, friend and sometime musical partner of Conrad Schnitzler and founder member of Ton Steine Scherben. This collection has been curated by Holger Hiller, best known as vocalist for Palais Schaumburg. Hiller presents tracks from two cassette produc-tions which Seidel released in the early 1980s.

The booklet features an interview which Hiller conducted with Seidel in which they discussed the function of rock and pop music over the past 45 years.

All tracks released for the first time on CD and vinyl.

Cluster (Dieter Moebius, Hans-Joachim Roedelius) are considered pioneers of electronic music and key Krautrock protagonists. In the late 1960s, together with Konrad Schnitzler as the trio Kluster, they changed the world of music for ever with their radical improvisations. Having split from Schnitzler, Moebius and Roedelius continued as Cluster, releasing eight further milestones of electronic and ambient music up until 1981, two of them with Brian Eno. In 1990 they returned to the fray with their "Apropos" album. The tracks collected here are gleaned from live performances in Osaka and Tokyo in 1996. In technical terms, and all the more so musically, the recordings are on a par with meticulously prepared studio productions. The material thus provides an ideal opportunity to compare Cluster music of the past and the present (1996!).

This reissue is a new, reworked version. Originally released 1997 on Captain Trip Records. New artwork. Liner notes by Asmus Tietchens. First time on vinyl.

Cluster (Dieter Moebius, Hans-Joachim Roedelius) are considered pioneers of electronic music and key Krautrock protagonists. In the late 1960s, together with Konrad Schnitzler as the trio Kluster, they changed the world of music for ever with their radical improvisat-ions. Having split from Schnitzler, Moebius and Roedelius continued as Cluster, releasing eight further milestones of elect-ronic and ambient music up until 1981, two of them with Brian Eno. In 1990 they returned to the fray with their "Apropos" album. Halfway through the decade they toured Japan ("Japan 1996 live") and the USA. The American episode saw Cluster frequently return to their roots. The duo's performances were less on the mellifluous side, rather more uncomfortable and rugged.
The recordings released in 1997 on Purple Pyramid as a double CD (entitled "First Encounter Tour") have been reworked and reselected in collaboration with the musicians.

On vinyl for the first time! New artwork.

Faust for all - The Krautrock legends lay down the musical foundations for everyone else to make something of their own.More than 40 years after their debut, Faust have come up with another archetypical album: inspiring, innovative, unpredictable, crossing boundaries, anarchic – Faustian!

“j US t”—pronounced “Just Us”—is the new album from legendary Hamburg band Faust. Founder members Jean-Hervé Peron and Zappi Diermaier have laid down twelve musical foundations, inviting the whole world to use them as a base on which to build their own music. The tracks presented by Peron and Diermaier are clearly, intrinsically typical of Faust in their own right, yet offer enough space for completely different works to develop. Which is exactly what they hope will happen. Whilst Diermaier largely remains true to his habitual handiwork—drums and percussion—Peron, as we might expect, incorporates all manner of unusual sonic sources alongside his bass, various string instruments and piano, even using a sewing machine as a metronome.

Tracks like “nur nous” and “ich bin ein pavian” show that Faust have lost none of their predilection for avant-garde Dadaism and improvisation. Peron and Diermaier actually surprise us with folkloristic excursions (“cavaquiñho”, “gammes”). In short, there is something for everyone to work with here. Peron and Diermaier await the results with bated breath. Faust will follow the same principle on the accompanying tour by inviting local artists to collaborate with them on stage.

Krautrock, that perennial badge of hipness. The ultimate honorary title for repetitive music, as played by Camera. In fact, the Berlin band's penchant for playing without permission in underground stations or other public places (in the gents at the Echo awards ceremony) has seen them dubbed "Krautrock Guerilla". Camera are not seeking to emulate the sound of older Krautrock bands, in any case. Nor have they been listening incessantly to NEU! or Can.

"Perhaps we just have the same angle of approach" suggests keyboard player Timm Brockmann, "we start playing and simply go with the flow." Motorik-driven, energetic stretches laced with psychedelic overtones rise up from keyboards, drums and guitars, much as they did for the pioneers of German Krautrock some forty years ago. On the back of "Radiate!", their debut album in 2012, Camera extended their range to Russia and the USA.

Whilst "Radiate!" was entirely the product of studio improvisation, "Remember I Was Carbon Dioxide" sees Timm Brockmann and drummer Michael Drummer revisit and revise jams supplemented by various different guitarists and other guest musicians, exploring the possibilities of the studio as a reflection loop. Without losing sight of their overriding impulse to improvise-which is, after all, the essence of Camera.

In 1994 the seminal electronic duo Cluster (Dieter Moebius & Hans-Joachim Roedelius) continued what they had begun in 1990 with 'Apropos Cluster', their comeback album. The more mature 'One Hour' condenses essential passages from two lengthy sessions into 60 minutes. We hear sprawling soundscapes, clear acoustic sketches, musical extravaganzas, in short: highly impressionistic electronica. Liner notes by Asmus Tietchens. Originally released 1994 on Prudence Records.

