der plan “geri reig” compact disc

• adrenalin lässt das blut kochen
  
• geri reig
  
• persisches cowboy golf
  
• gefährliche clowns
  
• kleine grabesstille
  
• der weltaufstandsplan
  
• hans und gabi
  
• commerce extérieur mondial sentimentale
  
• was ich von mir denke
  
• san josé car muzak
  
• erste begegnung mit dem tod
  
• ch bin schizophren
  
• nessie
  
• gefährliche clowns (manisch-idiotisch)
  
• die welt ist schlecht
  
  
• es piept
  
• fürstenwall
  
• intermezzo
  
• dark porn
  
• heinz, komm zum feuer
  
• money honey

bureau b press release...

der plan geri reig reissue (originally released 1980) cd release date: july 27, 2012 “geri reig” is der plan’s debut album, but not their first release. an ep, recorded with the aid of an electric memo dictation preceded “geri reig”. but the band is not very keen on reissuing this early work. why did they call themselves “der plan” actually? “a concept which has something to do with the capacity of people to think and shape their future” as plan member moritz reichelt, alias moritz r, once explained. der plan at that time comprised moritz reichelt, frank fenster-macher, robert görl and chrislo haas. their music was menacing, fragmented noise rock, still with guitar and drums, but far removed from the typical (rock) music of the period. when görl and haas departed (to form daf), guitars and drums also disappeared from der plan. new on the team: kurt dahlke alias pyrolator. this was the line-up which recorded “geri reig” in reichelt’s düsseldorf office with a two-channel tape machine. “geri reig” is a punk album in the truest and best sense. new, threatening and, at the same time, humorous. whilst other bands of the era stamped with the seal of “punk” played a faster and harder version of 1950s rock and roll or 1960s garage rock, der plan, like a handful of contemporaries such as the residents or throbbing gristle, not only rejected traditional song structures but jettisoned the whole instrument list. that’s punk for you! allied to a deep aversion to rock music and the cliché that goes with it, was the wish to create something of their own. and “geri reig” is certainly idiosyncratic: fragments and songs, raspy and fragile, melodies and interference, ambient sounds up front in the mix. fine in theory and – rare though it may be – excellent in practice. and it just gets better: the album was well received. moritz r: “as if everyone had been waiting for it.” – “the world is a bad place”? („die welt ist schlecht?“, cf. track 15). not always!

conrad schnitzler “(blau)” long playing record

• die rebellen haben sich in den bergen versteckt
  
  
• jupiter

bureau b press release...

conrad schnitzler (blau) lp (180g vinyl) release date: june 15th, 2012 on the red album rot, conrad schnitzler laid down the direction his musical artistry would take. his second solo, the blue album blau, originally released in 1974, offered confirmation of his intent. maybe the "red" and "blue" tracks were recorded in the same session. the structure, sound and timbre of both lps are so similar as to suggest that this was the case (an unverified assumption nevertheless!). far more important than this historical pedantry is the fact that schnitzler included two brand-new compositions on blau which followed on seamlessly from the previous album. quite simply, he had found his way, a course from which he would not stray as long as he lived. the so-called berlin school (berliner schule) -- with conrad schnitzler one of their number -- had developed its own style of minimalist music. clearly distinct from anglo-american pop music, and no less removed from the minimalist art music of steve reich or philip glass, the focus here was on electronics and elementary rhythmics. the berlin musicians showed no great interest in instrumental or vocal virtuosity, nor were they in thrall to exuberant interleaving of rhythm. with the aid of synthesizers and studio technology, they were bent on breaking into territory hitherto considered the province of a privileged elite, clouded in mystery and secrecy, resonating with uncharted sounds and noise. blau is an archetypal example of this very phenomenon. courage, the pioneering spirit and artistic brilliance can be detected in each part of the album's two infinite sequences. inspired by joseph beuys, schnitzler propagated those very tones beyond the musical realm, detached from tradition, the only tones capable of catalyzing the utterly stagnant pop music and new music scene of the day, injecting them with fresh impulses. questions of harmony, melody and strict form were well and truly rejected by schnitzler. his aural crystals shine like pearls on a string. schnitzler uses his ropes of pearls to weave new, fantastic patterns which constantly shift like kaleidoscopes to reveal unexpected facets; they are sign-posts to spatial and temporal infinity. schnitzler's style was really too idiosyncratic ever to set a precedent, but he was, and still is, one of the most significant inspirations for pop music in more recent times.

conrad schnitzler “(blau)” compact disc

• die rebellen haben sich in den bergen versteckt
  
• jupiter
  
• wild space 1
  
• wild space 2
  
• wild space 3
  
• wild space 4
  
• wild space 5
  
• wild space 6

bureau b press release...

conrad schnitzler (blau) cd release date: june 15th, 2012 on the red album rot, conrad schnitzler laid down the direction his musical artistry would take. his second solo, the blue album blau, originally released in 1974, offered confirmation of his intent. maybe the "red" and "blue" tracks were recorded in the same session. the structure, sound and timbre of both lps are so similar as to suggest that this was the case (an unverified assumption nevertheless!). far more important than this historical pedantry is the fact that schnitzler included two brand-new compositions on blau which followed on seamlessly from the previous album. quite simply, he had found his way, a course from which he would not stray as long as he lived. the so-called berlin school (berliner schule) -- with conrad schnitzler one of their number -- had developed its own style of minimalist music. clearly distinct from anglo-american pop music, and no less removed from the minimalist art music of steve reich or philip glass, the focus here was on electronics and elementary rhythmics. the berlin musicians showed no great interest in instrumental or vocal virtuosity, nor were they in thrall to exuberant interleaving of rhythm. with the aid of synthesizers and studio technology, they were bent on breaking into territory hitherto considered the province of a privileged elite, clouded in mystery and secrecy, resonating with uncharted sounds and noise. blau is an archetypal example of this very phenomenon. courage, the pioneering spirit and artistic brilliance can be detected in each part of the album's two infinite sequences. inspired by joseph beuys, schnitzler propagated those very tones beyond the musical realm, detached from tradition, the only tones capable of catalyzing the utterly stagnant pop music and new music scene of the day, injecting them with fresh impulses. questions of harmony, melody and strict form were well and truly rejected by schnitzler. his aural crystals shine like pearls on a string. schnitzler uses his ropes of pearls to weave new, fantastic patterns which constantly shift like kaleidoscopes to reveal unexpected facets; they are sign-posts to spatial and temporal infinity. schnitzler's style was really too idiosyncratic ever to set a precedent, but he was, and still is, one of the most significant inspirations for pop music in more recent times. digipak reissue with liner notes by asmus tietchens, rare photos and six bonus tracks.

