Cluster (band)
Encyclopedia
Cluster is a German
experimental
musical group who influenced the development of contemporary popular electronic
and ambient music
. They have recorded albums in a wide variety of styles ranging from experimental music to progressive rock
, all of which had an avant-garde edge. Cluster has been active since 1971
, releasing a total of 13 albums. Musician, writer and rock historian Julian Cope
places three Cluster albums in his Krautrock Top 50 and "The Wire" places Cluster's self-titled debut album in their "One Hundred Records That Set The World On Fire".
After a decade long hiatus Cluster reunited in April, 2007
. They performed at the opening of documenta
12, a major exhibition
of modern
and contemporary art
held every five years in Kassel
, Germany on June 15, 2007. In late 2007 Cluster performed at concerts across Europe and played the United States in 2008 for the first time since 1996.
on early albums, to rhythmic Krautrock
or Progressive rock
on Zuckerzeit
and After the Heat
, to New Age
or Ambient Music
on many tracks in the middle to late '70s, to truly avant-garde or industrial
on Live in Vienna
. Cluster always has an avant-garde edge even on gentle, ambient pieces. Michael Waynick, who reviewed Cluster & Eno
for Allmusic writes a description that applies to more than the one album: "...too emotionally rich to waste as mere background music, evoking feelings of hesitancy and regret that rescue the music from mere vapid prettiness."
The diversity of styles on the various Cluster albums, with significant changes in musical direction from one release to the next, makes it difficult to categorize Cluster's music. The factors which are present on all 13 albums include the use of electronic instrumentation, loops, and the use of unexpected sounds to create a sense of experimentation.
Cluster has been widely influential not only to ambient and electronic music artists, but to techno
, electronica
and popular music as well. Artists and groups whose music has been influenced by Cluster include Robert Rich
, John Foxx
(formerly of Ultravox
), Alex Paterson
of The Orb
, Coil
, Oval
, To Rococo Rot
, and Mouse on Mars
.
, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Conrad Schnitzler
formed Kluster
in 1969 after the three had met at the Zodiak Free Arts Lab
. This trio released three albums, Klopfzeichen
, Zwei-Osterei
and Eruption
. When Schnitzler left the group, Roedelius and Moebius became Cluster. They were joined by Conny Plank
on their debut self-titled release in 1971. They continued as a duo thereafter but worked extensively with producer
/engineer Plank until his death in 1987.
Cluster's first release, an eponymous debut in 1971 on Philips
, was the first major label release for the musicians. Previous Kluster works had been small or private label releases with no more than 300 copies pressed and sold. This album and the 1972 follow-up were a musical bridge between the avant-garde, discordant, proto-industrial sound of Kluster and the softer and more controlled ambient and rock sounds of their mid to late '70s albums. Cluster
(later reissued as Cluster '71) has little or no discernible melody or beat. Allmusic review describes it, in part as "...a dislocating, disorienting meld of random space music, industrial noise, proto-ambient atmospherics, feedback, and soundwash..." The first album is also the only Cluster release on which Conny Plank is listed as a full third member of the band. He is credited as a composer and producer on Cluster II
. Cluster signed with the influential Krautrock label Brain Records
for their second release, a relationship which would continue through 1975.
, West Germany
to build their own studio. There Cluster and Neu!
co-founder Michael Rother
recorded two albums under the name Harmonia
: Musik Von Harmonia
in 1974 and Deluxe
in 1975, both released on Brain. This new trio also toured and a new CD drawn from this period, Live 1974 was released on the UK-based Grönland Records
label on October 22, 2007 and on the San Francisco based Water Records label in the United States
on December 11, 2007.
After the release of the first Harmonia album and a period on tour, Rother returned to working with Klaus Dinger
and an expanded Neu! lineup in order to complete his contractual obligations. In his absence Cluster went back to work as a duo, releasing Zuckerzeit
later in 1974. Zuckerzeit sounds different from any other Cluster album, with clearly defined melody and beat and a rhythmic sound, at times approaching the Motorik
style of Neu! Pitchfork Media places Zuckerzeit at number 63 in their "Top 100 Albums of the 1970s".
After the release of Deluxe Moebius, Roedelius, and Rother met in the studio again in 1976 and worked with Brian Eno
. The resulting album, Tracks and Traces
, was not released until 1997. Eno had been impressed with both Musik von Harmonia and Zuckerzeit before and had joined Harmonia once on tour in 1974, jamming with the group at The Fabrik in Hamburg
.
In a 1997 interview, Hans-Joachim Roedelius spoke about the influence Rother had on Cluster's musical direction, on Zuckerzeit, and on subsequent releases:
based Sky Records
. Their first release for Sky was Sowiesoso
, a highly creative album of gentler melodies recorded in just two days.
In 1977 the duo joined with Brian Eno for recording sessions at Conny Plank's studio. The first release from those sessions was the even softer Cluster & Eno
. Guest musicians on the album included Can
bassist Holger Czukay
and Asmus Tietchens
on synthesizer. The association with Eno brought Cluster a much wider audience and international attention. The second album drawn from the Cluster & Eno sessions, After the Heat
, released on Sky in 1978, featured a much wider variety of styles, including three tracks with vocals by Eno. Holger Czukay again played bass on one track, "Tzima N'arki" which featured the vocals of the Eno track "King's Lead Hat" recorded backwards. Roedelius also began releasing solo material during this period, beginning with Durch Die Wüste
for Sky in 1978.
Cluster's 1979 release Grosses Wasser
was produced by ex-Tangerine Dream
member Peter Baumann
and once again featured a wide variety of styles, including some of the most avant-garde material since the demise of Kluster, particularly during the middle section of the title track, which occupied all of side 2.
York House Records
(YHR) label and later in Germany on the Transmitter label of "Grüne Kraft" owner Werner Pieper. This one and only Cluster & Farnbauer release was titled Live in Vienna
. The style of the music is highly experimental and discordant and very reminiscent of Moebius and Roedelius' early work with Conrad Schnitzler in Kluster. Live in Vienna is the only Cluster release never reissued on CD, though two sections, each between 15 and 16 minutes long, were included as bonus tracks on the Hypnotic CD reissues of the first two Kluster albums, Klopfzeichen and Zwei-Osterei.