Harald Grosskopf is best known as drummer in the band Ashra and for Klaus Schulze and as an electronic musician. Following “Synthesist” (1980), “Oceanheart” was his second solo album. It may sound like a child of the 1980s, but in a compositional sense it is related to the Berliner Schule / Berlin School of the 70's
.
Tired of the rock format and excited by the freedoms promised by electronic music, Harald Grosskopf quit Wallenstein, a conventional rock band, in the mid-seventies to turn his attention to electronica. Grosskopf thus became the first drummer to specialize in the electronic music field. He played drums on Klaus Schulze’s albums “Moondawn” and “Body Love” and on YOU’s “Electric Day”. When Manuel Göttsching from Ash Ra Tempel asked him if he would consider enrolling as the regular drummer in the group now rechristened Ashra, he did not need to think about it for long. Grosskopf changed course again in the eighties, this time in pursuit of commercial success: he played in the NDW (Neue Deutsche Welle) group Lilli Berlin and backed Joachim Witt on his best-selling “Silberblick” LP, which featured the hit “Goldener Reiter”.

Sky, the record company, were more than a little disappointed with the performance of Grosskopf’s first solo effort “Synthesist”, so there was no great sense of urgency as far as its successor was concerned. “They even halved my advance!” Grosskopf recalls. “Oceanheart” was released some six years after “Synthesist”. “The album title reflects my love of transcendental meditation, of course it might be taken for watery esoterics.” (A similar vibe was evident in the cover art, hence fresh artwork has been created for the reissue.) Musical equipment for the production was limited by the label’s ongoing thrift programme. The first “Oceanheart” recordings took place “under the roof” in the Lilli Berlin Studio, Kreuzberg. They were completed at the Spandauer Studio by former Tangerine Dream member Christoph Franke. “We mixed everything down and recorded the drums there.” Harald Grosskopf again played everything himself, except for the tablas. In keeping with its predecessor, “Oceanheart” was no bestseller, but, like “Synthesist”, it attained cult status, rediscovered in recent years through the internet by a younger generation. Harald Grosskopf himself needed time to appreciate the work: “I only really discovered the musical quality of ‘Oceanheart’ years later. I finally realized that I had created something quite special.” - Christoph Dallach

TRACK LISTING

1. Eve On The Hill (10:30)
2. While I'm Walking (4:44)
3. Oceanheart (4:59)
4. Coming Out (3:25)
5. Pondicherry Dream (3:42)
6. Minimal Boogie (10:54)

Dieter Moebius charted new "Krautronik" ground as one half of Cluster (with Hans-Joachim Roedelius) for many years. The Americans Tim Story and Jon Leidecker are two electronic musicians who could not be more different to one another. Story is known for his warm soundscapes whilst Leidecker has made an name for himself, or rather for his "Wobbly" pseudonym, with experimental adventures in sound. "Snowghost pieces" features harmonious, electronic improvisations of the highest order. Hypnotic rhythms embellished with sometimes bizarre, always surprising sounds and noises.

2014 marks twenty years of Kreidler. The band has outgrown adolescence, but remains juvenile, reckless, impetuous. They recorded their new album ABC in Tbilisi, Georgia. And there will also be a film - by Heinz Emigholz, who accompanied the last album DEN with film clips.ABC. Like Tank, it's two times three: Six tracks characterized by elliptical shifts, where suddenly the bass and drums take over the helm - or a choir appears.Indeed, a choir. Kreidler worked together with Georgian singers: Either hovering freely in the meditative pop piece Ceramic,or defining a new space within a space,as in Nino. As always with Kreidler, ABC is about the exploration of freedoms within a previously determined framework. It is a formulation of convergences, of possibilities within a procedural movement, based on a notion of democracy, with socialism in mind, where one understands that restraint is not merely a strategy of a conceptually inclined band, but that it serves to strengthen the validity, precision and majestic authority of expression.

Cluster (Dieter Moebius, Hans-Joachim Roedelius) are pioneers of electronic music and key Krautrock protagonists. In the late 1960s, together with Konrad Schnitzler as the trio Kluster, they changed the world of music for ever with their radical improvisations.Having split from Schnitzler, Moebius and Roedelius continued as Cluster, releasing eight further milestones of electronic and ambient music up until 1981, two of them with Brian Eno. A hiatus lasting almost a decade was brought to an end in 1990 when Cluster made a surprise comeback with 'Apropos Cluster'.Liner notes by Asmus Tietchens.

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2014 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

2014 sees the 20th anniversary of German electronic pioneers Kreidler. There'll be a tour, a movie by Heinz Emigholz and new album release “ABC” (which has been recorded in Tbilisi, Georgia). Featured here is an unreleased outtake from the album session. Jochen Arbeit, Achim Färber and Georg Zeitblom have been collaborating under the name Automat since the end of 2011. Their debut album will be available from 4th April 2014, featured here are three unreleased outtakes from the album. The song “Berlin Wall” is a collaboration with Throbbing Gristle’s & Psychic TV’s Genesis Breyer POrridge.