conrad schnitzler “(rot)” long playing record

• meditation
  
  
• krautrock

bureau b press release...

conrad schnitzler (rot) lp (180g vinyl) release date: june 15th, 2012 there was a particular type of artist who could only have emerged in the legendary early 1970s. few musicians fit the bill better than conrad schnitzler (tangerine dream, kluster). revolution, pop art and fluxus created a climate which engendered unbridled artistic and social development. radical utopias, excessive experimentation with drugs, ruthless (in a positive way) transgression of aesthetic frontiers were characteristic of the period. the magic words were "subculture," "progressivity" and "avant-gardism." west berlin, with its unique political status, was a crucible of turbulence. founded in 1968, zodiak free arts lab was the ultimate point of convergence for subculture in west berlin, with conrad schnitzler the driving force behind it. it was also here that tangerine dream and kluster first met up to perform in public. bureau b presents rot (the "red" album) from 1973, schnitzler's first solo lp.

conrad schnitzler “(rot)” compact disc

• meditation
  
• krautrock
  
• red dream

bureau b press release...

conrad schnitzler (rot) cd release date: june 15th, 2012 there was a particular type of artist who could only have emerged in the legendary early 1970s. few musicians fit the bill better than conrad schnitzler (tangerine dream, kluster). revolution, pop art and fluxus created a climate which engendered unbridled artistic and social development. radical utopias, excessive experimentation with drugs, ruthless (in a positive way) transgression of aesthetic frontiers were characteristic of the period. the magic words were "subculture," "progressivity" and "avant-gardism." west berlin, with its unique political status, was a crucible of turbulence. founded in 1968, zodiak free arts lab was the ultimate point of convergence for subculture in west berlin, with conrad schnitzler the driving force behind it. it was also here that tangerine dream and kluster first met up to perform in public. bureau b presents rot (the "red" album) from 1973, schnitzler's first solo lp. digipak reissue with liner notes by asmus tietchens, rare photos and a 20-minute bonus track.

daf “produkt der deutsch-amerikanischen freundschaft” long playing record

• untitled (1)
  
• untitled (2)
  
• untitled (3)
  
• untitled (4)
  
• untitled (5)
  
• untitled (6)
  
• untitled (7)
  
• untitled (8)
  
• untitled (9)
  
• untitled (10)
  
• untitled (11)
  
• untitled (12)
  
  
• untitled (13)
  
• untitled (14)
  
• untitled (15)
  
• untitled (16)
  
• untitled (17)
  
• untitled (18)
  
• untitled (19)
  
• untitled (20)
  
• untitled (21)
  
• untitled (22)

bureau b press release...

daf produkt der deutsch-amerikanischen freundschaft reissue (originally released in 1979) lp (180g vinyl) release date: may 11, 2012 true daf connoisseurs will, of course, be aware of the early phase of the düsseldorf-wuppertal combo. but most fans of the subsequently world-famous duo may well be taken aback when confronted with their debut album: forceful synth bass sounds, snappy rhythms, gabi delgado and leather all conspicuously absent. in their place, pure instrumental, unstructured noise-rock, played by long-haired and moustachioed types! a band can barely have undergone a more extreme metamorphosis. gabi delgado joined the band (hitherto comprising robert görl, kurt dahlke / pyrolator, wolfgang spelmans and michael kemner), before the band discarded the name of you and christened themselves deutsch-amerikanische freundschaft. and he was also on board for the first recording sessions at studio 56 in mühlheim. disappointed with the results (“too close to schlager”, the band thought) and “less than happy” with delgado’s vocals and lyrics (as pyrolator, responsible for electronics, noted), the group dispensed with delgado’s services. yet the creative will was undiminished: “we really wanted to make a record. all the düsseldorf bands — male, mittagspause — already had an album out, everyone except us” and with the singer now gone, an instrumental album was the only option. in the wake of the studio debacle, the decision was taken to take the recording into their own hands. a tape machine and two microphones were set up in wolfgang spelmans’ living room and ten days of unbounded improvisation ensued. and thus it was completed, “produkt der deutsch- amerikanischen freundschaft”: 22 tracks, ranging from 19 seconds to three minutes in length. the influence of can is clearly audible. considering the fact that other prominent noise-rock bands such as chrome, flipper or even sonic youth recorded similar music at a much later date, this “product of deutsch-amerikanische freundschaft” should certainly be recognized as a pioneering work. possibly even the first noise-rock album the world had seen or heard. was the world ready for such brutal, nihilistic sounds in the late 1970s? the world of record companies was not. unable to find a label, daf proved to be not only pioneers of noise, but also pioneers of diy. they found help from the local bank, with pyrolator putting up his car for credit amounting to 3000 marks. a logical step, as he was already running a cassette label called warning records (later becoming ata tak). “produkt der deutsch- amerikanischen freundschaft” was the first lp on the label and was given the catalogue number wr 01 / lp / 1979. sales were so good that pyrolator was able to pay back his loan nice and quickly.

daf “produkt der deutsch-amerikanischen freundschaft” compact disc

• untitled (1) (0:44)
  
• untitled (2) (1:03)
  
• untitled (3) (0:19)
  
• untitled (4) (2:33)
  
• untitled (5) (1:07)
  
• untitled (6) (0:45)
  
• untitled (7) (0:43)
  
• untitled (8) (1:48)
  
• untitled (9) (0:55)
  
• untitled (10) (3:15)
  
• untitled (11) (0:59)
  
• untitled (12) (1:19)
  
• untitled (13) (0:36)
  
• untitled (14) (1:41)
  
• untitled (15) (0:25)
  
• untitled (16) (1:47)
  
• untitled (17) (1:24)
  
• untitled (18) (2:08)
  
• untitled (19) (1:32)
  
• untitled (20) (1:13)
  
• untitled (21) (0:31)
  
• untitled (22) (3:07)

bureau b press release...