Also in 1980, Sky Records reissued the first Cluster release with new artwork and a new title: Cluster '71. That same year, Dieter Moebius teamed with former Cluster member, engineer and producer Conny Plank on the album Rastakraut Pasta
, released on Sky. A second Moebius & Plank
album, Material
was released in 1981
.
Cluster's 1981 release Curiosum
lives up to its name, with the seven tracks of offbeat and unusual melodies. Curiosum was Cluster's last release for Sky. It was also the final collaboration between Moebius and Roedelius before an eight year long hiatus.
Moebius continued to work with Conny Plank. Moebius, Plank and Guru Guru
drummer Mani Neumeier
recorded the African-influenced, rhythmic album Zero Set
, released by Sky in 1983. That same year, Moebius and Plank teamed with Mayo Thompson
to record Ludwig's Law
, which was not released until 1998. The final Moebius & Plank collaboration, En Route
was recorded in 1986 but not released until 1995 on Curious Music. Plank died of cancer in 1987.
Roedelius released numerous solo albums and collaborations during this period, including continuing his Selbstportrait
series of introspective ambient albums.
Sky Records, faced with no new material to release, turned to compilation albums to fill the gap. The 1984 release Stimmungen featured material from Sowiesoso and Grosses Wasser. In addition, two compilations credited to Eno, Moebius, Roedelius, and Plank, titled Begegnungen
and Begegnungen II
were released in 1984 and 1985 respectively. These collections included material from Sowiesoso, Cluster & Eno and After the Heat and also contained material from Moebius and Roedelius solo albums as well as the three Moebius & Plank albums released at that time. Cluster also had their first U.S. release in 1985: Relativity Records
issued Old Land
, credited to Cluster and Brian Eno and containing a mix of material from Cluster & Eno and After the Heat.
in 1989 and 1990. The album was released on the Curious Music label in 1991. Apropos Cluster is musically and structurally similar to Grosses Wasser, with four short tracks followed by the nearly 22 minute long, more experimental title piece. Apropos Cluster was Cluster's first album to be released initially in the U.S., and it was followed by American reissues of their Sky and Brain catalogs during the early and mid '90s.
Cluster's next album was the 1995 release One Hour
. This album featured a single, long musical piece, the longest ever recorded by Cluster, divided into 11 tracks on the CD. One Hour is structured much like the title track of Grosses Wasser, with short, soft melodic sections at the beginning and the end sandwiching a longer experimental central section. One Hour was the last studio album released by Cluster until 2009, 14 years later.
Cluster used the liner notes for One Hour to pay tribute to the late Konrad (Conny) Plank:
In 1996 Cluster had acclaimed concert tours in Japan as well as their first tour of the United States. The concert tours produced musical documents: the albums Japan 1996 Live
, released on the Japanese Captain Trip label in 1997 and First Encounter Tour 1996
, recorded in the United States and released on the American Purple Pyramid label, also in 1997. Tim Story
, best known as a keyboardist and ambient music composer, co-produced Japan 1996 Live and produced First Encounter Tour 1996, an association which would lead to later musical collaboration between Roedelius and Story. After the United States tour Roedelius and Moebius parted.
Roedelius continued to record and tour with Aquarello
, who released a self-titled live album in 1998. In 2000 Roedelius reunited with Kluster bandmate Conrad Schnitzler for the first time in nearly three decades. The resulting album, Acon 2000/1 was released on Captain Trip in 2001. Roedelius recorded two albums with Tim Story: The Persistence of Memory in 2000 and Lunz in 2002. A collaboration with Mott the Hoople
alumnus Morgan Fisher
, Neverless
, was released in 2005. A total of 14 solo albums and three additional collaborations were recorded by Roedelius during this period.
Moebius recorded two solo albums during his second hiatus from Cluster: Blotch in 1999 and Nurton in 2006. Moebius also performed and toured with former Harmonia band mate Michael Rother during this period. He also worked on an album by the new Krautrock supergroup Amon Guru which was released in 2007.
on April 15, 2007. They also performed at the opening of documenta
12 on June 15, 2007 in Kassel
, Germany and the fourth annual More Ohr Less festival in Lunz, Austria
on August 10, 2007. From September to November, 2007 Cluster had additional concert performances in Germany, Switzerland
, Norway
, Estonia
, and the Netherlands
. Roedelius also gave a solo concert performance in Ojai, California
in the United States
. Moebius and Roedelius have also reunited with Michael Rother and the first Harmonia concert in more than 30 years took place in Berlin on November 27, 2007.
Cluster performed in the United States for the first time since 1996 at the Detroit Institute of Arts on May 16, 2008 and for the No Fun Fest at the Knitting Factory
in New York City
on May 17, 2008. They also performed four dates in California
from May 22 - May 25.
The first Cluster album since 1997 drawn from their live performance in Berlin
on September 14, 2007 was released on Important Records in Spring, 2008.
They performed a one-off live collaboration with Chrome Hoof
in London on March 21, 2009. In May 2009 they released Qua
, their first studio album in over a decade.
On 22 November 2009, Cluster supported Tortoise
at the Royal Festival Hall in London, UK.
On 17 November 2010 Hans-Joachim Roedelius announced via email and across social media, that Cluster have split up as of the end of 2010. Their final concert took place in Minehead, Britain, on the 5th December 2010. From 2011 Roedelius will perform as "Qluster" with musician Onnen Bock, a trilogy of releases has been announced, the first of which was released in May 2011.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
experimental
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
musical group who influenced the development of contemporary popular electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
and ambient music
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
. They have recorded albums in a wide variety of styles ranging from experimental music to progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, all of which had an avant-garde edge. Cluster has been active since 1971
1971 in music
-Events:*February 1 – after months of feuding in the press, Ginger Baker and Elvin Jones hold a "drum battle" at The Lyceum.*February 8 – Bob Dylan's hour-long documentary film, Eat the Document, is premièred at New York's Academy of Music...
