Monday's Long Song

 

One of the first so called supergroups of the krautrock era was formed in 1973 as a collaboration of Cluster's Hand-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius and Michael Rother, guitarist by Neu!. When their first album was reduced to repetitive sound producer Conny Plank gave them a more brighter sound with dominating synths. Their second album De Luxe is a classic and played often when I don't really know what to listen to. 

Harmonia - Deluxe (Immer Wieder

Monday's Long Song

 

Almost one year ago the first album by Autoelia was released by Demian Castellanos and Tom Relleen. I missed their debut and got aware by recommendation from a friend. Autoelia, as originally coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, describes a process by which someone has a purpose in, rather than outside of themselves. Those who are autotelic depend less on external rewards for their satisfaction, being driven instead simply by purpose or curiosity. Their project was started as an opportunity to play more freely, with less of the process, consideration and production we both associated with our main projects. And that is what you can hear on this record - a free form of kosmische music based on the floor Cluster, early Spacemen 3 and a modern Brian Eno prepared. It is a 13 minute journey into space. Seems like another overlooked band.

16 From 2016 4/16

Back to electronic music and a band that impressed me much this year. Die Wilde Jagd (The Wild Hunt) is one of the latest bands from Düsseldorf which keeps the spirit of this city alive. Düsseldorf is well known as the birthplace of German punk and electronic music. Krautrock is the synonym I would give them because they they formed a sound that Cluster, Faust or other bands of this genre would play in these days. It is a musical project by Ralf Beck and Sebastian Lee Phillip both trying to find a new sound based on German  myths. Their soundscape is marked by repetitive guitar loos, electronic percussion, drums an sythesizers. Booming tom-toms and medieval-sounding flutes herald the start of the hunt. Whispering, reciting voices conjure up the spirits of the woods, while synthetic sounds and melodies and noices filt about before they are re-captured, structured and grounded by crystalline beats and pulsing bass lines. This record is like a trip backwards to the golden times of Krautrock played with a very modern style.

Die Wilde Jagd - Wah Wah Wallenstein
Die Wilde Jagd - Austerlitz
Die Wilde Jagd - Der Meister
Die Wilde Jagd - Der Elektrische Reiter

Walky - Talky

As mentioned there was a lot of work to do in the office. On the one hand we prepare a fusion with two other banks and on the other hand my co-worker is waiting for the birth of his second son and I have to represent his work. And then he will go for a parental leave for four weeks. That are the reasons why I came home during the last days tired as hell and this were the reason for my listlessness doing anything else than take a rest couch. So I decided to make no dates for the weekend and giving me a favour of doing nothing except reading, listening to music and sleeping. And I have to say that this was the right decision to get a well-adjusted lifetime balance again.

For relaxation I played Harmonia's second record Deluxe from 1975 a few times during the last days. It is good to hear this highly influential record from the days of Krautrock again. Formed by members of Neu! and Cluster and produced by the legendary Conny Plank they made this record full of motorik pulses and rhythms to create their very own experimental and warm sound. On this song Mani Neumaier, another Krautrock legend, plays the drums.

Hamonia - Walky - Talky

Dieter Moebius 1944 -2015

Sadly the news arrived that Dieter Moebius died yesterday. He was a German/Swiss musician who had a huge influence on a sound that's known as Krautrock. Together with Conrad Schnitzler he formed Cluster back in 1969. He was one of the first that made experiments with synthesizers and electronic music and played with other heroes of this genre like Mani Neimeier and Michael Rother. Cluster's albums was produced by the Krautrock pioneer Conny Plank. Sadly he was famous in many other countries (as showed by his collaborations with Brian Eno) but didn't got the respect in Germany he should have.

RIP, Dieter