Browse by Artist: CLUSTER

Artist:	CLUSTER
Title:	Cluster '71
Label:	4 MEN WITH BEARDS
Format:	LP
Price:	$19.00
Catalog #:	4M 140LP

"Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius aka Cluster released this, their first album after Conrad Schnitzler (Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream) left the group originally known as Kluster, in 1971. On the outer edge of German space rock, Cluster '71 stands as a testament to minimalist 'cosmische' music. The three untitled tracks are exploratory, ever-changing pieces which focus on guitar distortion and synthesizer wails. This album deserves the many accolades it's been given, and holds up as an early landmark in the history of beatless ambience."

Artist:	CLUSTER
Title:	Grosses Wasser
Label:	BUREAU B (GERMANY)
Format:	LP
Price:	$21.00
Catalog #:	BB 026LP

LP version. Formed in Germany in 1971 when Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius left Conrad Schnitzler's group Kluster, Cluster can be counted among the most important protagonists of the electronic avant-garde. Some credit them with having invented ambient music, others as pioneers of synthesizer pop, while to others they are firmly embedded in the Krautrock universe. There is some truth in all of these notions. Although Cluster and "rock music" are seldom mentioned in the same breath, their early works in particular are marked by a lack of structure and futuristic, cold soundscapes typical of the Krautrock variation known as "kosmische." Recorded and released in 1979, Grosses Wasser was Cluster's fifth album as a duo. The cover art is the first indication of minimalist tendencies, reflecting the concentration, transparency and maturity of the content, almost like chamber music. While nothing is left to chance, each of the six Cluster pieces effervesces with a certain joie de vivre, providing ample scope for artistic spontaneity. Grosses Wasser was recorded at Paragon Studio, which had been set up by Peter Baumann (Tangerine Dream) not long before. Baumann had set aside plenty of time for the recording sessions, enabling Cluster to experiment with sequencers for the first time and explore some of the most up-to-date (for that period) studio gadgets on offer. Moebius and Roedelius made intelligent, measured use of the latest paraphernalia without being overwhelmed by it. New technology was deployed with an exactness designed to refine their sophisticated and fully-developed musical ideas. More than ever before in Cluster's history, acoustic elements can be heard, with the dulcet tones of Paragon's Steinway grand piano taking center stage. Electric bass, guitar, percussion and voice are all embraced. Consequently, Grosses Wasser is anything but a solely electronic album. It is, however, one of those rare LPs whose musical substance transcends its age, never sounding outdated. Grosses Wasser is the first in a series of 23 albums to be reissued by Bureau B, comprehensively documenting the superb electronic/ambient/Krautrock history of the Hamburg label, Sky Records, from whom the material has been licensed. Cluster (in their various guises) will feature heavily in the series (solo albums as well as collaborations with Brian Eno, Conny Plank, Gerd Beerbohm, Mani Neumeier, etc.). Printed inner sleeve includes liner notes by Asmus Tietchens.

Artist:	CLUSTER
Title:	Curiosum
Label:	BUREAU B (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	BB 038CD

Originally released on Sky Records in 1981, Bureau B reissues Cluster's Curiosum -- the sixth duo collaboration between Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius. Curiosum was to mark a departure to pastures new. Little did they know that this would be their last release for the next nine years. Curiosum was launched into an atmosphere of musical turbulence. Electronic sounds had become commonplace in pop music and the voice of Cluster could barely be heard through the noise of a new generation of music. Curiosum is a decidedly tranquil, almost melancholy album -- quiet being the operative word, as Cluster slipped out of the limelight. It was recorded in rudimentary fashion in Austria, now home to Roedelius. This is Cluster music at its most serene, a sense of profound humility running through the seven tracks of the LP. It says a lot about the state of mind of the two musicians, allied to the fact that this was the first time they chose to mix outside of Conny Plank's studio where, in the past, the finishing touches had been applied. Roedelius and Moebius laid their cards on the table for all to see, offering up Curiosum as an honest, unadorned selection of tracks, free of artifice and preconception. The album represented a return to the virtues of their early work (when Cluster was written with a "K"), random and spontaneous. Curiosum is nothing if not a curiosity, wholly resistant to the cacophonous zeitgeist of the early '80s, stripped down and keenly focused on perfect shapes. This is Cluster's swan-song to the past.