, releasing a total of 13 albums. Musician, writer and rock historian Julian Cope
Julian Cope
Julian Cope is a British rock musician, author, antiquary, musicologist, poet and cultural commentator...
places three Cluster albums in his Krautrock Top 50 and "The Wire" places Cluster's self-titled debut album in their "One Hundred Records That Set The World On Fire".
After a decade long hiatus Cluster reunited in April, 2007
2007 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2007.-January:*January 1 - George Shearing is knighted for services to music in the Queen's New Year Honours List. Evelyn Glennie becomes a Dame...
. They performed at the opening of documenta
Documenta
documenta is an exhibition of modern and contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. It was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau which took place in Kassel at that time...
12, a major exhibition
Art exhibition
Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...
of modern
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
and contemporary art
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
held every five years in Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
, Germany on June 15, 2007. In late 2007 Cluster performed at concerts across Europe and played the United States in 2008 for the first time since 1996.
Core members
- Hans-Joachim Roedelius (1971–2010)
- Dieter MoebiusDieter MoebiusDieter Moebius is a German/Swiss experimental/krautrock/ambient/electronic musician.Moebius studied art in Brussels and Berlin and met there Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Conrad Schnitzler . They founded a band Kluster in 1969. After the departure of Schnitzler, they changed their name to Cluster...
(1971–2010) - Conny PlankConny PlankKonrad "Conny" Plank was a German record producer and musician. He was born in Hütschenhausen. His creativity as a sound engineer and producer helped to shape some of the most important and innovative recordings of postwar European popular music, covering a wide range of genres including...
(as musician, 1971, as composer 1971–1972, as engineer/producer 1971–1978)
Other musicians
- Brian EnoBrian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
(1977–1978) – synthesizer, vocals, producer, bass - Holger CzukayHolger CzukayHolger Czukay is a German musician, probably best known as a co-founder of the krautrock group Can. Described by critic Jason Ankeny as "successfully bridg[ing] the gap between pop and the avant-garde," Czukay is also notable for creating early important examples of ambient music, for exploring...
(1977–1978) – bass - Asmus TietchensAsmus TietchensAsmus Tietchens , who also records under the monikers Hematic Sunsets and Club of Rome, is a German composer of avant-garde music....
(1977) – synthesizer - Okko Bekker (1977) – guitar
- Joshi Farnbauer (1980) – percussion
- Stanislaw Michalik (1990) – bass
- Bond Bergland – guitar (1996)
- Paul M. Fox (1996) – musician/engineer
- Tommy Grenas (Johnston) (1996) – musician
Production
- Peter BaumannPeter BaumannPeter Baumann formed the core line-up of the German electronic group Tangerine Dream with Edgar Froese and Christopher Franke in 1971. While touring with the band, Baumann composed his first solo album in 1976...
(1979) – producer - William Roper (1979) – engineer
- Felix Jay (1996) – producer
- Tim Story (1996–1997) – producer/engineer
- Hiroshi Okunari (1996) – engineer, Osaka
- Russ Curry (1996) – engineer
Musical style
Cluster's musical style has varied greatly over the years, ranging from Experimental MusicExperimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
on early albums, to rhythmic Krautrock
Krautrock
Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...
or Progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
on Zuckerzeit
Zuckerzeit
Zuckerzeit is the third full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster. It was co-produced by Michael Rother, their bandmate in Harmonia...
and After the Heat
After the Heat
After the Heat is a 1978 album by Brian Eno, Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius . The album represents the second collaboration by the trio, the first being 1977's Cluster & Eno...
, to New Age
New Age music
New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
or Ambient Music
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
on many tracks in the middle to late '70s, to truly avant-garde or industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
on Live in Vienna
Live in Vienna (Cluster album)
Live in Vienna is the eighth full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster and their first and only album with Joshi Farnbauer. It is the first of four live albums recorded by Cluster....
. Cluster always has an avant-garde edge even on gentle, ambient pieces. Michael Waynick, who reviewed Cluster & Eno
Cluster & Eno
Cluster & Eno is a collaborative album by the German electronic music group Cluster and British ambient musician Brian Eno. The style of this album is a collection of gentle melodies: a mixture of Eno’s ambient sensibilities and Cluster's avant-garde style.In June, 1977 the duo of Hans-Joachim...
for Allmusic writes a description that applies to more than the one album: "...too emotionally rich to waste as mere background music, evoking feelings of hesitancy and regret that rescue the music from mere vapid prettiness."
The diversity of styles on the various Cluster albums, with significant changes in musical direction from one release to the next, makes it difficult to categorize Cluster's music. The factors which are present on all 13 albums include the use of electronic instrumentation, loops, and the use of unexpected sounds to create a sense of experimentation.
Cluster has been widely influential not only to ambient and electronic music artists, but to techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
, electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
and popular music as well. Artists and groups whose music has been influenced by Cluster include Robert Rich
Robert Rich (musician)
Robert Rich is an ambient musician and composer based in California, United States. With a discography spanning over 30 years, he is widely regarded as a figure whose sound has greatly influenced today's ambient, New Age, and even IDM music.-Early life:At an early age he thought he disliked music...
, John Foxx
John Foxx
John Foxx is an English singer, artist, photographer and teacher. He was the original lead singer of the band Ultravox before being replaced by Midge Ure, when he left to embark on a solo career in 1979...
(formerly of Ultravox
Ultravox
Ultravox is a British New Wave rock band. They were one of the primary exponents of the British electronic pop music movement of the late 1970s/early 1980s. The band was particularly associated with the New Romantic and New Wave movements....
), Alex Paterson
Alex Paterson
Alex Paterson is an English musician and co-founder of the ambient group The Orb, in which he has worked since its inception....
of The Orb
The Orb
Throughout 1989, the Orb, along with Martin Glover, developed the musical genre of ambient house through the use of a diverse array of samples and recordings. The culmination of its musical work came toward the end of the year when the group recorded a session for John Peel on BBC Radio 1...
, Coil
Coil (band)
Coil were an English cross-genre, experimental music group formed in 1982 by John Balance—later credited as "Jhonn Balance"—and his partner Peter Christopherson, aka "Sleazy". The duo worked together on a series of releases before Balance chose the name Coil, which he claimed to be...