daf produkt der deutsch-amerikanischen freundschaft reissue (originally released in 1979) cd release date: may 11, 2012 true daf connoisseurs will, of course, be aware of the early phase of the düsseldorf-wuppertal combo. but most fans of the subsequently world-famous duo may well be taken aback when confronted with their debut album: forceful synth bass sounds, snappy rhythms, gabi delgado and leather all conspicuously absent. in their place, pure instrumental, unstructured noise-rock, played by long-haired and moustachioed types! a band can barely have undergone a more extreme metamorphosis. gabi delgado joined the band (hitherto comprising robert görl, kurt dahlke / pyrolator, wolfgang spelmans and michael kemner), before the band discarded the name of you and christened themselves deutsch-amerikanische freundschaft. and he was also on board for the first recording sessions at studio 56 in mühlheim. disappointed with the results (“too close to schlager”, the band thought) and “less than happy” with delgado’s vocals and lyrics (as pyrolator, responsible for electronics, noted), the group dispensed with delgado’s services. yet the creative will was undiminished: “we really wanted to make a record. all the düsseldorf bands — male, mittagspause — already had an album out, everyone except us” and with the singer now gone, an instrumental album was the only option. in the wake of the studio debacle, the decision was taken to take the recording into their own hands. a tape machine and two microphones were set up in wolfgang spelmans’ living room and ten days of unbounded improvisation ensued. and thus it was completed, “produkt der deutsch- amerikanischen freundschaft”: 22 tracks, ranging from 19 seconds to three minutes in length. the influence of can is clearly audible. considering the fact that other prominent noise-rock bands such as chrome, flipper or even sonic youth recorded similar music at a much later date, this “product of deutsch-amerikanische freundschaft” should certainly be recognized as a pioneering work. possibly even the first noise-rock album the world had seen or heard. was the world ready for such brutal, nihilistic sounds in the late 1970s? the world of record companies was not. unable to find a label, daf proved to be not only pioneers of noise, but also pioneers of diy. they found help from the local bank, with pyrolator putting up his car for credit amounting to 3000 marks. a logical step, as he was already running a cassette label called warning records (later becoming ata tak). “produkt der deutsch- amerikanischen freundschaft” was the first lp on the label and was given the catalogue number wr 01 / lp / 1979. sales were so good that pyrolator was able to pay back his loan nice and quickly.

pyrolator “ausland” long playing record

• max
  
• die haut der frau
  
• mein hund
  
• elefantendisco
  
• fricandel speciaal
  
• gold & silber
  
• bacano, brothercito
  
• 180°
  
• true love
  
  
• studio fatal
  
• cassiopeia
  
• du bist so ... ich träume
  
• vati, es brennt
  
• happiness
  
• danger cruising part ii
  
• true love part 1
  
• ein weihnachtsmann kommt in die disco
  
• hirnriss

bureau b press release...

pyrolator ausland vinyl (180g) release date: march 9, 2012 just two years separate pyrolator’s 1979 debut “inland” and the 1981 album “ausland”. nevertheless, they could hardly be more different from one another. if “inland” reflects the industrial decay and politically explosive atmosphere of 1977 and the years thereafter in the federal republic of germany, then “ausland” is a buoyant, playful and yet groundbreaking pop album. there had been some significant developments since 1979. the ata tak label, which pyrolator had co-founded, had hit a rich vein of form with the debut album by der plan (pyrolator was also a band member), andreas dorau’s hit single “fred vom jupiter” and holger hiller’s debut single. pyrolator made his first trip to the usa, travelling the land from east to west over a period of three months. this all paved the way for the production of “ausland” and pointed the way ahead for the ata tak label as well. on the west coast, pyrolator met up with the los angeles free music society (lafms), a collective in the process of exploring the frontiers between noise and industrial on the one hand and easy listening on the other. it was the influence of such free spirits which opened up the ata tak world and that of pyrolator to “schlager” and its american equivalent, easy listening. this mix of electronic elements and supposedly left-field pop music of times past runs through the ata-tak oeuvre and, with the benefit of hindsight, can be identified as the label’s trademark. a further difference to “inland” is that a long list of musicians participated in the “ausland” recordings. in the usa, pyrolator played together with designer chris lunch and his brother as support act for the likes of dna and x. this moved pyrolator to decide that he would not produce his next album alone, but with other musicians and technicians. with the help of the genius werner lambertz, inventor of “brontologik”, a forerunner of midi systems, and ata tak and der plan cohort frank fenstermacher, pyrolator recorded the backing tracks on which other musicians would subsequently play their overdubs. the critics were in agreement when “ausland” was released. from the progressive “sounds” to the rather more traditional “musikexpress”, all the way to the british “new musical express” (nme), the album met with universal praise. nme heralded pyrolator as a “great pioneer” and quite right too. he is still a pioneer today.

pyrolator “ausland” compact disc

• max (3:15)
  
• die haut der frau (3:06)
  
• mein hund (2:04)
  
• elefantendisco (3:11)
  
• fricandel speciaal (gaat swingen) (1:48)
  
• gold und silber (2:48)
  
• bacano, brothercito! (3:42)
  
• 180ø (2:55)
  
• true love (6:10)
  
• studio fatal (4:13)
  
• cassiopeia (1:46)
  
• du bist so... ich traeume (4:01)
  
• vati, es brennt! (3:14)
  
• happiness (2:55)
  
• danger cruising part ii (3:47)
  
• true love part i (3:34)
  
• ein weihnachtsmann kommt in die disco (4:21)
  
• hirnriss (2:48)
  
• abendmahl (2:23)
  
• program no. 1 (6:53)

bureau b press release...

pyrolator ausland cd release date: march 9, 2012 just two years separate pyrolator’s 1979 debut “inland” and the 1981 album “ausland”. nevertheless, they could hardly be more different from one another. if “inland” reflects the industrial decay and politically explosive atmosphere of 1977 and the years thereafter in the federal republic of germany, then “ausland” is a buoyant, playful and yet groundbreaking pop album. there had been some significant developments since 1979. the ata tak label, which pyrolator had co-founded, had hit a rich vein of form with the debut album by der plan (pyrolator was also a band member), andreas dorau’s hit single “fred vom jupiter” and holger hiller’s debut single. pyrolator made his first trip to the usa, travelling the land from east to west over a period of three months. this all paved the way for the production of “ausland” and pointed the way ahead for the ata tak label as well. on the west coast, pyrolator met up with the los angeles free music society (lafms), a collective in the process of exploring the frontiers between noise and industrial on the one hand and easy listening on the other. it was the influence of such free spirits which opened up the ata tak world and that of pyrolator to “schlager” and its american equivalent, easy listening. this mix of electronic elements and supposedly left-field pop music of times past runs through the ata-tak oeuvre and, with the benefit of hindsight, can be identified as the label’s trademark. a further difference to “inland” is that a long list of musicians participated in the “ausland” recordings. in the usa, pyrolator played together with designer chris lunch and his brother as support act for the likes of dna and x. this moved pyrolator to decide that he would not produce his next album alone, but with other musicians and technicians. with the help of the genius werner lambertz, inventor of “brontologik”, a forerunner of midi systems, and ata tak and der plan cohort frank fenstermacher, pyrolator recorded the backing tracks on which other musicians would subsequently play their overdubs. the critics were in agreement when “ausland” was released. from the progressive “sounds” to the rather more traditional “musikexpress”, all the way to the british “new musical express” (nme), the album met with universal praise. nme heralded pyrolator as a “great pioneer” and quite right too. he is still a pioneer today.

