Graham Reid | | <1 min read
By chance in the past few weeks Elsewhere has been pulling older albums off the shelves for reconsideration (see the on-going series here).
Among them were Hans-Joachim Roedelius' 1979 album Selbstportait I and a couple of albums by Cluster (Roedelius and Dieter Moebius) with Brian Eno – Cluster &Eno, After the Heat -- from the same period.
Swimming slowly in their calming, tepid electronic waters has been a welcome balm . . . and then this collection of now readily available early tracks appeared. (There had been some previous limited edition release.)
Some of these have a bouncy minimalism-cum-motorik structure (Band 051), others are more layered (Band 073) and here also are two ethereal synth pieces, both entitled Band 073, which re-emerged in a more refined form as the soundbed for Brian Eno's dreamlike By This River on his Essential Elsewhere '77 album Before and After Science.
And Band 068 on piano over a soft electronic metronome sounds uncannily familiar also.
This is not an essential album by any means for those who don't know the territory, and all are studio experiments more than completed ideas.
But as seductive sketches they are very diverting for those familiar with his (and Cluster's) work.
You can hear this collection on Spotify here.
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