TRACK LISTING

A1: KREIDLER: Snowblind /
A2: Escaped
B1: AUTOMAT: Berlin Wall (Feat. Genesis Breyer P-Orridge)
B2: AUTOMAT: MTY
B3: CUL

Electronic duo Ulrich Schnauss (A Long Way to Fall, A Strangely Isolated Place) and Mark Peters (of the band Engineers) return with a second collaborative album titled Tomorrow is Another Day, released by Bureau B. This second project offers a sublime exploration into their signature expressionistic landscapes while exploring the potential of a collaborative model in which Schnauss's keyboards and Peters's guitar work together in juxtaposition.

Ulrich Schnauss, born in the industrial port town of Kiel in northern Germany in 1977, emerged in Berlin's drum 'n bass scene in the mid-1990s. Mark Peters was born in Liverpool in 1975 and embraced a deeply euphonic pop aesthetic that incorporated intricate formal structures. The two musicians met years ago when both were making shoegaze music and formed a close friendship. Schnauss joined Peters's band Engineers as a keyboardist in 2010. After the collapse of the second-wave shoegaze movement in the early 2000s, both musicians drifted away from the genre's dreamy, shimmering aesthetic and returned solidly to their own musical roots. Peters has subsequently explored classic, guitar-based music and Schnauss has returned to his origins as an electronica producer.

Tomorrow is Another Day represents a maturing of the pair's creative process. Following their first collaborative album titled Underrated Silence (2012), which seamlessly blends the two instrumental voices into an integrated sonic landscape that delivers surprisingly intense emotion beneath the surface of its delicate composition, Schnauss and Peters subsequently began to craft a musical exchange in which each musician's contribution was emphasized in contrast to the other's voice. The differences in Schnauss' and Peters's musical backgrounds are highlighted and embraced as their two voices emerge in dialogue. Here, the synths are drier, the guitars more discreet. The shifting tonality of the music's richly layered patterning defines its composition with punctuated gestures as melodic lines emerge in sharper relief. With neither musical style overpowering the other, the effect is that of two equally masterful voices in coherent conversation, celebrating the dynamic nature of instrumental combination and exploring a new method of creative approach - one that allows for concurrence and dissent, in turn.

TRACK LISTING

1. Slow Southern Skies
2. Tomorrow Is Another Day
3. Das Volk Hat Keine Seele
4. Inconvenient Truths
5. One Finger And Someone Else's Chords
6. Additional Ghosts
7. Walking With My Eyes Closed
8. Rosmarine
9. Bound By Lies
10. There's Always Tomorrow

Originally released 1982 on Sky 072

The music: electronical chamber music that impressively renders audible Roedelius' musical transition from the 70s into the 80s. Complex, vibrant, enigmatic, avant-garde, timelessy beautiful.

"Offene Türen" is a purely electronic album. Without losing himself in their infinite tonal possibilities, Roedelius delights in playing a selection of synthesizers. He even deploys an analogue rhythm machine now and then to discreet effect. Roedelius takes great care to steer well clear of any cosmic fog or depersonalised abstractions. Nothing of the sort can be heard, as he focusses intensely and exclusively on the relationships of rhythm, harmony and melody. Roedelius conjures up their delicate timbres on synthesizer with the greatest of ease. The seasoned electronic musician would have found similar results beyond the reach of his good old Farfisa organ.

180g vinyl.

Karl Bartos is well-known as one-quarter of the “classic” Kraftwerk line-up. Many of their most influential rhythms and memorable melodies were actually conceived in his home studio. They would later be used on an unstoppable succession of hits from the Düsseldorf band as they ascended to the lofty heights of popular music culture.

As a major contributor to The Man-Machine (1978) and Computer World (1981) Bartos has had a decisive influence on Kraftwerk’s music. Rolling Stone author Mike Rubin says of this years: “there's something timeless and universal about their songwriting of this period.”

The Kraftwerk team went on to achieve worldwide success and cult status: in 1982 The Model became a UK number 1. The track has become a classic in the history of music, along with The Robots, Metropolis, Neon Lights, Numbers, Pocket Calculator, Home Computer, Tour de France, Musique Non-Stop and The Telephone Call. Kraftwerk have been one of the most sampled artists of all time, and there have been countless cover versions of their songs. In 2005, perhaps the biggest rock band of the time Coldplay incorporated the melody from Computer Love into their hit Talk. Almost all of the group’s best-known tracks date back to the “classic” line-up. In 2012 Kraftwerk performed a retrospective of this repertoire in the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Karl Bartos left the band in 1990. Subsequently he became an independent producer and writer – for his project Electric Music, as a solo artist, and also together with fellow friends and musicians – Bernard Sumner (New Order), Johnny Marr (The Smiths) and Andy McCluskey (OMD).

In 2004 he co-founded the Master of Arts course “Sound Studies – Acoustic Communication” at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK), where he was a visiting professor, teaching Auditory Media Design up until 2009.