pyrolator “inland” long playing record

• miminal tape 1/2.3
  
• it always rains in wuppertal
  
• inland 1
  
• minimal tape 1/8
  
• danger cruising
  
• inland 2
  
• inland 3
  
• minimal tape 3/7.2
  
  
• bärenstrasse
  
• have a good ride
  
• inland 4
  
• nordatlantik
  
• der volksmund wird beatmet
  
• struktur 01
  
• november muehlheim
  
• ok margo
  
• struktur 22

bureau b press release...

pyrolator inland lp (180g vinyl) release date: march 9, 2012 “inland” provides the musical commentary on the late seventies in west germany, with its undercurrent of paranoia and violence. “inland” is one of the most radical, modern and unconciliatory albums of its, or any other, time. the cover for “inland” perspicaciously illustrates this atmosphere: tones of grey and brown instead of seventies bliss. the political situation in west germany is at its most volatile. the war between the rote armee fraktion (raf) and the state escalated two years before. the spirit of departure which characterized the early years of government by willy brandt and the socialist-liberal coalition, dissolved in the so called “years of lead”. taking part in a demonstration against occupational bans could lead to the very same, and the chances of falling into a terrorist manhunt or staring a gun in the face were not so slim, particularly for young people. pyrolator’s aim was to make a protest album, one detached from all convention. a total absence of common musical structure and an unfiltered rush of sound recordings create a nightmarish, claustrophobic atmosphere. pyrolator used a korg ms20, sq10 sequencer, b20r home organ, a davolisint synthesizer, a logan string orchestra and a dual-channel tape machine. “inland” is both a rejection of the new form of protest song, the throaty, dispairing scream of punk rock, and a rejection of the traditonal form of protest song as nurtured far into the 1980s by the bards of the green, alternative milieu. furthermore, there is another side to “inland”: a desire for something new, a passion for experimentation, seeking to extend one’s own horizon and that of others. this desire runs through all of pyrolator’s work, from his “inland” debut to his latest release “neuland” (issued by bureau b in 2011). thus “inland” remains, in spite of its protests and rejections, a positive album. for inherent in every “no” is a “yes” to something else. maybe to something better.

pyrolator “inland” compact disc

• minimal tape 1_2.3 (2:47)
  
• it always rains wuppertal (3:19)
  
• inland 1 (3:02)
  
• minimal tape 1_8 (3:33)
  
• danger crusing (3:17)
  
• inland 2 (1:43)
  
• inland 3 (2:54)
  
• minimal tape 3_7.2 (4:22)
  
• bärenstrasse (3:31)
  
• have a good ride (2:40)
  
• inland 4 (2:34)
  
• nordatlantik (1:51)
  
  
• der volksmund wird beatmet (4:21)
  
• struktur 01 (2:26)
  
• november muehlheim (2:02)
  
• ok margo (4:20)
  
• die einsamkeit des langstreckenlaeufers (8:24)
  
• struktur 22 (2:23)

bureau b press release...

pyrolator inland cd release date: march 9, 2012 “inland” provides the musical commentary on the late seventies in west germany, with its undercurrent of paranoia and violence. “inland” is one of the most radical, modern and unconciliatory albums of its, or any other, time. the cover for “inland” perspicaciously illustrates this atmosphere: tones of grey and brown instead of seventies bliss. the political situation in west germany is at its most volatile. the war between the rote armee fraktion (raf) and the state escalated two years before. the spirit of departure which characterized the early years of government by willy brandt and the socialist-liberal coalition, dissolved in the so called “years of lead”. taking part in a demonstration against occupational bans could lead to the very same, and the chances of falling into a terrorist manhunt or staring a gun in the face were not so slim, particularly for young people. pyrolator’s aim was to make a protest album, one detached from all convention. a total absence of common musical structure and an unfiltered rush of sound recordings create a nightmarish, claustrophobic atmosphere. pyrolator used a korg ms20, sq10 sequencer, b20r home organ, a davolisint synthesizer, a logan string orchestra and a dual-channel tape machine. “inland” is both a rejection of the new form of protest song, the throaty, dispairing scream of punk rock, and a rejection of the traditonal form of protest song as nurtured far into the 1980s by the bards of the green, alternative milieu. furthermore, there is another side to “inland”: a desire for something new, a passion for experimentation, seeking to extend one’s own horizon and that of others. this desire runs through all of pyrolator’s work, from his “inland” debut to his latest release “neuland” (issued by bureau b in 2011). thus “inland” remains, in spite of its protests and rejections, a positive album. for inherent in every “no” is a “yes” to something else. maybe to something better.

günter schickert “überfällig” long playing record

• puls
  
• in der zeit
  
  
• apricot brandy ii
  
• wanderer

bureau b press release...

