RoedeliusSelbstportrait I
Bureau B
I'm gonna pretend for a minute that this blog has no particular aesthetic. I stumbled down the embarrassment that is 18th St. NW the other afternoon and picked up this one from Red Onion (surprise surprise - very likely the only place you'd find a title like this in DC). I've been a longtime fan of Cluster, Harmonia, Conny Plank and just about anything that came out of the 1970's Germanic landscape. I even went as far as to write a graduate thesis on the Zodiac Free Arts Lab in West Berlin, which was co-founded by Roedelius in 1967. I think it's since become a porn shop or something... maybe Chuck E. Cheese. Anyway, handing over an hour's pay for this one was a no-brainer.
Mr. Roedelius (who turns the decidedly palindromic age of 77 this year) was and still is a prolific motherfucker, having recorded this set during his off-time from Harmonia, Cluster, and both of those acts' sessions with Mr. Eno. Oh, to kick back and press record when you're not busy inventing ambient music. The liner notes here suggest a bucolic tone - Roedelius claims that these are spontaneous compositions influenced by "balmy summer evenings" in the Weser Uplands. Just him and his Farfisa VIP 600, a shitty reel-to-reel, and a few effects pedals, watching the deer fornicate outside his perch of pleasant living. This is the one to have when you're having more than one.
Roedelius :: In Liebe Dein
Thanks for the tip. And to hear a really wacky mix, make a Roedelius station in Pandora.
ReplyDeletewould love to read a pdf of your thesis.... can you post?
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