Artist:	CLUSTER
Title:	Cluster 71
Label:	BUREAU B (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	BB 058CD

Originally released on the Philips label in 1971, Bureau B reissues Cluster's eponymous debut full-length album. According to The Wire, Cluster 71 is one of the "One Hundred Records That Set The World On Fire." Very few albums from Germany can lay claim to this honor. This album is a mere three untitled tracks and was quite an ordeal for untrained ears at the time of its release, yet the album pointed the way forward like no other electronic opus. Cluster's previous incarnation was a trio named Kluster. A change in direction and musical differences moved Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius to split from their third member, Konrad Schnitzler, in 1970. The following year, as well as playing live, they recorded their first album, Cluster 71, in publisher Ralf Arnie's Star Musik Studio in Hamburg. Here they first met Conny Plank, who would himself become a legend. They remained close friends until his death in 1987. Early Cluster music was new -- new in the sense that it did not continue any tradition, instead laying the foundations for a future tradition. The duo's utter renunciation of conventional harmony and rhythm, their embracing of near total aural abstraction, confident use of noise, rigorous live electronic improvisation and a positive mind-set tuned to winning rather than losing -- these were all factors in Cluster's innovative trailblazing of 1971. For want of a better category, Cluster 71 was classified rather inappropriately and incorrectly as "cosmic." Few recognized Cluster for what it was -- the synthesis of pop music stripped of embarrassing glamour and so-called serious music without intellectual constraints. Moebius and Roedelius took the liberty of raiding both disciplines to perfect their musical concept. A common enough practice today, but akin to a palace revolution in 1971. So it is that three pieces of electronic music meander and pulsate through Cluster 71, with no beginning and no end. Cluster's music is free and open in all directions. There are sounds, noises and structures to be heard on this album which would become ingrained in the electronic pop music of the 1980s and 1990s. Cluster had taken the first step into the future with Cluster 71. Liner notes by Asmus Tietchens.

Artist:	CLUSTER
Title:	Berlin 2007
Label:	IMPORTANT RECORDS
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	IMPREC 191CD

"Cluster was formed around 1971 when Roedelius and Moebius left Conrad Schnitzler's group Kluster. Along with Kluster they have had a tremendous influence on the development of contemporary electronic music. Julian Cope has placed 3 Cluster albums in his Krautrock top 50 and The Wire included the first Cluster album in their list of 'One Hundred Records That Set The World On Fire.' Along with Neu! co-founder Michael Rother, Cluster formed the remarkable group Harmonia. Between 1976 and 1979 one of Cluster's most frequent collaborators was Brian Eno. Berlin 2007 was a monumental performance for the duo as it marked the first time that they had performed live in Berlin since their 12 hour concert in the Galerie Hammer in the Europacenter in 1969. The performance was a massive success as a sold out crowd cheered loudly for Cluster to return to the stage. Fortunately, the concert was preserved for posterity and is proudly presented here on Important Records."

Artist:	CLUSTER
Title:	Zuckerzeit
Label:	LILITH (RUSSIAN FEDERATION)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	LR 132CD

"Originally released in 1974, Zuckerzeit marked a turning point for these seminal German space rockers. Recorded shortly after their move away from the metropolis of Berlin, it sees some of the abrasiveness of their earlier material slightly diffusing. With the addition of proto drum machines and the producing talents of Michael Rother, their sound here -- while remaining firmly anchored in experimental territory -- has more pop sensibility." New liner notes by Asmus Tietchens (which mention that the title translates as "Sugar Era").

Artist:	CLUSTER
Title:	Zuckerzeit
Label:	LILITH (RUSSIAN FEDERATION)
Format:	LP+CD
Price:	$28.00
Catalog #:	LR 333LP

"Originally released in 1974, Zuckerzeit marked a turning point for these seminal German space rockers. Recorded shortly after their move away from the metropolis of Berlin, it sees some of the abrasiveness of their earlier material slightly diffusing. With the addition of proto drum machines and the producing talents of Michael Rother, their sound here - while remaining firmly in anchored in experimental territory - has more pop sensibility." 180 gram vinyl with a CD version of the album.

Artist:	CLUSTER
Title:	Grosses Wasser
Label:	WATER
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	WATER 235CD

"Originally released in 1979, Grosses Wasser is Cluster's last great album. Combining the ambient space rock of early albums on some songs with a more updated, beat-driven, (dare I say space-disco?) sound on others, it at times sounds like the best of both worlds. Cluster were probably the most influential and ground-breaking group to come out of Germany in the '70s (no small feat) and every one of their records is pure trailblazing musical history." Includes a 12-page booklet.

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