günter schickert überfällig reissue (originally released in 1979) lp (180g vinyl) release date: june 22nd, 2012 no sooner had electronic music broken through in germany, principally aligned in the two schools of düsseldorf and berlin, than günter schickert also began his first musical experiments. although gam, the group he founded in 1973, did not then release a record, he did issue his first solo effort, samtvogel, a year later -- an album which was eagerly snapped up and re-released by the brain label. it would take five years for sky records to release his next lp, entitled überfällig (trans. "overdue"), which proved to be the last for a number of years. this album, as its german title suggests, was long overdue. günter schickert had developed his own unique, forward-looking type of music, assuming an exceptional position in the concert of german electronics. in spite of the clearly discernible influence of music from the so-called berlin school (tangerine dream, ash ra tempel etc.), schickert is anything but a copycat. schickert concentrated on pursuing his own ideas and pushing the boundaries of his remarkable aural creations. he is at pains to emphasize that, unlike almost all of his contemporaries, he did not use any synthesizers; his instruments are the electric guitar, his own studio with a multi-track tape machine and a comfortable arsenal of effects. similar experiments had also been attempted by manuel göttsching (inventions for electric guitar) and achim reichel (a.r. & machines: die grüne reise), but without stretching the multifaceted nature of their music to the point of microtonality, as schickert dared to do on überfällig. his own take on minimalism places him closer to the likes of steve reich and glen branca, free from the reach of klaus schulze and tangerine dream. schickert's use of concrete sounds and his completely autonomous way of working in his own studio presaged a stage of development more readily associated with the early 1980s. in 1979, the album was a statement of a virtuosic outsider, a guitarist and sound sculptor whose musical visions transgressed the level of expectation of a potential audience, detached from the electronic mainstream. günter schickert was one of the protagonists who furthered the development of experimental pop music from the outer margins. the reissue of überfällig was, in a word, overdue. - asmus tietchens

günter schickert “überfällig” compact disc

• puls (14:39)
  
• in der zeit (5:10)
  
• apricot brandy ii (11:50)
  
• wanderer (9:50)

bureau b press release...

günter schickert überfällig reissue (originally released in 1979) cd release date: june 22nd, 2012 no sooner had electronic music broken through in germany, principally aligned in the two schools of düsseldorf and berlin, than günter schickert also began his first musical experiments. although gam, the group he founded in 1973, did not then release a record, he did issue his first solo effort, samtvogel, a year later -- an album which was eagerly snapped up and re-released by the brain label. it would take five years for sky records to release his next lp, entitled überfällig (trans. "overdue"), which proved to be the last for a number of years. this album, as its german title suggests, was long overdue. günter schickert had developed his own unique, forward-looking type of music, assuming an exceptional position in the concert of german electronics. in spite of the clearly discernible influence of music from the so-called berlin school (tangerine dream, ash ra tempel etc.), schickert is anything but a copycat. schickert concentrated on pursuing his own ideas and pushing the boundaries of his remarkable aural creations. he is at pains to emphasize that, unlike almost all of his contemporaries, he did not use any synthesizers; his instruments are the electric guitar, his own studio with a multi-track tape machine and a comfortable arsenal of effects. similar experiments had also been attempted by manuel göttsching (inventions for electric guitar) and achim reichel (a.r. & machines: die grüne reise), but without stretching the multifaceted nature of their music to the point of microtonality, as schickert dared to do on überfällig. his own take on minimalism places him closer to the likes of steve reich and glen branca, free from the reach of klaus schulze and tangerine dream. schickert's use of concrete sounds and his completely autonomous way of working in his own studio presaged a stage of development more readily associated with the early 1980s. in 1979, the album was a statement of a virtuosic outsider, a guitarist and sound sculptor whose musical visions transgressed the level of expectation of a potential audience, detached from the electronic mainstream. günter schickert was one of the protagonists who furthered the development of experimental pop music from the outer margins. the reissue of überfällig was, in a word, overdue. - asmus tietchens

39 clocks “subnarcotic” compact disc

• heat of violence (3:35)
  
• dom (electricity elects the rain) (7:31)
  
• psychotic louie louie (3:00)
  
• past tense hopes & instant fears on 42nd street (6:22)
  
• virtuous girl (2:22)
  
• three floors down (3:50)
  
• rainy night insanities (7:14)
  
• a touch of rot (2:21)
  
• aspettando godo (5:27)
  
• past tense hopes & instant fears on 42nd street (live) (6:31)

bureau b press release...

39 clocks subnarcotic cd cat no.: bb95 release date: march 2nd, 2012 retrospectively, one could impute hanover of the late 1970s and early 1980s with the glamorous tristesse normally associated with places like manchester. but it was probably just dull and nothing more. it was here that the band came into existence, earning the greatest compliment one could possibly pay them: they were a foreign body. everything about this band must have unnerved for their contemporaries: the 39 clocks did not sing in german. this at a moment when, for the first time since the end of the second world war, it was possible to hang a “cool” tag on the german language. think neue deutsche welle (german new wave). commercial suicide. and the clocks looked like no one else: grainy black and white photographs reveal two thin men dressed in factory issue black. wearing sunglasses, they are only dimly recognizable. elusive and impossible to categorize: a little bit weird. fittingly, they discarded their names and classified themselves as machines: j.g.39 and c.h.39. a sense of the unreal pervaded their music: sizzling, trippy, repetitive. allusions to late 1960s psychedelia, to can, are on the money. “subnarcotic” is the second 39 clocks album. it still has the capacity to unsettle, it still sounds strange. the conscious (or perhaps unconscious) refusal to flex their muscles, to feel the groove, would be echoed by many lo-fi bands a decade later, but few would match their radical modus operandi. the 39 clocks brought together what did not belong together: noise and fragility, 60s garage punk and synthesizers. manic, chaotic and yet: pop music. in england they would have been welcomed with open arms by the likes of rough trade or factory. in germany, however, reactions were extremely different.

you “time code” long playing record

• time code (3:15)
  
• future/past (5:31)
  
• 20/11/28 (6:22)
  
• deep range (3:09)
  
• taurus-fantasia (2:32)
  
  
• metallique (3:39)
  
• live line (9:02)
  
• bluewater dream (2:10)
  
• mision: possible (5:22)

bureau b press release...

you time code lp (180g vinyl) 27. mai 2011 as synthesizers grew more popular from the mid-seventies onwards, an increasing number of groups swapped the classic instruments of a rock band for sequencers and synthesizers. pioneers (and paragons) of this electronically created music included of course tangerine dream, klaus schulze, manuel göttsching et al, who represent the “berliner schule” (in contrast to the düsseldorfer schule which developed around kraftwerk and co.) a hitherto less celebrated, yet outstanding exponent of the berliner schule was the krefeld combo you (udo hanten, albin meskes). their debut album “electric day” (bb073) immediately launched you into the elite echelon of germany’s electronic music scene. it would take four years for them to deliver the sophomore lp, entitled “time code”. if “electric day” was characterized by harald großkopf’s pulsating drums and uli weber’s solo guitar, “time code” emerged as an altogether more electronic affair, with both großkopf and weber having left the project. reduced to a duo, you largely remained faithful to their style, but expanded upon it. “time code” displays more range and variation than its predecessor “electric day”. down tempo and faster numbers alternate and sugar sweet melodies are followed by expanses of ominously dark or crystal clear synthesizers. hanten and meskes’ new sound was further refined by the use of drum computers and the omission of guitar . the album perfectly illustrates the transition of electronic music from the 1970s to the 1980s. sequencer patterns owe much to the legacy of the berlin school (berliner schule), whilst the synthesizer and drum computer sounds heralded the advent of the new decade. the level of interest and excitement was particularly high in italy, where songs from the album featured heavily on radio. listeners were clearly impressed by “live line”, which has resurfaced in various techno productions over the past twenty years, either as a cover (by diolac duvai, for example), or as “elektro message” (by gigi d’agostino).

