Customer Reviews

Harmonia

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This release sees the initial collaboration between the electronic duo Cluster and NEU! multi-instrumentalist Michael Rother, with the result being perhaps one of the best examples of the Krautrock form. This release, along with the more flowing and poppy "Deluxe", takes the industrialisms of early Cluster and the driving rock mechanisms of NEU! and splices them together to concoct a very satisfying artifact. Stuttering electronic rhythms sit alongside alternately tranquil and creepy ethereal ambiences here, making this an excellent look at the mid-70s German scene prior to Kraftwerk's "Autobahn" and its blowing the doors open to this style of music. Those interested at all in the early days of electronic pop MUST own a copy of this.

Cluster and Neu's Michael Rother make an amazing, and mesmerizing first album here as Harmonium. Obviously very influential for David Bowie's Berlin albums Low and Heroes not to mention Brian Eno (who later collaborated with Cluster), Harmonia is dreamlike, unsettling, hypnotic, yet most times beat driven. It epitomizes what was interesting about so-called krautrock: rock beats, rhythm, repetition, simple yet engaging melodies and avant-garde timbre and tonal overlays. This is a powerful atmospheric album and it's not to be missed for those who enjoy that '70s German progressive rock sound a la Faust, Can and Popul Vuh. Check it out if you want to hear a band and sound that influenced Stereolab, My Bloody Valentine and to some extent Radiohead among others. It still sounds fresh and adventurous today.

Originally released in 1974,'Musik Von' is a true krautrock gem.In my humble opinion,it sounds like it could've EASILY been Neu's fourth lp.Cluster members Moebius and Roedelius joined forces with Neu! mastermind Michael Rother to assemble this timeless classic.I ended up waiting a while to get a copy of this CD,but it was WELL worth it.Though I cannot understand the song titles,my favorites are "Watassi","Sehr Kosmisch",the mind erasing "Ahrwurm" and "Ahoi!".A MUST have for any true fan of this genre.

This one is near the top in my humble opinion. A more perfect collaboration is hard to imagine - the combination of the cascading guitars of Neu! with the minimal electronic explorations of Cluster produce a brilliant sum that is far greater than its individual elements. Drone, drama, intensity, repitition, beauty, all instrumental. Groundbreaking composition that hardly anyone even knows about, and gosh darn it they should!

Beware that this release is COPY CONTROLLED. You might want to consider the Japanese release on Metronome; it costs a bit more but I don't think it suffers from this issue.

Lots of rhythmic pulsing, gyrating tones ping ponged on analog recorders, sounds of synth, guitar, and synthetic percussion.
Along the lines of early Popul vuh, and later Manual Gottsching (though without the compelling and astonishing guitar lead work).

This material, and others like it, (these fellows were from Cluster and Neu!) laid the foundations of what would be come "new wave" and electronica 10-20 years later.

Though, these early bands appreciated a primitiveness to the sound that gives them a kind of authenticity that was lost later on.
It's not all rhythmic dance club mix such and such, it's also noise scapes and other interesting artifacts.
Enjoy!

First things first: earlier this year I finally saw the instructive "Kraftwerk and the Electronic Revolution" DVD documentary, and in it a bunch of Germany's so-called "Krautrock" scene is discussed, including of course Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Neu!, Can, etc., but also a number of bands with whom I was less familiar, or not familiar at all. Harmonia is one of those bands, so I started reading up a bit on these guys, and after having listened to their excellent "Live 1974" album that was issued in 2007, I decided to start from the top, and get their debut album. Harmonia is basically the guys from Cluster (Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius), with Neu's Michael Rother as the third band member.

"Musik von Harmonia" (8 tracks; 42 min.) starts of with a blazing 6 min. "Watussi", and is then followed by an even better 11 min. "Sehr Komisch", a long track reminiscent of early Tangerine Dream (the title of the track says it all, really). "Sonnenschein" is the last track of the original "A" side of the album, which I rate it 4.5 stars. Side "B" consists for 5 mostly shorter songs (in the 3 to 5 min. range) and they are nice (check out in particular the threathening "Ohrwurm" and also "Veterano"), but not quite as compelling as the earlier songs on the album, so I rate Side B 3.5 stars.

Still, in all, this is a very satisfying album. How it is that, being the huge fan of Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze and Kraftwerk that I am, I had not heard of these guys until recently is a mystery to me but better late than never. It blows the mind that this album came out exactly 35 years ago, as it still sounds fresh and innovative after all these years. "Musik von Harmonia" is highly recommended!

OK, this is another seminal german music release from the Neu! people. Even if it is less influential than Neu! itself or less fun than let's say La Dusseldorf, this is still very unbeatable Krautrock.

As ambient music goes, this is on the more aggressive end of the scale. Take the repeating loops of Steve Riech or Phillip Glass, and it is a whole different game from Eno's Discrete Music or Music For Airports, with float in space

Harmonia has the loops and rythms that make this ambient music of the consious, not the sub consious. You can hear the clicks and footsteps of the loops Harmonia sets up here, and the melodic little stabs placed on top. All this is tuneful and a great listen. Even if you are not a big fan of ambient music, this works as plain music. You defiantely know it is on, and don't have to listen for every nuance the way you might on the Eno albums mentioned above.

On all levels, this works. Great cover.

The lonely German mind that created this, really brings accross moods that are unfamiliar to the everyday life of the MTV watching 1990s psyche. it is very refreshing. I'm not sure of the history surrounding it, but I think it was seminal, in the same vein as Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream. Bis Bald and Tchuss!