Karl Bartos’ new album is an audio-visual sensation! Lost for many years, some of his early music has been reconceived and re-contextualised in a thrilling modern setting. Here’s the story: during Kraftwerk’s heyday Karl Bartos wrote – off the record – a secret acoustic diary. Based on his musical jottings – rhythms, riffs, hooks, sounds, chords and melodies – this is what he has come up with today: twelve brand new, exciting, timeless songs.

How curious it is that this collaboration should come about so late in the day and how marvellous that it transpired at all. Lloyd Cole, this most ingenious of British singer-songwriters, and Hans-Joachim Roedelius, a patriarch of German electronic music, did not actually meet in the studio, choosing instead a mode of material exchange more in keeping with the age, sending files across the ether for the other to complement.

How did they come to work together? Lloyd Cole released "Plastic Wood" in 2001, an instrumental, electronic album, most unusual by his standards. Listening to "Plastic Wood", one can clearly hear that Cluster's "Sowieso" album (1976) is one of Cole's all-time favourites. A friend of Cole's who also knew Roedelius, sent the latter a copy of the Englishman's album. Roedelius liked it so much that he immediately set about remixing the whole LP, or rather he added overdubs to the existing tracks - without asking and without having been asked! On receiving the results, Cole was not only flattered, he was also very impressed with the Roedelius remixes.
"Plastic Wood" had already been released and Cole felt that the project had run its course, so the Roedelius reworks were consigned to the archives. Nevertheless, the idea of collaborating appealed to the pair of them, and they did write to one another from time to time.

A good ten years later, the two finally met in person, when Lloyd-Cole passed through Vienna on tour. Now things could begin in earnest. The first results of their endeavours, now released, are modestly entitled "Selected Studies Vol. 1". Studies, strictly speaking, represent incomplete explorations of compositional and tonal possibilities. And yet this album reveals mature, carefully composed music, as if Cole and Roedelius had been working together for years already. Both artists focus on electronic sounds in a selection of succinct, direct pieces, free of musical garrulousness. Cole neither sings nor plays guitar and Roedelius rarely touches the keys of his grand piano. Instead, both musicians have developed a subtle soundscape which only drifts towards pure noise on one track, "Wandelbar". All of the other "studies" on the album move within a vast spectrum of harmonic wonder and rhythmic stepping stones.

However paradoxical it may sound, "Selected Studies Vol. 1" is reminiscent of the music of Claude Debussy, if electronic instrumentation had been available to him 120 years earlier. Highly impressionistic images flicker around the listener, airy, transparent, lost in time, each its own window on a bright, yet mysterious world. Far removed from kitsch, ambient and feel-good music, "Selected Studies Vol. 1" demands to be listened to attentively if the serious artistic expression of these two musicians / composers is to be appreciated fully. This opens up the album's beauty and depth. Cole and Roedelius seek to present fantastic, aural topographies in opposition to the dullness of the real world, inviting us to enter a friendly labyrinth of constant surprise, a place one can still leave at any time, without fear of getting hopelessly lost.

Kluster was a short-lived project of three musicians/artists/performers: Dieter Moebius, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Konrad Schnitzler. Kluster disbanded as Moebius and Roedelius found the financial risk of bringing out a third album too daunting. Schnitzler decided to go ahead on his own, releasing the material they had recorded together, without any information or credits on the LP sleeve. Moebius and Roedelius continued as a duo under the name of Cluster . - Originally released 1971 on KS 1001 - Liner notes by Asmus Tietchens.

The official Konrad Schnitzler discography lists “Eruption”, released in 1971 under the title “Schwarz” (catalogue number KS 1001), as the first Schnitzler album. In fact, “Eruption” is the third and final LP by the group Kluster, following “Klopfzeichen” and “Zwei Osterei”. The lineup printed on the labels leaves no room for doubt. Unlike the two previous albums, “Eruption” was not issued by the Schwann Verlag, but by the band on its own, hence the task of financing the record fell to the participants. Roedelius and Moebius, however, were either unable or unwilling to get involved in this risky business. Without further ado, Schnitzler decided to cover the cost of pressing up 200 LPs which he would bring out under his own name. This historical “error" has now been corrected: “Eruption” is a Kluster album.

Seen alongside “Klopfzeichen” and “Zwei Osterei”, “Eruption” is a different beast altogether. The total absence of lyrics, to begin with; the music is music, nothing more. The listener revels in a pure symphony of sound, its dramatic artistry holding his attention until the very end. And that is the second major difference to the first two LPs. Whereas their furious intensity sounded almost brutally improvised, “Eruption” appears clearly structured throughout, musical freedoms notwithstanding. Kluster take their time in developing spontaneous ideas here, they get loud and then, for lengthier periods, go quiet, suggesting at times a sense of absolute emptiness, followed by outbreaks of dark anger. The possibilities opened up by live electronics were thrillingly exploited to the limit. And yet there is undeniably a method in the music. In the course of their many live concerts, Kluster had learned to use instruments and electronics constructively, reaching the zenith of their musical powers of expression on “Eruption”. Kluster disbanded after “Eruption”. The album is a revealing document of a band striving to stretch the musical spectrum during the early 1970s, and indeed how capable they were of doing so. Moebius and Roedelius went on working together as Cluster, and Conrad Schnitzler (now with a C) began developing his own vision of electronic music, a project he continued assiduously until his death (2011). Still, all three had their roots in Kluster – incredibly powerful roots. And Kluster have never ceased to be hugely fertile ground. May their creative inspiration never run dry.