you “electric day” compact disc

• electric day (5:51)
  
• magooba (6:30)
  
• son of a true star (5:03)
  
• sequential spectrum part 1 (2:01)
  
• sequential spectrum part 2 (0:45)
  
• slow go (11:56)
  
• zero-eighty-four (8:36)
  
  
• e-night (11:06)
  
• h.rays identity (5:59)
  
• hallucination engine (7:44)
  
• yousless (8:16)

bureau b press release...

you electric day cd release date: may 27th, 2011 as synthesizers grew more popular from the mid-seventies onwards, an increasing number of groups swapped the classic instruments of a rock band for sequencers and synthesizers. pioneers (and paragons) of this electronically created music included of course tangerine dream, klaus schulze, manuel göttsching et al, who represent the “berliner schule” (in contrast to the düsseldorfer schule which developed around kraftwerk and co.) a hitherto less celebrated, yet outstanding exponent of the berliner schule was the krefeld combo you. udo hanten and albin meskes teamed up with another iconic figure of electronic music, harald grosskopf, to issue two fantastic albums as the 1980s began. without disowning their berlin role models, you nevertheless came up with their own hypnotic mix of sequencer patterns, synthesizer melodies, pulsating drums and sporadic acoustic guitar phrases. now and again they even ventured into experimental territory. tracing you’s path from the idea of founding a band to the release of their first lp, one encounters a host of illustrious characters from the electronic / krautrock music scene. peter baumann, for example, a member of tangerine dream for so many years, who was the first to hear the material played to him by hanten and his guitarist uli weber at his paragon studios in berlin. they also met harald grosskopf here, a member of rolf-ulrich kaiser’s “kosmische kuriere” and former drummer with klaus schulze. großkopf was a member of manual göttsching’s ashra band at the time. which just leaves sound engineer, the legendary conny plank. it was he who suggested that you and grosskopf get together to set up the spiegeltraum studio in krefeld, with grosskopf supplying the recording gear and hanten the musical equipment. grosskopf completed “synthesist”, his most famous work, before you recorded “electric day” halfway through 1979. it now appears with four bonus tracks on bureau b.

hans-joachim roedelius “selbstportrait ii” long playing record

• signal (0:10)
  
• gewiss (4:46)
  
• aufbruch (3:45)
  
• schönheitsflecken (3:14)
  
• alle jahre wieder (4:43)
  
• übern fluss (3:45)
  
  
• tee für die geisha (5:25)
  
• kichererbsen (2:30)
  
• grundlsee (4:27)
  
• regenwurm (4:04)
  
• thronfolge (3:44)
  
• signal (0:10)

bureau b press release...

roedelius selbstportrait ii lp (180g vinyl) release date: december 3, 2010 with “selbstportrait i” roedelius gave unequivocal confirmation that he no longer was treading the hitherto common paths of electronic music. “selbstportrait ii” corroborated the findings: for roedelius, electronics would no longer be a means of creating abstract, noise-like music in the future, nor of generating utopian, mechanical rhythmic structures. his own utopia was quite a different place, more in keeping with his own personality and view of the world. hence both self- portraits, in particular “selbstportrait ii”, are programmatic. uniquely among musicians of the german electronic scene at the time, roedelius succeeded in blending european and extra-european musical styles quite intuitively, developing his own language of music, neither epigonic nor weighed down by stereotype, as often occurred in the emerging world music genre of the period. there is a fascinating simplicity to the music of roedelius: his vision does not reside in cloud-cuckoo-land. his utopia is founded in reason, his vision sustained by a simple base: not only did he ignore musical traditions, he also sought to create something new out of them. he succeeded where many of his contemporaries failed, going to ground as they attempted to bridge the postmodern gap. not roedelius. roedelius’ music is littered with stumbling blocks. the listener may not necessarily lose his footing, but will not exactly find himself sitting comfortably as he listens. with this album, roedelius has drawn a clearly delineated picture of himself. few musicians can say the same, few even harbour such aspirations. transcending styles, hypes and modernisms, “selbstportrait ii” is electronically sourced music, yet sounds anything but technical, dismantling the misconception that electronic music has to sound cold and distant.

hans-joachim roedelius “selbstportrait i” long playing record

• in liebe dein (3:43)
  
• girlande (3:47)
  
• inselmoos (5:40)
  
• fabelwein (5:05)
  
• prinzregent (5:53)
  
  
• kamee (3:59)
  
• herold (3:32)
  
• halmharfe (3:24)
  
• arcona (5:05)
  
• staunen im fjord (3:37)
  
• minne (2:09)

bureau b press release...

roedelius selbstportrait i lp (180g vinyl) release date: december 3, 2010 alongside his ongoing work with cluster and harmonia, roedelius amassed an almost incalculable number of musical notations during his time in the idyllic weser uplands. fleeting sketches, spontaneous improvisations, implied miniatures, rough compositions – roedelius recorded virtually every idea he came up with outside the studio sessions on his revox a77 reel to reel ; with the basic intention of capturing his moments of inspiration, he simply let the tape run as he played around on the farfisa organ. sound quality was not his prime concern, as he was not as yet entertaining any notion of releasing the results. as roedelius recalls, costly tape spools were at a premium, so he recorded over older tapes in mono, at a less than ideal speed. substandard, technically speaking (or listening), but as a self portrait, nothing short of a masterpiece. it would be inappropriate to measure this album by the hi- fidelity yardstick ; see it as something closer to an intimate confession, an unguarded communiqué from one person to another. bordering on naivety and free of conceit, roedelius introduces us to his world through these chiffonesque études. there may be little variation in the farfisa sound, but this is soon forgotten when roedelius invites us to listen, to enter the experience. no expensive technology, no producer, no collaborators. this is unfiltered personality, the real roedelius. musically, “selbstportrait i” is characterized by a combination of ländler, minimalism and harmonic simplicity. the weser uplands, where roedelius recorded his music, are certainly no arcadia and the village of forst is anything but atlantis, but perhaps it could become the graceland of german electronic music.