, Oval
Oval (band)
- Work history :The band's original members were Markus Popp, Sebastian Oschatz, and Frank Metzger, although Oschatz and Metzger left the group in 1995. All three are regarded as pioneers of glitch, a genre of music that embraces the sound of damaged audio produced by the failure of digital...
, To Rococo Rot
To Rococo Rot
To Rococo Rot is a Berlin-based trio who combine electronic and acoustic elements to create instrumental post-rock and electronic music. The group is composed of bassist Stefan Schneider and brothers Robert and Ronald Lippok . Ronald Lippok has also gained praise for his work in Tarwater...
, and Mouse on Mars
Mouse on Mars
Mouse on Mars is a duo from Germany who have been making electronic music since 1993. Their music is a sometimes quirky blend of IDM, krautrock, disco, and ambient with a heavy dollop of analog synth sounds and cross-frequency modulation...
.
1971–1972 (Early works)
Dieter MoebiusDieter Moebius
Dieter Moebius is a German/Swiss experimental/krautrock/ambient/electronic musician.Moebius studied art in Brussels and Berlin and met there Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Conrad Schnitzler . They founded a band Kluster in 1969. After the departure of Schnitzler, they changed their name to Cluster...
, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Conrad Schnitzler
Conrad Schnitzler
Conrad Schnitzler was a prolific German experimental musician.Schnitzler was born in Düsseldorf. He was an early member of Tangerine Dream and a founder of the band Kluster. He left Kluster in 1971, first working with his group Eruption and then focusing on solo works...
formed Kluster
Kluster
Kluster is a German experimental musical group whose work often resembles later industrial music.The original Kluster was short-lived, existing only from 1969 until mid-1971 when Conrad Schnitzler left and the remaining two members renamed themselves Cluster...
in 1969 after the three had met at the Zodiak Free Arts Lab
Zodiak Free Arts Lab
The Zodiak Free Arts Lab, sometimes known as the "Zodiak Club" or "Zodiac Club," was a short-lived but highly influential experimental live music venue, founded in the then West Berlin in late 1967 by German artists/musicians Conrad Schnitzler and Hans-Joachim Roedelius The Zodiak Free Arts Lab,...
. This trio released three albums, Klopfzeichen
Klopfzeichen
Klopfzeichen is the first full-length album by German experimental music trio Kluster.Klopfzeichen was recorded on December 21, 1969 at Rhenus-Studio, Gordorf, Germany. Liner notes on the CD reissue on the Hypnotic label as well as some websites place the recording date precisely one year later in...
, Zwei-Osterei
Zwei-Osterei
Zwei-Osterei is the second full-length album by German experimental music trio Kluster. The album title translates to English as "Two - Easter egg"....
and Eruption
Eruption (album)
Eruption is the third and final full-length album by German experimental music trio Kluster. It is also the only live recording issued by Kluster....
. When Schnitzler left the group, Roedelius and Moebius became Cluster. They were joined by Conny Plank
Conny Plank
Konrad "Conny" Plank was a German record producer and musician. He was born in Hütschenhausen. His creativity as a sound engineer and producer helped to shape some of the most important and innovative recordings of postwar European popular music, covering a wide range of genres including...
on their debut self-titled release in 1971. They continued as a duo thereafter but worked extensively with producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
/engineer Plank until his death in 1987.
Cluster's first release, an eponymous debut in 1971 on Philips
Philips Records
Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
, was the first major label release for the musicians. Previous Kluster works had been small or private label releases with no more than 300 copies pressed and sold. This album and the 1972 follow-up were a musical bridge between the avant-garde, discordant, proto-industrial sound of Kluster and the softer and more controlled ambient and rock sounds of their mid to late '70s albums. Cluster
Cluster (album)
Cluster is the eponymous first full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster. It is also the only album on which Conrad Plank is credited as a member. Cluster was recorded at Star-Studio in Hamburg, Germany in January, 1971...
(later reissued as Cluster '71) has little or no discernible melody or beat. Allmusic review describes it, in part as "...a dislocating, disorienting meld of random space music, industrial noise, proto-ambient atmospherics, feedback, and soundwash..." The first album is also the only Cluster release on which Conny Plank is listed as a full third member of the band. He is credited as a composer and producer on Cluster II
Cluster II
Cluster II is the second full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster and their first album with the band reduced to a duo. Conny Plank, who was credited as a member on the first album, decided to concentrate on production and engineering...
. Cluster signed with the influential Krautrock label Brain Records
Brain Records
Brain was a Hamburg-based record label prominent in the 1970s releasing several important Krautrock records by bands such as Neu!, Cluster and Guru Guru...
for their second release, a relationship which would continue through 1975.
1973–1976 (Harmonia and Zuckerzeit)
In 1973 the duo moved to the rural village of ForstForst, Lower Saxony
Forst is a district of the municipality Bevern, Lower Saxony, Germany.Forst lies in the Weserbergland.In the 1970s, the musicians Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Dieter Moebius and Michael Rother lived there.....
, West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
to build their own studio. There Cluster and Neu!
Neu!
Neu! was a German band formed by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother after their split from Kraftwerk in the early 1970s...
co-founder Michael Rother
Michael Rother
Michael Rother is a German experimental Krautrock musician and composer.- Early life and education :Born in 1950, Rother went to school in Munich, Wilmslow , Karachi, and Düsseldorf. He also lived in Pakistan in the early 1960s where he was exposed to Pakistani music that would influence his own...
recorded two albums under the name Harmonia
Harmonia (band)
Harmonia is a Krautrock supergroup from Germany. They formed as a collaboration between Michael Rother of Neu! and Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Möbius of Cluster and later included the British musician Brian Eno.-Musical style:...