“Con 3” (1981) was Schnitzler's sixth regular and most “commercial” album and furthermore his first one with vocals

Liner notes by Asmus Tietchens • Featuring six bonus tracks (vinyl only four) ---This album saw Schnitzler head further in the direction of pop music. Like “Consequenz”, “Con 3” is a collaborative effort with Wolfgang Seidel, alias Sequenza. “Con 3” is a really odd mixture of numerous ingredients which Schnitzler was capable of combining with dexterity and taste. His musical handwriting is immediately apparent in the foreground. Effervescent electronic sequences can be heard on all nine pieces, coming from somewhere and appearing to go wherever – this is Schnitzler alright, this is his musical utopia.

Kreidler was founded in Düsseldorf in 1994 by Thomas Klein, Andreas Reihse, Detlef Weinrich and Stefan Schneider (who left to form To Rococo Rot) Kreidler have been asked to remix artists such as Depeche Mode, Einstürzende Neubauten and Faust among 20 others and cooperated with artists like Klaus Dinger (NEU!), Add (N) to X, Young Gods, Theo Altenberg, Momus, Leo Garcia, Pyrolator and Chicks on Speed

'Den' is Kreidler's eleventh regular album It could be said that 'Tank' - Kreidler's critically acclaimed previous album - is a drum album. Not in the sense of the brute force of a Ginger Baker or a John Bonham, but more in terms of the elastic muscularity of a Budgie, a Robert Görl or a Klaus Dinger. So in the case of 'Den', if attempting yet another such broad categorization, one might draw attention to the album's viscous musicality. Indeed, for recording and mixing, Kreidler chose to work at LowSwing, a studio renowned for its round sonic character, with the magnificent Guy Sternberg at the controls. The album's opening track 'Sun' displays an inspired beauty that is perhaps reminiscent of Eno during those periods in which he was interested in songwriting. Pan-Asian counter-melodies interplay around the stoic but light architecture of 'Deadwringer'. And 'Rote Wuste' is a mysterious painting, spanning a vast emotional arc between it's dark beginnings and the possibility of a conciliatory resolution. The heavily grooving 'Cascade' finds an utterly mesmerized Alex Paulick on guitar - just how many chord changes does Andreas Reihse get through? But one nice aspect of Kreidler is that those kinds of things hardly matter. Kreidler never burden the listener with strict didacticism. Everything flows naturally.

The blue album from 1974 and was Schnitzler's second solo LP. Digipak reissue with liner notes by Asmus Tietchens, rare photos and six bonus track (CD + download only) On the red album, Konrad Schnitzler laid down the direction his musical artistry would take. The blue album ("Blau") offered confirmation of his intent. Maybe the "Rot" and "Blau" tracks were recorded in the same session. Structure, sound and timbre of both LPs are so similar as to suggest that this was the case (an unverified assumption nevertheless!). Far more important than this historical pedantry is the fact that Schnitzler included two brand new compositions on "Blau" which followed on seamlessly from the previous album. Quite simply, he had found his way, a course from which he would not stray as long as he lived.

The so-called Berlin School (Berliner Schule) - with Konrad Schnitzler one of their number - had developed its own style of minimalist music. Clearly distinct from Anglo-American pop music, and no less removed from the minimalist art music of Steve Reich or Philip Glass, the focus here was on electronics and elementary rhythmics. The Berlin musicians showed no great interest in instrumental or vocal virtuosity, nor were they in thrall to exuberant interleaving of rhythm. With the aid of synthesizers and studio technology, they were bent on breaking into territory hitherto considered the province of a privileged elite, clouded in mystery and secrecy, resonating with uncharted sounds and noise. "Blau" is an archetypal example of this very phenomenon. Schnitzler's style was really too idiosyncratic ever to set a precedent, but he was, and still is, one of the most significant inspirations for pop music in more recent times. Already a figure of prominence, perhaps he will one day be elevated to the status of a legend.

TRACK LISTING

1. Die Rebellen Haben Sich In Den Bergen Versteckt
2. Jupiter
3. Wild Space 1 (Bonus Track)
4. Wild Space 2 (Bonus Track)
5. Wild Space 3 (Bonus Track)
6. Wild Space 4 (Bonus Track)
7. Wild Space 5 (Bonus Track)
8. Wild Space 6 (Bonus Track)

Conrad Schnitzler (1937 - 2011), composer and conceptual artist, is one of the most important representatives of Germany’s avant-garde electronic music. A student of Beuys and Stockhausen, he founded Berlin’s legendary Zodiak Free Arts Lab, a subculture club, in 1967/68, was a member of Tangerine Dream (together with Klaus Schulze and Edgar Froese) and Kluster (with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius) and also released countless solo albums.