hans-joachim roedelius “selbstportrait i” compact disc

• in liebe dein (3:43)
  
• girlande (3:47)
  
• inselmoos (5:40)
  
• fabelwein (5:05)
  
• prinzregent (5:53)
  
• kamee (3:59)
  
• herold (3:32)
  
• halmharfe (3:24)
  
• arcona (5:05)
  
• staunen im fjord (3:37)
  
• minne (2:09)

bureau b press release...

roedelius selbstportrait i cd release date: december 3, 2010 alongside his ongoing work with cluster and harmonia, roedelius amassed an almost incalculable number of musical notations during his time in the idyllic weser uplands. fleeting sketches, spontaneous improvisations, implied miniatures, rough compositions – roedelius recorded virtually every idea he came up with outside the studio sessions on his revox a77 reel to reel ; with the basic intention of capturing his moments of inspiration, he simply let the tape run as he played around on the farfisa organ. sound quality was not his prime concern, as he was not as yet entertaining any notion of releasing the results. as roedelius recalls, costly tape spools were at a premium, so he recorded over older tapes in mono, at a less than ideal speed. substandard, technically speaking (or listening), but as a self portrait, nothing short of a masterpiece. it would be inappropriate to measure this album by the hi- fidelity yardstick ; see it as something closer to an intimate confession, an unguarded communiqué from one person to another. bordering on naivety and free of conceit, roedelius introduces us to his world through these chiffonesque études. there may be little variation in the farfisa sound, but this is soon forgotten when roedelius invites us to listen, to enter the experience. no expensive technology, no producer, no collaborators. this is unfiltered personality, the real roedelius. musically, “selbstportrait i” is characterized by a combination of ländler, minimalism and harmonic simplicity. the weser uplands, where roedelius recorded his music, are certainly no arcadia and the village of forst is anything but atlantis, but perhaps it could become the graceland of german electronic music.

cluster “cluster 71” compact disc

• (untitled) (1) (7:42)
  
• (untitled) (2) (15:43)
  
• (untitled) (3) (21:32)

bureau b press release...

cluster cluster 71 cd release date: december 3, 2010 cluster 71 is a monster: the debut work from the year 1971 (actually just called cluster) contains a mere three tracks (untitled) and is quite an ordeal for untrained ears – back then, at least. yet the album pointed the way forward like no other electronic opus. cluster’s previous incarnation was a trio named kluster. a change in direction and musical differences moved dieter moebius and hans-joachim roedelius to split from their third member, konrad schnitzler, in 1970. the following year, as well as playing live, they recorded their first album, cluster 71, in publisher ralf arnie’s star musik studio in hamburg. here they first met conny plank, who would himself become a legend. they remained close friends until his death in 1987. early cluster music was new. new in the sense that it did not continue any tradition, instead laying the foundations for a future tradition. the duo’s utter renunciation of conventional harmony and rhythm, their embracing of near total aural abstraction, confident use of noise, rigorous live electronic improvisation and a positive mindset tuned to winning rather than losing – these were all factors in cluster’s innovative trailblazing of 1971. for want of a better category, cluster 71 was classified rather inappropriately and incorrectly as “cosmic". few recognized cluster for what it was - the synthesis of pop music stripped of embarrassing glamour and so-called serious music without intellectual constraints. moebius and roedelius took the liberty of raiding both disciplines to perfect their musical concept. a common enough practice today, but akin to a palace revolution in 1971. so it is that three pieces of electronic music meander and pulsate through cluster 71, with no beginning and no end. cluster’s music is free and open in all directions. there are sounds, noises and structures to be heard on this album which would become ingrained in the electronic pop music of the 1980s and 1990s. cluster had taken the first step into the future with cluster 71.

hans-joachim roedelius “lustwandel” long playing record

• lustwandel (3:49)
  
• legende (2:10)
  
• ansinnen (1:04)
  
• betrachtung (2:12)
  
• draußen vorbei (4:16)
  
• harlekin (1:05)
  
• von ferne her (3:28)
  
  
• vom fliegen (3:24)
  
• willkommen (1:56)
  
• pirouette (1:33)
  
• dein antlitz (4:07)
  
• langer atem (7:15)
  
• die andere blume (1:23)

bureau b press release...

roedelius lustwandel lp (180g vinyl) release date: june 4th, 2010 this album saw hans-joachim roedelius fulfill a dream he had long since cherished. a series of chamber music pieces, with grand piano solos taking centre stage in some places, archaised percussion patterns in others. lustwandel represents a logical progression, following on from jardin au fou (rereleased on bureau b in 2009). both albums were recorded at paragon studios in 1979 and produced by peter baumann (tangerine dream). electronica in the sense of synthetic sound sources or rhythm are absent from lustwandel, in keeping with so many roedelius solo works. this led to lively action amongst cluster fans 30 years ago, as they divided into different camps. roedelius’ unique musical style and irrepressible enthusiasm take his listeners down more of a sidetrack to the aural landscape of european harmonic and rhythmic tradition. there are obvious parallels to so-called serious chamber music, if not all the way along the route. his music has never been bound by contemporary aesthetic debate nor susceptible to emerging theory. as an autodidact, his techniques of composition and piano playing are so well developed, that roedelius has never wanted, nor needed to bother himself with any of that. it is a carefree roedelius who saunters through both the 19th and late 20th centuries. boundaries dissolve in his music. here the glow of a magic lantern, there the glare of a neon light. herein lay the originality of lustwandel: he availed himself of traditional forms yet expressed them in contemporaneous fashion. roedelius and lustwandel could easily have been assimilated into the postmodern era which arrived in the 1970s. but, as usual, he was many miles away from the hub of cultural activity, without the slightest inclination to pay any attention to new phenonema. this child of the sun walks some very different paths indeed.

hans-joachim roedelius “lustwandel” compact disc

• lustwandel (3:49)
  
• legende (2:10)
  
• ansinnen (1:04)
  
• betrachtung (2:12)
  
• draußen vorbei (4:16)
  
• harlekin (1:05)
  
• von ferne her (3:28)
  
• vom fliegen (3:24)
  
• willkommen (1:56)
  
• pirouette (1:33)
  
• dein antlitz (4:07)
  
• langer atem (7:15)
  
• die andere blume (1:23)

bureau b press release...