: Musik Von Harmonia
Musik Von Harmonia
Musik Von Harmonia is the debut album from the highly influential Krautrock/Kosmische Musik group Harmonia. Harmonia, was formed by the addition of Neu! guitarist Michael Rother to Cluster, the duo of Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius....
in 1974 and Deluxe
Deluxe (Harmonia album)
Deluxe is the second album from the highly influential Krautrock/Kosmische Musik group Harmonia. Harmonia was formed by the addition of Neu! guitarist Michael Rother to Cluster, the duo of Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius....
in 1975, both released on Brain. This new trio also toured and a new CD drawn from this period, Live 1974 was released on the UK-based Grönland Records
Grönland Records
Grönland Records is an independent record label originally founded in London, England, which relocated to Berlin, Germany in 2009. "Grönland" refers both to the country and the label's founder, Herbert Grönemeyer.-Origin:...
label on October 22, 2007 and on the San Francisco based Water Records label in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on December 11, 2007.
After the release of the first Harmonia album and a period on tour, Rother returned to working with Klaus Dinger
Klaus Dinger
Klaus Dinger was a German musician and songwriter most famous for his contributions to the seminal krautrock outfit, Neu! He was also the guitarist and chief songwriter of new wave group La Düsseldorf and briefly the percussionist of Kraftwerk.-Pre-Neu! :Klaus Dinger was born in Scherfede,...
and an expanded Neu! lineup in order to complete his contractual obligations. In his absence Cluster went back to work as a duo, releasing Zuckerzeit
Zuckerzeit
Zuckerzeit is the third full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster. It was co-produced by Michael Rother, their bandmate in Harmonia...
later in 1974. Zuckerzeit sounds different from any other Cluster album, with clearly defined melody and beat and a rhythmic sound, at times approaching the Motorik
Motorik
Motorik is a term coined by music journalists to describe the 4/4 beat often used by "Krautrock" bands such as Neu! and Kraftwerk...
style of Neu! Pitchfork Media places Zuckerzeit at number 63 in their "Top 100 Albums of the 1970s".
After the release of Deluxe Moebius, Roedelius, and Rother met in the studio again in 1976 and worked with Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
. The resulting album, Tracks and Traces
Tracks and Traces
Tracks and Traces is the one and only album credited to Harmonia '76, but it is generally regarded as the third album by the highly influential Krautrock/Kosmische Musik group Harmonia. Harmonia was formed by the addition of Neu! guitarist Michael Rother to Cluster, the duo of Hans-Joachim...
, was not released until 1997. Eno had been impressed with both Musik von Harmonia and Zuckerzeit before and had joined Harmonia once on tour in 1974, jamming with the group at The Fabrik in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
.
In a 1997 interview, Hans-Joachim Roedelius spoke about the influence Rother had on Cluster's musical direction, on Zuckerzeit, and on subsequent releases:
"Michael, as well as Eno, gave a lot and had a certain focus regarding our common work... Obviously working with Michael changed my and Moebius' focus, I don't know if Michael got the same benefit from working with us as we did working with him."
1976–1979 (Eno and critical acclaim)
The period from 1976–1979 was Cluster's most productive, with the four albums released during those four years receiving the most critical acclaim of any of Cluster's works. 1976 also marked Cluster's move to HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
based Sky Records
Sky Records
Sky Records was a Hamburg, Germany based independent record label specializing in Krautrock/Kosmische Musik and electronic music. Some of their releases could be classified as progressive rock or art rock, experimental music, industrial, ambient, or New Age...
. Their first release for Sky was Sowiesoso
Sowiesoso
Sowiesoso is the fourth full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster.Sowiesoso was recorded in just two days in Forst, Germany in 1976...
, a highly creative album of gentler melodies recorded in just two days.
In 1977 the duo joined with Brian Eno for recording sessions at Conny Plank's studio. The first release from those sessions was the even softer Cluster & Eno
Cluster & Eno
Cluster & Eno is a collaborative album by the German electronic music group Cluster and British ambient musician Brian Eno. The style of this album is a collection of gentle melodies: a mixture of Eno’s ambient sensibilities and Cluster's avant-garde style.In June, 1977 the duo of Hans-Joachim...
. Guest musicians on the album included Can
Can (band)
Can was an experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany in 1968. Later labeled as one of the first "krautrock" groups, they transcended mainstream influences and incorporated strong minimalist and world music elements into their often psychedelic music.Can constructed their music largely...
bassist Holger Czukay
Holger Czukay
Holger Czukay is a German musician, probably best known as a co-founder of the krautrock group Can. Described by critic Jason Ankeny as "successfully bridg[ing] the gap between pop and the avant-garde," Czukay is also notable for creating early important examples of ambient music, for exploring...
and Asmus Tietchens
Asmus Tietchens
Asmus Tietchens , who also records under the monikers Hematic Sunsets and Club of Rome, is a German composer of avant-garde music....
on synthesizer. The association with Eno brought Cluster a much wider audience and international attention. The second album drawn from the Cluster & Eno sessions, After the Heat
After the Heat
After the Heat is a 1978 album by Brian Eno, Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius . The album represents the second collaboration by the trio, the first being 1977's Cluster & Eno...
, released on Sky in 1978, featured a much wider variety of styles, including three tracks with vocals by Eno. Holger Czukay again played bass on one track, "Tzima N'arki" which featured the vocals of the Eno track "King's Lead Hat" recorded backwards. Roedelius also began releasing solo material during this period, beginning with Durch Die Wüste
Durch Die Wuste
Durch die Wüste is the first full-length solo album by German keyboardist Hans-Joachim Roedelius, best known for his work with Cluster, Harmonia, and Aquarello. The title is German for "Through the Desert."...
for Sky in 1978.
Cluster's 1979 release Grosses Wasser
Grosses Wasser
Grosses Wasser is the seventh album by the electronic music outfit Cluster. It was co-produced by former Tangerine Dream member Peter Baumann...
was produced by ex-Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The band has undergone many personnel changes over the years, with Froese being the only continuous member...
member Peter Baumann
Peter Baumann
Peter Baumann formed the core line-up of the German electronic group Tangerine Dream with Edgar Froese and Christopher Franke in 1971. While touring with the band, Baumann composed his first solo album in 1976...
and once again featured a wide variety of styles, including some of the most avant-garde material since the demise of Kluster, particularly during the middle section of the title track, which occupied all of side 2.
