Customer Reviews

Cluster & Eno

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4 star:		(3)
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Cluster live and work in Berlin. They like Eno, and Eno likes them. They call him up and say "come to Berlin and We'll make a record". Eno's friend David Bowie calls, says "I'm depressed." Eno says, "Come to Berlin, we're making records. oh and hey, bring Fripp along." Bowie and Fripp show up with Iggy Pop - he came along because He's a big fan of Fripp (believe it or not!).

And that's the story of how "The Berlin Albums" came to bieng. They are: "Cluster and Eno" and "After the Heat" by C&E, "Low" and "Heroes" by Bowie, and "Before and after Science" by Eno. Such an amazing quintet of albums was never before or since put together and released all in the space of one year. To get the full effect, you really have to listen to all five at the same time in one of those five-tray "random play" CD players.

But on to the review. "C&E" is probably the darkest and most unsettling of the five, featuring instruments such as Theremin, Fretless Bass, Assorted Percussion (of the pots-and-pans variety), Sitar, Piano Trio, and the ubiqtuous Synthesisizer. In fact, Eno's little VCS3 dominates the record, but in many places it takes the role it did with Roxy Music, merely treating the other instruments.

Like I said Before, you have to but all five. the "Berlin Group" creates a complete musical micro-universe within themselves.

This release is an interesting affair. Cluster shifted gears a few times in the mid-70s, arriving at a very atmospheric, stripped-down approach to electronic music with "Sowiesoso" and their collaborations with Michael Rother as Harmonia. And as such, it's only logical that Brian Eno, the godfather of ambient music, would collaborate with them. The results are documented here and in a bookend work, "After the Heat", as well as a few tracks on Eno's "Before and After Science", and the results are stark, beautiful, and amazing. In a few places, things get a little tedious, but this really doesn't detract all that much from the goings-on here. Docked one star because, honestly, this should be in the same package with its tandem release "After the Heat" to get the real feel of the pairing. A critical release.

If you like eno and cluster you must have this. It is nothing unexpected but quite good indeed

It's odd, but if you look at the careers of Eno and the German synth duo Cluster (Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Deiter Moebius), the parallel each other quite a bit. Eno started out in Roxy Music, the experimental rock outfit; Cluster started as Kluster, an anarchic trio (3rd member being its founder-Conrad Schnitzler, arch experimentalist formally of the "Electronic Meditation" era Tangerine Dream) whose experiments were so severe and heady that they would send shivers down the spine of a deaf person.

Both Eno and Cluster would settle into grooves (Cluster, in fact, were profoundly influenced by Eno, as their later efforts would prove- even in 1996, when I saw them and interviewed them 3 times on their only US tour, they both told me that Eno was critical in their development as musicians), and then find each other.

The 2 lps they did together are landmarks for both Eno and for German synth music. This lp has the occasional moment or 2 of tedium in it, but overall, the results are glorious- just listen to the wonderful "Steinsame" for the lp's crowning moment.

An amazing collaboration and essential listening for any fan of synth music, no less Eno or Cluster fans.

Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius comprise the seminal Krautrock band Cluster, and they have a long and storied history. This 1977 album represents a highlight in their long existence, being recorded with Brian Eno, before Eno would reach superstardom producing albums for U2 and others, and one year before Eno released "Music for Films", one of ambient's all-time standards.

"Cluster & Eno" (9 tracks; 37 min.) is actually a step a way from Cluster's earlier repertoire in which Moebius and Roedelius tended to bring longer pieces, often driven hard by synthesizers. This album is instead a collection of purely ambient sounds, generally short pieces, with no melody, just atmospheric. It's hard to pinpoint any highlights among the 9 tracks, as this plays as one long mood piece, but it works just beautifully. It's amazing to hear this, 32 years after its original release, and how fresh it still sounds, and moreover how you can see the origins of Brian Eno's many ambient releases that would follow. This 2007 re-release comes with great liner notes as well, shedding some light on the way Cluster and Eno came about this album.

If you are interested in exploring Cluster's more electronic's side, I would readily recommend "Live 1974", available here on Amazon. Cluster would record another album with Eno in 1978, "After the Heat", which is also most definitely worth checking out. Meanwhile "Cluster & Eno" is a must for both fans of Cluster and Eno.