roedelius lustwandel cd release date: june 4th, 2010 this album saw hans-joachim roedelius fulfill a dream he had long since cherished. a series of chamber music pieces, with grand piano solos taking centre stage in some places, archaised percussion patterns in others. lustwandel represents a logical progression, following on from jardin au fou (rereleased on bureau b in 2009). both albums were recorded at paragon studios in 1979 and produced by peter baumann (tangerine dream). electronica in the sense of synthetic sound sources or rhythm are absent from lustwandel, in keeping with so many roedelius solo works. this led to lively action amongst cluster fans 30 years ago, as they divided into different camps. roedelius’ unique musical style and irrepressible enthusiasm take his listeners down more of a sidetrack to the aural landscape of european harmonic and rhythmic tradition. there are obvious parallels to so-called serious chamber music, if not all the way along the route. his music has never been bound by contemporary aesthetic debate nor susceptible to emerging theory. as an autodidact, his techniques of composition and piano playing are so well developed, that roedelius has never wanted, nor needed to bother himself with any of that. it is a carefree roedelius who saunters through both the 19th and late 20th centuries. boundaries dissolve in his music. here the glow of a magic lantern, there the glare of a neon light. herein lay the originality of lustwandel: he availed himself of traditional forms yet expressed them in contemporaneous fashion. roedelius and lustwandel could easily have been assimilated into the postmodern era which arrived in the 1970s. but, as usual, he was many miles away from the hub of cultural activity, without the slightest inclination to pay any attention to new phenonema. this child of the sun walks some very different paths indeed.

dieter moebius / conrad plank “material” long playing record

• conditionierer (8:46)
  
• infiltration (7:40)
  
  
• tollkühn (6:11)
  
• osmo-fantor (4:27)
  
• nordöstliches gefühl (7:15)

bureau b press release...

mœbius & plank material in stores: may 7th 2010 cat no: bb49 • lp (180g vinyl) dieter moebius and conny plank got to know each other through their work on cluster’s 1971 album and remained friends until plank’s death in 1987. they made a congenial pair as musicians, as amply demonstrated by their brace of albums “rastakraut pasta” (1980) and “material” (1981). on their second album material, moebius and plank ventured far, far away from the double coordinates of the harmonia world and pop music cosmos. amazingly, they did not find themselves floating in space, but made an exemplary landing, avoiding getting caught between a rock and a hard place. “material” saw them generate a form of genre-busting electronic music, more radical than anything one might have expected to come out of germany, not even from the likes of cluster or harmonia. having said that, one should add that the album is in no way a copy of the new wave and industrial scenes that were enjoying such prominence at the time. “material” is, in the best sense of the word, without style, that is to say, it cannot be aligned with any of the conventional styles available. on these two albums, moebius and plank take up their place in a lengthy list of musicians and composers who, from roughly the end of the 1970s, gave up caring about which stylistic category their music might belong to, no longer looking upon experimentation as a strategy of reckless abandon, but as a perfectly normal course of action.

dieter moebius / conrad plank “material” compact disc

• conditionierer (8:46)
  
• infiltration (7:40)
  
• tollkühn (6:11)
  
• osmo-fantor (4:27)
  
• nordöstliches gefühl (7:15)

bureau b press release...

mœbius & plank material in stores: may 7th 2010 cat no: bb49 • cd dieter moebius and conny plank got to know each other through their work on cluster’s 1971 album and remained friends until plank’s death in 1987. they made a congenial pair as musicians, as amply demonstrated by their brace of albums “rastakraut pasta” (1980) and “material” (1981). on their second album material, moebius and plank ventured far, far away from the double coordinates of the harmonia world and pop music cosmos. amazingly, they did not find themselves floating in space, but made an exemplary landing, avoiding getting caught between a rock and a hard place. “material” saw them generate a form of genre-busting electronic music, more radical than anything one might have expected to come out of germany, not even from the likes of cluster or harmonia. having said that, one should add that the album is in no way a copy of the new wave and industrial scenes that were enjoying such prominence at the time. “material” is, in the best sense of the word, without style, that is to say, it cannot be aligned with any of the conventional styles available. on these two albums, moebius and plank take up their place in a lengthy list of musicians and composers who, from roughly the end of the 1970s, gave up caring about which stylistic category their music might belong to, no longer looking upon experimentation as a strategy of reckless abandon, but as a perfectly normal course of action.

hans-joachim roedelius “wenn der südwind weht” long playing record

• wenn der südwind weht (4:14)
  
• veilchenwurzeln (5:05)
  
• mein freund farouk (4:19)
  
• mutee (3:56)
  
• freudentanz (2:24)
  
  
• goldregen (1:05)
  
• auf leisen sohlen (3:52)
  
• saumpfad (8:33)
  
• sonnengeflecht (3:31)
  
• felix austria (4:20)

bureau b press release...

roedelius wenn der südwind weht release: feb 5th, 2010 cat no: bb41 • lp “where on earth does roedelius find such a beautiful array of notes?” wonders asmus tietchens in his sleeve notes for this reissue. not an unreasonable question. hans-joachim roedelius, a pioneer of ambient music, krautrock and, arguably, synthesizer pop, member of such seminal bands as cluster and harmonia, revels in alien worlds on this, his seventh solo record. “music to be listened to quietly”, as roedelius advised on the lp cover. indeed, listening at low volume enhances the sense of otherworldliness quite considerably. and yet, wenn der südwind weht (when the south wind is blowing) can hardly be termed “spacey” nor psychedelic in the slightest. electronic excesses are absent, aural exotica off-limits, bizarre cacophonies non-existent. the individual tracks are compact, lined up in quick succession like a string of pearls. wherein lies their fascination? from what distant place do they reach out to the listener? first of all, there is the roedelian “quietitude”. even when the music is turned up, it remains quiet in character, almost as if wrapped in cotton wool. the quiet nature of this music is inseparable from the serene and tranquil manner in which roedelius goes about creating his typical harmonies and melodies on an electric organ of decidedly limited sonic variability. roedelius leaves in the occasional blip and electric interference or tape hiss — nothing can distract him from the inspiration of the moment as it feeds his music. the contrast with the perfect, yet impersonal precision of minimalism could not be greater. improvisation is the driving force of roedelius’s music. without a trace of exhibitionism, the undisguised roedelius externalizes himself through his music with an honesty that could move one to tears. as a member of cluster and harmonia, such radicalism was never open to him. südwind is an undisputed highlight in the roedelius canon.