1980–1981 (Curiosum)
On June 12, 1980 Cluster performed at the Wiener Festwochen Alternativ with Joshi Farnbauer. The performance was recorded and released as a limited edition cassette on the BritishUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
York House Records
York House Records
York House Recordings, also known as YHR or YHR Tapes, was a small British independent label which released 31 original cassettes of industrial, electronic, experimental, avant-garde, and dark ambient music between 1979 and 1983.-History:...
(YHR) label and later in Germany on the Transmitter label of "Grüne Kraft" owner Werner Pieper. This one and only Cluster & Farnbauer release was titled Live in Vienna
Live in Vienna (Cluster album)
Live in Vienna is the eighth full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster and their first and only album with Joshi Farnbauer. It is the first of four live albums recorded by Cluster....
. The style of the music is highly experimental and discordant and very reminiscent of Moebius and Roedelius' early work with Conrad Schnitzler in Kluster. Live in Vienna is the only Cluster release never reissued on CD, though two sections, each between 15 and 16 minutes long, were included as bonus tracks on the Hypnotic CD reissues of the first two Kluster albums, Klopfzeichen and Zwei-Osterei.
Also in 1980, Sky Records reissued the first Cluster release with new artwork and a new title: Cluster '71. That same year, Dieter Moebius teamed with former Cluster member, engineer and producer Conny Plank on the album Rastakraut Pasta
Rastakraut Pasta
Rastakraut Pasta is the first full-length album by German electronic music duo of Dieter Moebius and Conny Plank.Rastakraut Pasta was recorded in September, 1979 at Conny's Studio outside of Cologne. It was released by Sky Records in 1980. Instrumentation on the album includes electronics, voice,...
, released on Sky. A second Moebius & Plank
Moebius & Plank
The duo of Dieter Moebius and Conny Plank recorded three albums between 1979 and 1986. Plank died of cancer in 1987. Their final album and an album with Mayo Thompson were released posthumously in 1995 and 1998 respectively...
album, Material
Material (Moebius & Plank album)
Material is the second full-length album by German electronic music duo of Dieter Moebius and Conny Plank. Material was recorded in July, 1981 at Conny's Studio outside of Cologne...
was released in 1981
1981 in music
See also:* Timeline of musical eventsThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1981.-January–April:*January 10 – A revival of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance opens at Broadway's Uris Theatre, starring Linda Ronstadt and Rex Smith.*January 24 –...
.
Cluster's 1981 release Curiosum
Curiosum
Curiosum is the ninth album by the electronic music outfit Cluster. It was also the final collaboration between Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius before an eight year hiatus....
lives up to its name, with the seven tracks of offbeat and unusual melodies. Curiosum was Cluster's last release for Sky. It was also the final collaboration between Moebius and Roedelius before an eight year long hiatus.
1982–1989 (solo projects and other collaborations)
During their hiatus from Cluster both Moebius and Roedelius continued to record and tour. They produced both solo albums and collaborations with other artists.Moebius continued to work with Conny Plank. Moebius, Plank and Guru Guru
Guru Guru
Guru Guru is a German Krautrock band formed in 1968 as The Guru Guru Groove by Mani Neumeier , Uli Trepte and Eddy Naegeli later replaced by American Jim Kennedy...
drummer Mani Neumeier
Mani Neumeier
Mani Neumeier is a German rock musician, free jazz-drummer, artist, frontman of the German Krautrock-band Guru Guru....
recorded the African-influenced, rhythmic album Zero Set
Zero Set
Zero Set is the only album by the German electronic music trio of Dieter Moebius, Conny Plank, and Mani Neumeier. It followed two collaborations by Moebius & Plank as a duo. Zero Set was recorded in September, 1982 at Conny's Studio outside Cologne, and released by Sky Records in 1983.The music...
, released by Sky in 1983. That same year, Moebius and Plank teamed with Mayo Thompson
Mayo Thompson
Mayo Thompson is an American musician and visual artist best known as the leader of the avant-garde rock band Red Crayola .-1960s:...
to record Ludwig's Law
Ludwig's Law
Ludwig's Law is the one and only album released by trio of Dieter Moebius, Conny Plank, and Mayo Thompson. It was actually the fourth album recorded by the team of Moebius & Plank...
, which was not released until 1998. The final Moebius & Plank collaboration, En Route
En Route (album)
En Route is the fourth full-length album released by German electronic music duo of Dieter Moebius and Conny Plank. It was actually the fifth and final album recorded before Plank's death in 1987. En Route was recorded in 1986 at Conny's Studio outside of Cologne. As Plank's health deteriorated the...
was recorded in 1986 but not released until 1995 on Curious Music. Plank died of cancer in 1987.
Roedelius released numerous solo albums and collaborations during this period, including continuing his Selbstportrait
Selbstportrait
Selbstportrait is the third solo album by German keyboardist Hans-Joachim Roedelius, best known for his work with Cluster, Harmonia, and Aquarello. The title is German for "Self Portrait", a title which clearly reflects the gentle, introspective nature of this album of ambient or New Age music...
series of introspective ambient albums.
Sky Records, faced with no new material to release, turned to compilation albums to fill the gap. The 1984 release Stimmungen featured material from Sowiesoso and Grosses Wasser. In addition, two compilations credited to Eno, Moebius, Roedelius, and Plank, titled Begegnungen
Begegnungen
Begegnungen is a Sky Records 1984 compilation album with recordings by Brian Eno, Dieter Moebius, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Conny Plank, from solo albums, and from various collaborations between the artists. All of the tracks had been previously released elsewhere...
and Begegnungen II
Begegnungen II
Begegnungen II is a Sky Records 1985 compilation album with recordings by Brian Eno, Dieter Moebius, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Conny Plank, Cluster, from solo albums, and from various collaborations between the artists. All of the tracks had been previously released elsewhere...
were released in 1984 and 1985 respectively. These collections included material from Sowiesoso, Cluster & Eno and After the Heat and also contained material from Moebius and Roedelius solo albums as well as the three Moebius & Plank albums released at that time. Cluster also had their first U.S. release in 1985: Relativity Records
Relativity Records
Relativity Records, often branded just Relativity, is an American record label founded by Barry Kobrin at the site of his company, Important Record Distribution in metro New York. Early on, as an indie label, Relativity released music in a variety of styles, including dance, jazz, punk, and...
issued Old Land
Old Land
Old Land is a Relativity Records 1985 compilation album by Cluster and Brian Eno. All of the tracks had been previously released on two prior albums: Cluster & Eno and After the Heat, which were released on LP by Sky Records in 1977 and 1978 respectively...