Digipak reissue with liner notes by Asmus Tietchens, rare photos and a 20 minute bonus track (CD + download only) The most exciting aspect of Schnitzler’s music is not the fact that he only used synthetic sound and noise; the apparently chaotic movements of his microscopic particles of sound draw the listener into a paradoxical, yet also crystalline and vibrant artistic world. It doesn’t get much more outlandish than this. Schnitzler’s debut surpassed virtually every other pioneering artist of the day in terms of radicalness. Not content merely with making psychedelic soundtracks, he turned these on their head with his defiant artistic will. The rigour of his approach has never been matched. Schnitzler’s inimitable cascades of sound and their transparency were, and remain, unique.

The debut by Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft was a feat of musical pioneering. Later to find global fame as a duo, DAF's 1979 line-up of Robert Gorl, Wolfgang Spelmans, Kurt Dahlke (Pyrolator) and Michael Kemner created what was quite possibly the worlds first noise-rock album. Radical, brutish, instrumental.

Originally released in 1979 on Warning Records (later Ata Tak)

Reissue in digipak with liner notes, rare photos and memorabilia.

True DAF connoisseurs will, of course, be aware of the early phase of the Dusseldorf-Wuppertal combo. But most fans of the subsequently world famous duo may well be taken aback when confronted with their debut album: forceful synth bass sounds, snappy rhythms, Gabi Delgado and leather all conspicuously absent. In their place, pure instrumental, unstructured noise-rock, played by long-haired and moustachioed types! A band can barely have undergone a more extreme metamorphosis. Gabi Delgado joined the band before the band discarded the name of YOU and christened themselves Deutsch- Amerikanische Freundschaft. A tape machine and two microphones were set up in Wolfgang Spelmans living room and ten days of unbounded improvisation ensued. And thus it was completed, Produkt der Deutsch- Amerikanischen Freundschaft ; 22 tracks, ranging from 19 seconds to three minutes in length. The influence of Can is clearly audible. Considering the fact that other prominent noise-rock bands such as Chrome, Flipper or even Sonic Youth recorded similar music at a much later date, this 'product of Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaf¨ should certainly be recognized as a pioneering work. Possibly even the first noise-rock album.

Produced by the team at Machines With Magnets who have worked with Lightning Bolt, Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah, Fang Island and Battles

Latest in Bureau B's series of Kraut Rock reissues.

'Ersatz' was originally released in 1990 on the Pinpoint label.

The music: surrealist, minimal / experimental electronics. "Adventures in sound, a world brought to life by the most remarkable characters and atmospheres." (Asmus Tietchens)

Dieter Moebius is one of the most important protagonists of avant-garde electronic music in Germany. Alongside his bands Cluster and Harmonia he participated in numerous collabo-rations (e.g. with Brian Eno, Mani Neumeier/Guru Guru and Conny Plank).

1990 sees Dieter Moebius enter new musical territory, cautiously reconnoitering the digital world. His companion on this excursion is Karl Renziehausen, a visual artist and constructor of sound sculptures. The two of them distance themselves sonically and musically from existing Moebius collaborations with Conny Plank and Gerd Beerbohm (almost all of which have been reissued on Bureau B); similarly, only sporadic echoes can be heard of Cluster and Harmonia, two projects whose style Moebius influenced significantly over a number of years. There is an exactness to the music of Moebius und Renzie-hausen, who allow nothing to stray from their chosen path. They stage seven little musical comedies with different plots, much as if they were writing for the theatre. Common to each of the pieces is a prevailing mood of surrealism. Although Moebius and Renziehausen frequently cross the boundaries of tonality, they still remain firmly grounded. The connection to the real world is never completely severed. Which is what makes this music so puzzling to anyone willing to engage with it: the occasional fleeting sense of something familiar, yet no sooner than something appears which one might have heard before, it disappears again, replaced by something new and unrecognizable. Listeners can look forward to nine meticulously crafted soundscapes of uncharted, fantastic regions.

The musicians: Ulrich Schnauss, born in Kiel in 1977, now residing in London, three solo albums released to date, Engineers keyboard player and an in-demand remixer (Mojave 3, Depeche Mode, Lunz/Roedelius, to name just a few). Mark Peters, born in Liverpool in 1975, bass player, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter in the British band Engineers, also three album releases to their name thus far.

