Tricky one to review this as it is a boxset and therefore part of this review should include comments on the presentation of the boxset.
Alas, I only have the music to review and well, everything has already been said about this band and by people far better qualified than me to pass judgement. Nevertheless, this collection covers all the studio albums they released between these dates plus a bonus disk of material from two concerts performed in the seventies. As a huge fan of the 'Zuckerzeit' album I couldn't wait to dive in and find out a bit more about this band and I was curious most of all about their beginnings.
'The Cluster 71' album is where it all began. Julian Cope places the three albums that followed this in the top half of his Krautrock Top 50 and it surprises me that he omits '71' because it is simply amazing. Three tracks at 7, 15 and 21 minutes approximately, take you deeper into a new world, which is perhaps how it might have sounded 45 years ago? Not so much the sound of two men making music as the sound of two men listening to their machines making music out of the traditional sounds they put into them. It is a riotous affair, quite dissonant at times and noisy but immersive and fascinating. At the time they were probably working at the forefront of technology when people perhaps didn't quite know what sounds their equipment would even make once it had all been set running.
I think Saint Julian plumped for 'II' due to the fact that the first album was extremely hard to get hold of for your average music fan and for that reason 'Cluster II' was the first album by them that most people actually heard. 'Cluster II' has more normal length tracks on it, perhaps a sign the band were already attempting to move away from pretension? 'II' also has a bit more 'thickness' in the effect department. It sounds a bit more like something a rock band might do. Surely Loop must have heard 'Im Suden' like, a kazillion times right? My preference is for the darker waters of '71' but we're splitting hairs here and there is a definite thread between the two.
'Zuckerzeit' could be said to be the moment where the band embraced pop but it is done in such a naive way that the overall effect is one of sublimity. It is interesting to note that it is in fact two mini solo albums, one side from each member but I couldn't give a monkey's. I love it and that's all I need to know. How could anyone not fall in love with its irresistible charms? This is the album that got me interested in krautrock and yet is it even krautrock in the first place?
This is also when Michael Rother came on board as a co-producer. 'Sowiesoso' followed (Rother has departed) and is spoken of in hushed and reverent tones and even the title lends itself to a rhythmic whisper. The title probably comes from a German word but it sounds like a place in Africa to me and it even sounds a little like that to me e.g. 'Umleitung'. Much has been made of the countryside setting in which this was recorded and also the fact that they now had their own recording equipment, albeit fairly rudimentary and I guess you could sum it all up by saying that here is a band at one with both their surroundings and their processes. Again it is interesting to compare it to its predecessor and see it as a further distillation of that work. To these ears it simply sounds like happiness...yeah happiness. Man, nature and technology creating something anew, ancient and futuristic.
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Next comes the Eno period. I suppose you could ask who jumped on who's bandwagon but I guess if no one made them work together then clearly it was a meeting of like-minds. 'After the Heat' and 'Cluster & Eno' are worth thinking about together. Received wisdom (liner notes) has it that 'After the Heat' is Eno-led and 'Cluster & Eno' is Cluster led and one might prefer one or 'tother, depending?
'After the Heat' certainly includes vocals by Eno on the last three tracks and that can make it seem less cohesive but it remains a fascinating, experimental album. I personally feel that Eno's vocals do detract from it whereas 'Cluster & Eno' finds its groove and then luxuriates in it. It is also more of a piano album than a synth album which I quite like. It has some lovely textures and makes you want to sing without telling you how to.
Should I look at 'Grosses Wasser' and 'Curiosum' together? Well why not. The first has five short tracks and one 19 minute monster. It is also an album they decided to record in the studio of Peter Baumann from Tangerine Dream and this must have been a step out of their comfort zone, not that you would notice it. What strikes me above all is how much this sounds like what you might call a traditional pop album, at least in comparison to their previous work. Many disparate elements are brought together into a cohesive whole and it makes for a great statement.
'Curiosum' ended up being the last thing they would do together for nine years although they were probably unaware of that at the time. Punk had been and gone by now so the music game had undergone a seismic shift but that doesn't seem to have affected Cluster in any way, shape or form. They were true musical anarchists long before that one supposes.
'Curiosum' ranges between childlike numbers (Seltsame) similar to 'Zuckerzeit' and more sombre tracks (Helle Melange) that would not be out of place on 'Cluster & Eno. The standout track is probably the closer 'Ufer' which seems to travel through all their major themes in one beautiful eight minute piece.
The bonus disk includes two 20 minute tracks culled from live concerts in the 70's and you know what you are going to get. A wondrous racket. If any of you are even remotely interested in finding out more about Cluster I would recommend that this essential boxset is the place to start. In fact it is entirely possible that the words 'essential boxset' will never again be mentioned by me.
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