, credited to Cluster and Brian Eno and containing a mix of material from Cluster & Eno and After the Heat.
1989–1997 (Later works)
In 1989 Cluster reunited to the delight of their fans, recording Apropos ClusterApropos Cluster
Apropos Cluster is a full-length studio album by Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius also known as German electronic music outfit Cluster. It was also their first album after an eight year long hiatus....
in 1989 and 1990. The album was released on the Curious Music label in 1991. Apropos Cluster is musically and structurally similar to Grosses Wasser, with four short tracks followed by the nearly 22 minute long, more experimental title piece. Apropos Cluster was Cluster's first album to be released initially in the U.S., and it was followed by American reissues of their Sky and Brain catalogs during the early and mid '90s.
Cluster's next album was the 1995 release One Hour
One Hour
One Hour is the eleventh full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster. It was recorded live in the studio in Vienna, Austria in July, 1994 and released on January 24, 1995 on the U.S. based Gyroscope label. Precisely one hour of music was culled from four hours of improvisation in...
. This album featured a single, long musical piece, the longest ever recorded by Cluster, divided into 11 tracks on the CD. One Hour is structured much like the title track of Grosses Wasser, with short, soft melodic sections at the beginning and the end sandwiching a longer experimental central section. One Hour was the last studio album released by Cluster until 2009, 14 years later.
Cluster used the liner notes for One Hour to pay tribute to the late Konrad (Conny) Plank:
"However the most creative input and personal support over the years came from Konrad Plank, who was, in effect, a 'silent member in the background'."
In 1996 Cluster had acclaimed concert tours in Japan as well as their first tour of the United States. The concert tours produced musical documents: the albums Japan 1996 Live
Japan 1996 Live
Japan 1996 Live is the eleventh full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster. It was the second of three live albums released by Cluster.Japan 1996 Live was recorded at On Air West in Tokyo and also in Osaka, Japan in June, 1996...
, released on the Japanese Captain Trip label in 1997 and First Encounter Tour 1996
First Encounter Tour 1996
First Encounter Tour 1996 is the thirteenth full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster. It is also the third live album released, and the only double album released by Cluster....
, recorded in the United States and released on the American Purple Pyramid label, also in 1997. Tim Story
Tim Story (composer)
Tim Story is an American composer of modern chamber music that incorporates classical acoustic instruments and electronic sounds.- Early years :Tim Story was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1957...
, best known as a keyboardist and ambient music composer, co-produced Japan 1996 Live and produced First Encounter Tour 1996, an association which would lead to later musical collaboration between Roedelius and Story. After the United States tour Roedelius and Moebius parted.
1997–2007 (Second hiatus)
During the decade that followed Moebius and Roedelius worked on various solo projects and collaborations.Roedelius continued to record and tour with Aquarello
Aquarello
Aquarello was a musical group which blended ambient music and jazz. The trio included keyboardist Hans-Joachim Roedelius, based in Austria, and two Italian musicians, multi-instrumentalist Fabio Capanni, and saxophonist Nicola Alesini...
, who released a self-titled live album in 1998. In 2000 Roedelius reunited with Kluster bandmate Conrad Schnitzler for the first time in nearly three decades. The resulting album, Acon 2000/1 was released on Captain Trip in 2001. Roedelius recorded two albums with Tim Story: The Persistence of Memory in 2000 and Lunz in 2002. A collaboration with Mott the Hoople
Mott the Hoople
Mott the Hoople were a British rock band with strong R&B roots, popular in the glam rock era of the early to mid 1970s. They are popularly known for the song "All the Young Dudes", written for them by David Bowie and appearing on their 1972 album of the same name.-The early years:Mott The Hoople...
alumnus Morgan Fisher
Morgan Fisher
Morgan Fisher is an English keyboard player / composer, and is most known for being a member of Mott the Hoople in the early 1970s. However, his career has covered a wide range of musical activities, and he is still highly active in the music industry...
, Neverless
Neverless
Neverless is a collaboration between ambient composers and musicians Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Morgan Fisher. Basic tracks were recorded at Roedelius Studio in Austria and The Handmade Studio in Tokyo. Tracks were overdubbed and mixed by Morgan Fisher at The Handmade Studio between July, 2002...
, was released in 2005. A total of 14 solo albums and three additional collaborations were recorded by Roedelius during this period.
Moebius recorded two solo albums during his second hiatus from Cluster: Blotch in 1999 and Nurton in 2006. Moebius also performed and toured with former Harmonia band mate Michael Rother during this period. He also worked on an album by the new Krautrock supergroup Amon Guru which was released in 2007.
2007–2010 (Second Reunion)
Moebius and Roedelius reunited for a performance at the Kosmische Club in Camden, LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on April 15, 2007. They also performed at the opening of documenta
Documenta
documenta is an exhibition of modern and contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. It was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau which took place in Kassel at that time...
12 on June 15, 2007 in Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
, Germany and the fourth annual More Ohr Less festival in Lunz, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
on August 10, 2007. From September to November, 2007 Cluster had additional concert performances in Germany, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. Roedelius also gave a solo concert performance in Ojai, California
Ojai, California
Ojai is a city in Ventura County, California, USA. It is situated in the Ojai Valley , surrounded by hills and mountains. The population was 7,461 at the 2010 census, down from 7,862 at the 2000 census.-History:Chumash Indians were the early inhabitants of the valley...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Moebius and Roedelius have also reunited with Michael Rother and the first Harmonia concert in more than 30 years took place in Berlin on November 27, 2007.
Cluster performed in the United States for the first time since 1996 at the Detroit Institute of Arts on May 16, 2008 and for the No Fun Fest at the Knitting Factory
Knitting Factory
The Knitting Factory is a music venue and concert house with locations in Brooklyn, Boise, Reno, and Spokane. The club originally specialized in jazz and experimental music and has expanded to showcasing all genres of music, performing arts and comedy....