The music: synthesizer, piano, guitar and drum computer, a reduced, yet bacchanal instrumental combination of ambient, electronica and shoegaze sounds. Transporting the sound of shoegazer aesthetics into an electronic context, this is how Ulrich Schnauss once described his artistic goal. Influenced by bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Cocteau Twins and Chapterhouse on the one hand, yet wholly at ease with the electronica of bands like The Orb, Bionaut, Orbital, 808 State and unequivocally appreciative of veterans of the genre, Tangerine Dream or Manuel Gottsching for example. A brother in spirit of Robin Guthrie one might say, an apposite epithet for Schnauss. His collaborative partner Mark Peters might also be considered his soul brother. Through his band, Engineers, he has similarly found success in following the footsteps of his musical paragons. Engineers have released wonderful albums of dream pop, infused with the same spirit as the solo efforts of Schnauss.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Messiah Is Falling
2. Long Distance Call
3. Forgotten
4. Yesterday Didn't Exist
5. Rosen Im Asphalt
6. The Child Or The Pigeon
7. Ekaterina
8. Amoxicilin
9. Gift Horse's Mouth
10. Underrated Silence

As synthesizers grew more popular from the mid-70s onwards, an increasing number of groups swapped the classic instruments of a rock band for sequencers and synthesizers. Pioneers (and paragons) of this electronically created music included of course Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Manuel Göttsching et al, who represent the 'Berliner Schule' (in contrast to the Düsseldorfer Schule which developed around Kraftwerk and Co.) A hitherto less celebrated, yet outstanding exponent of the Berliner Schule was the Krefeld combo You (Udo Hanten, Albin Meskes). Their debut album “Electric Day” immediately launched You into the elite echelon of Germany’s electronic music scene. It would take four years for them to deliver the sophomore LP, entitled “Time Code”. If “Electric Day” was characterized by Harald Großkopf’s pulsating drums and Uli Weber’s solo guitar, “Time Code" emerged as an altogether more electronic affair, with both Großkopf and Weber having left the project. Reduced to a duo, You largely remained faithful to their style, but expanded upon it. “Time Code” displays more range and variation than its predecessor “Electric Day”. Down-tempo and faster numbers alternate and sugar sweet melodies are followed by expanses of ominously dark or crystal clear synthesizers. Hanten and Meskes’ new sound was further refined by the use of drum computers and the omission of guitar.

The album perfectly illustrates the transition of electronic music from the 1970s to the 1980s. Sequencer patterns owe much to the legacy of the Berlin School (Berliner Schule), whilst the synthesizer and drum computer sounds heralded the advent of the new decade. The level of interest and excitement was particularly high in Italy, where songs from the album featured heavily on radio. Listeners were clearly impressed by “Live Line”, which has resurfaced in various techno productions over the past twenty years, either as a cover (by Diolac Duvai, for example), or as “Elektro Message” (by Gigi D’Agostino).

Tenth solo album, first released in 1984. His most commercially successful album to date.

On “Gift of the Moment” Roedelius broke away unequivocally from purely electronic music. If “Lustwandel” and “Jardin au fou” had seen the process set in motion, this was the album that completed the transition. Following the “Selbstportraits”, which had at least been created through the use of electric organ and synthesizers, Roedelius focussed on the grand piano, sometimes accompanied by a cello, violin and guitar. Distant echoes of a not so distant musical past could only be detected in the occasional appearance of sparse chords played on a polyphonic synthesizer. The album wore a veil of delicate melancholy: no vibrant folk dances, no colourful carousels, no cheerful melodies. Instead, Roedelius offered a calm, almost detached form of music, openly acknowledging romantic heritage. “Gift of the Moment” eluded contemporary definitions of the “experimental” concept, as Roedelius was now experimenting in new, eclectic areas, too weighty, too grainy to be labelled “Proto New Age”. Roedelius was not striving for perfection, but for authenticity, a music stripped of disguise; and to this end he left little playing errors in the mix, fading out tracks rigorously to eliminate any bigger blunders.

In 1984, two years after their first album collaboration, "Strange Music", Dieter Moebius and Gerd Beerbohm issued their second LP, "Double Cut". It bore the same distinctive hallmarks as its predecessor, but this time around, the two musicians had simplified matters significantly. This was not simplification due to a lack of inspiration, however, but a masterful concentration on what really counts in pop music: rhythm. The centrepiece of the album, the 22-minute "Doppelschnitt", can be tagged as proto-techno. Moebius and Beerbohm have grafted an endless stream of rhythmical electronic particles onto an ostinato bass and drum figure, fluttering to and fro like the lightest of shimmering veils.

Dieter Moebius is one of the most important protagonists of avant-garde electronic music in Germany. Alongside his bands Kluster/Cluster and  Harmonia, he participated in numerous collaborations (with the likes of Brian Eno and Mani Neumeier/Guru Guru) He recorded two albums with the bass player Gerd Beerbohm in 1982 and 1983. What became of Beerbohm sadly remains a mystery.
In the latter half of the 1970s, alongside their Cluster collaboration, Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius embarked almost simultaneously on individual musical journeys. Roedelius focused primarily on solo projects, whilst Moebius preferred to enagage with other musicians on equal terms.
“Strange Music" - unimaginative as it may first appear (!), the title speaks volumes about where Moebius was coming from, artistically speaking.  Moebius is a master of perspicuity, uncovering the rich variety inherent in the detail of minor variations. Moebius' principles of pop music are drawn from three sources: the uncomplicated minimalism of the late 1960s, instrumental rock'n'roll of the late 1950s and improvisation. Working with Gerd Beerbohm saw him combine these elements to create an exact representation of his understanding of contemporary pop music.
Gerd Beerbohm turned out to be the perfect musical foil for Moebius, affording him free rein, in the very best sense of the expression, to bring his concept of pop music to life. Whilst "unleashed" best describes his mindset, this should be equated with neither chaos nor arbitrariness. On the contrary, the only liberty Moebius took was to focus exclusively on his and Beerbohm's musical visions, without feeling the need to consider any higher group concepts. This gave rise to a forceful, energized album, steering a clear course ahead, full of improvised ideas and unencumbered by frills or embellishments.

