Cluster & Eno: Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Dieter Moebius, Brian Eno. Additional personnel: Holger Czukay (bass); Asmus Tietchens, Okko Becker. Recorded at Conny's Studio, Germany in June 1977. Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius, core members of the pioneering German space-rock outfit Cluster, join British soundscapist extraordinaire Brian Eno for this 1977 excursion into early ambient electronica. Sophisticated, rhythmic, and evocative, the music on CLUSTER & ENO blends ethereal washes of keyboard, repetitious piano sequences, and occasionally edgy guitar and bass accents to create strange, beautiful cerebral landscapes. The recording is notable on two points, in particular. The first is that, while delicately atmospheric, CLUSTER & ENO transcends the flavorless fare made by some of the ambient and New Age artists that followed the footsteps of these European innovators. The music here is always challenging and engaging, and rewards both concentrated listening and background absorption. The second virtue is that CLUSTER & ENO predates the glut of ambient and IDM music of the mid-'90s by almost 20 years, while matching, and arguably surpassing, much of that material. Though this music is not beat-based, its attention to pulses and off-kilter atmospheres anticipate the aesthetic of the "trance" and "ill-bient" styles by decades. In part, because the sounds produced here are organic (i.e. not computer-generated), this mesmerizing music is as fresh today as upon its release.
1 Ho Renomo Eno, Moebius, Roedelius 5:11 2 Schöne Hände Eno, Moebius, Roedelius 3:05 3 Steinsame Eno, Moebius, Roedelius 4:12 4 Wehrmut Eno, Moebius, Roedelius 5:04 5 Mit Simaen Eno, Moebius, Roedelius 1:32 6 Selange Eno, Moebius, Roedelius 3:34 7 Die Bunge Eno, Moebius, Roedelius 3:47 8 One Eno, Moebius, Roedelius 6:19 9 Für Luise Eno, Moebius, Roedelius 3:26