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on May 17, 2008. They also performed four dates in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
from May 22 - May 25.
The first Cluster album since 1997 drawn from their live performance in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
on September 14, 2007 was released on Important Records in Spring, 2008.
They performed a one-off live collaboration with Chrome Hoof
Chrome Hoof
Chrome Hoof are an experimental orchestra based in London, England. The group was formed in 2000 by Cathedral bassist Leo Smee and his brother Milo Smee. Initially performing as a duo, their music was mostly electronic. Since the start, however, the group have continuously recruited new members...
in London on March 21, 2009. In May 2009 they released Qua
Qua (album)
Qua is an album by German Krautrock band Cluster, released in May 2009 on Nepenthe Music. It is the band's twelfth studio album and first in fourteen years.-Critical reception:...
, their first studio album in over a decade.
On 22 November 2009, Cluster supported Tortoise
Tortoise (band)
Tortoise is an American post-rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1990.-Music:Tortoise's almost entirely instrumental music defies easy categorization, and the group gained significant attention from their early career. The members have roots in Chicago's fertile music scene, playing in...
at the Royal Festival Hall in London, UK.
On 17 November 2010 Hans-Joachim Roedelius announced via email and across social media, that Cluster have split up as of the end of 2010. Their final concert took place in Minehead, Britain, on the 5th December 2010. From 2011 Roedelius will perform as "Qluster" with musician Onnen Bock, a trilogy of releases has been announced, the first of which was released in May 2011.
Studio albums
- 1971 ClusterCluster (album)Cluster is the eponymous first full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster. It is also the only album on which Conrad Plank is credited as a member. Cluster was recorded at Star-Studio in Hamburg, Germany in January, 1971...
- 1972 Cluster IICluster IICluster II is the second full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster and their first album with the band reduced to a duo. Conny Plank, who was credited as a member on the first album, decided to concentrate on production and engineering...
- 1974 ZuckerzeitZuckerzeitZuckerzeit is the third full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster. It was co-produced by Michael Rother, their bandmate in Harmonia...
- 1976 SowiesosoSowiesosoSowiesoso is the fourth full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster.Sowiesoso was recorded in just two days in Forst, Germany in 1976...
- 1977 Cluster & EnoCluster & EnoCluster & Eno is a collaborative album by the German electronic music group Cluster and British ambient musician Brian Eno. The style of this album is a collection of gentle melodies: a mixture of Eno’s ambient sensibilities and Cluster's avant-garde style.In June, 1977 the duo of Hans-Joachim...
(with Brian Eno) - 1978 After the HeatAfter the HeatAfter the Heat is a 1978 album by Brian Eno, Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius . The album represents the second collaboration by the trio, the first being 1977's Cluster & Eno...
(by Eno, Moebius and Roedelius) - 1979 Grosses WasserGrosses WasserGrosses Wasser is the seventh album by the electronic music outfit Cluster. It was co-produced by former Tangerine Dream member Peter Baumann...
- 1980 Cluster '71 (reissue of first album)
- 1981 CuriosumCuriosumCuriosum is the ninth album by the electronic music outfit Cluster. It was also the final collaboration between Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius before an eight year hiatus....
- 1991 Apropos ClusterApropos ClusterApropos Cluster is a full-length studio album by Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius also known as German electronic music outfit Cluster. It was also their first album after an eight year long hiatus....
(by Moebius and Roedelius) - 1995 One HourOne HourOne Hour is the eleventh full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster. It was recorded live in the studio in Vienna, Austria in July, 1994 and released on January 24, 1995 on the U.S. based Gyroscope label. Precisely one hour of music was culled from four hours of improvisation in...
- 2009 QuaQua (album)Qua is an album by German Krautrock band Cluster, released in May 2009 on Nepenthe Music. It is the band's twelfth studio album and first in fourteen years.-Critical reception:...
Live albums
- 1980 Live in ViennaLive in Vienna (Cluster album)Live in Vienna is the eighth full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster and their first and only album with Joshi Farnbauer. It is the first of four live albums recorded by Cluster....
- Recorded with Joshi Farnbauer - 1997 Japan 1996 LiveJapan 1996 LiveJapan 1996 Live is the eleventh full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster. It was the second of three live albums released by Cluster.Japan 1996 Live was recorded at On Air West in Tokyo and also in Osaka, Japan in June, 1996...
- 1997 First Encounter Tour 1996First Encounter Tour 1996First Encounter Tour 1996 is the thirteenth full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster. It is also the third live album released, and the only double album released by Cluster....
- 2008 Berlin 07Berlin 07Berlin 07 is an album by German experimental music group Cluster. It was recorded in 2007 at a Cluster concert in Berlin, their first there since 1969.-Background:...
Compilation albums
- 1984 BegegnungenBegegnungenBegegnungen is a Sky Records 1984 compilation album with recordings by Brian Eno, Dieter Moebius, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Conny Plank, from solo albums, and from various collaborations between the artists. All of the tracks had been previously released elsewhere...
(with Brian Eno, Conny Plank) - 1984 Stimmungen
- 1985 Begegnungen IIBegegnungen IIBegegnungen II is a Sky Records 1985 compilation album with recordings by Brian Eno, Dieter Moebius, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Conny Plank, Cluster, from solo albums, and from various collaborations between the artists. All of the tracks had been previously released elsewhere...
(with Brian Eno, Conny Plank) - 1985 Old LandOld LandOld Land is a Relativity Records 1985 compilation album by Cluster and Brian Eno. All of the tracks had been previously released on two prior albums: Cluster & Eno and After the Heat, which were released on LP by Sky Records in 1977 and 1978 respectively...
(with Brian Eno) - 2007 Box 1 (boxed set)
External links
- Cluster on MySpace
- Cluster Vision Version at DublabDublabdublab is a non-profit music public broadcasting internet radio station based in Los Angeles. They have also been involved with art exhibition, film projects, event production, and record releases. Their broadcast is open formatted and delivered via recorded sessions that are mixed by their...
- http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/cluster.html