1980 album from post Can project.

Phantom Band is: Jaki Liebezeit (Can etc.), Rosko Gee (Can, Traffic), Helmut Zerlett (eg Dunkelziffer, Unknown Cases), Dominik von Senger (eg Dunkelziffer, Damo Suzuki Band/Network), Olek Gelba, Sheldon Ancel.

Guest musician: Holger Czukay

The music on “Phantom Band”: Can-style monotonic polyrhythms meets afrobeat, funk, jazz, disco, reggae, dub.

1981 album from post Can project.

Bizarre, how the magnificence of some music only comes to be recognized retrospectively. The albums of the Cologne combo put together by Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit undoubtedly falls into that category. In spite of continuing in the vein of the last three Can albums, the Phantom Band (recording three albums themselves) remain unknown to many who would count themselves fans of Can. The two LPs from 1980 (“Phantom Band”) and 1981 (“Freedom Of Speech”) are quite different to each other – although there was just a single change in personnel: whilst ex-Can bass player Rosko Gee (earlier Steve Winwood’s bassist in Traffic) played a significant part in both the music and the production of the first, he was absent from the next. The surviving quartet managed without a bass for the most part (or substituted a keyboard) and invited spoken word performer Sheldon Ancel to step up to the microphone. And whilst the debut album revealed many Caribbean or African influences and a generally positive frame of mind, “Freedom of Speech” is a somewhat darker avant-garde rock manifesto, interspersed with individual dub or reggae pieces. All they have in common are Jaki Liebezeit’s inimitable monotone polyrhythmic drumming and the Phantom Band’s predilection for hypnotic (Jamaican) grooves.

The CD booklet and LP insert features comments by Jaki Liebezeit, Helmut Zerlett and Dominik von Senger, bringing to life the creation and unique chemistry of the Phantom Band.

Originally released in 1976; melodic and atmospheric, the blend of electronic rhythms and quirky bubbly sounds combined with piano and a few bits of guitar here and there to create pure bliss.

'The evocative toybox melodies (usually the Roedelius compositions) on 1974's "Zuckerzeit" reached their peak with "Sowiesoso", courtesy of ambling pieces like "Dem Wanderer", the title track, and the vaguely Oriental "Halwa". The drum programs are still irresistibly simplistic (not to say simple), but even when Sowiesoso stretches out into primarily beatless terrain ("Es War Einmal", "Zum Wohl"), the album retains its power.' (All Music Guide)

Originally recorded and released in 1977, this pioneer ambient music album brought together several legends of progressive electronic music: Brian Eno, solo artist and collaborator with David Bowie, Robert Fripp, and Roxy Music; Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius, both of whom had made dozens of ground-breaking recordings throughout the 70s and Michael Rother, of the hugely influential krautrock band Neu!. This album was the first of several celebrated collaborations between these artists, whose influence looms over many current artists such as Moby, Radiohead, Aphex Twin, Massive Attack, and Tortoise.

"After The Heat" is the 1978 album by Brian Eno and both members of Cluster, namely Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius. This album represents the second collaboration by the trio, the first being 1977's Cluster & Eno. Again, it was created in collaboration with the hugely influential Krautrock producer, Conny Plank. Brian Eno was certainly instrumental in creating and popularizing the concept of 'ambient music' – but it was not his invention alone. The German musicians Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius (Cluster) were brothers in spirit. As so often in music, the idea of ambient was in the air, both Eno and Cluster experimenting with the form in the 1970s, rendering any debate as to who influenced who redundant. What is certain is that Brian Eno attended a Cluster concert in Hamburg in 1975, strategically positioning himself in the front row. Sure enough, he was invited on stage to jam with the band and, after the show, the participants arranged to meet up again. They did so two years later at the Old Weserhof in Forst, the domicile of the German duo. Eno And Cluster spent three weeks in Conny Plank's studio, resulting in two albums: "Cluster & Eno" and "After The Heat".

"Jardin Au Fou" is the second solo album by German keyboardist Hans-Joachim Roedelius, best known for his work with Cluster, Harmonia, and Aquarello. Recorded from April through July, 1978 at Paragon Studios in Berlin, it was produced by former Tangerine Dream member Peter Baumann and released by the French label Egg in 1979. The original release included 10 tracks but the final short piece, "Final", was left off the tracklisting on the original album cover.