This year (2016) in a short span of time a number of CDs and CD boxes were released by German artists we in fact know from long ago. In that sense you might say this is a retro-kraut broadcast.
We open with a long live piece by Klaus Schulze and Pete Namlook. Schulze and Namlook made 11 CDs titled ‘Dark Side of the Moog’. On the one hand an ironic reference to Pink Floyd (the titles), on the other an experiment for Schulzer who supplied the music to be sure but left the final arrangement to Namlook. This special collaboration came to an end due to the sudden passing of Namlook. All 11 CDs plus some bonus discs have recently been released in three handsome boxes.
Another box was released containing virtually all the work by Irmin Schmidt: ‘Electro Violet’ (2015). It had one extra and that was the new CD with Filmmusik, part 6 in the Anthology series.That CD can now also be purchased separately and fits perfectly in this broadcast. Of course we know Herr Schmidt from the German group Can, a group we focused on at length in an earlier episode.
The third box emanates from the duo Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius, together known as either Cluster, or Kluster, or Qluster. This box comprises the Cluster part and contains all recordings from 1971 to 1981, complemented with a bonus disc with live recordings. Grosses Wasser is a long piece, one of those remarkable pieces that, unaffected by the ravages of time, are still interesting. Many people know Peter Baumann from his years at Tangerine Dream: the so-called Virgin years. After he left the group, he made some four solo records between 1976 and 1983. The first two have recently been remastered and re-released but more surprising was the completely new album: Machines of Desire. A lovely CD that has a modern as well as a nostalgic touch, is typically Baumann and therefore is very well suited for this modern nostalgic ‘Retrokraut’ Popart.
1. Klaus Schulze – Pete Namlook ‘Hamburg I’. (Schulze/Namlook). 25:43.
2. Irmin Schmidt – ‘Chillum Code 4,5’. (Schmidt). 10:03.
3. Cluster – ‘Grosses Wasser’ . (Roedelius/Moebius). 18:38.
4. Peter Baumann – ‘Dancing in the Dark‘. (Bauman). 4:57.
Sources:
1. CD: bonus CD from The Dark Side of the Moog, Vol. 9-11 Box – MIG 88513014023.
2. CD: Filmmusik Anthology – Vol. 6 – Spoon CDSPOON 59.
3. CD: Grosses Wasser from the box ’Cluster 1971-198‘ – Bureau B BB222.
4. CD: Machines of Desire – Bureau B BB234.
