Zuckerzeit [IMPORT] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Cluster

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 30, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 1974
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Universal Japan
• ASIN: B0007WZURY
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #431,218 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Hollywood

2. Caramel

3. Rote Riki

4. Rosa

5. Caramba

6. Fotschi Tong

7. James

8. Marzipan

9. Rotor

10. Heiße Lippen

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This album came as quite a surprise to fans of Cluster's early ambient soundscape or industrial experiments. Suddenly their music became more joyful, funny, melodic and all in all more accessible. This album consists of ten pieces of music that are driven forward by a primitive drum machine, synthesizers and different traditional instruments. Remastered and comes packaged in a miniature LP sleeve. 2005.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The sounds of today (and tomorrow) from yesterday., January 5, 2006

By	squarehawk2 (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

Zuckerzeit ("Sugar Era") proves to be a classic upon first listen. The album was a progressive move forward for Roedelius and Moebius who began to compose with rhythmic structures by way of an early drum machine and a stronger emphasis on harmony, a great departure from "Cluster II". What results is a fresh and warm analog experience which many to this very day are trying to recapture but so very few do. Re-mastering seems to have been well done.

I wonder why this release is not as well known as the classic "Autobahn" considering they both came out in 1974.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 Stars... engaging at times but not enough so, February 2, 2009

By	Paul Allaer (Cincinnati) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Zuckerzeit (Audio CD)

First things first: I recently 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. Kluster (later renamed to Cluster) is one of those bands, so I started reading up a bit on these guys, and ordered this CD.

"Zuckerzeit" (1974; 10 tracks, 38 min.) is somewhat of a curiosity. Band members Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius were at a crosspoint in their career, and for this album rather than the full-blown space rock one might suspect, Roedelius and Moebius each contributed 5 racks, ranging from 2 to 6 min. Moebius seems to be the pushing the band into a further experimental direction, check out "Rote Riki", by far the longest of the tracks here, and also the most abstract piece. I love it. Roedilius' pieces remind me more of the latter days of Tangerine Dream, almost new age-like. Check for example "Rosa" and "Hollywood". Not bad, but not terribly engaging or demanding either. His "Fotchi Tong" and Marzipan" tracks are much better, though.

In all, this is not a bad album, but not a great one either. I will be exploring more of the Cluster albums in the near future, in particular and can't wait to see where that will lead me, but I've got "Cluster II" and the Eno-collaborations on my radar screen already.