Artist : Harmonia
Title : Live 1974
Genre : Electronic
Year : 2007
Date : 03/2008
Bitrate : VBR kbps
Tracks : 05
Label : Gr÷nland Records
Source : Vinyl
Encoder : Lame 3.97
Length : 57:59 min
Size : 83,2 MB
Tracklist:
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01.schaumburg 10:49
02.veteranissimo 17:24
03.arabesque 05:22
04.holta-polta 14:59
05.ueber ottenstein 09:25
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57:59 min
YouÆve heard of Kraftwerk, Neu! and Cluster, right? How about Harmonia? ItÆs much less likely because,
like many trailblazers of their own era, they were ignored at the time. Well, beyond the æHow to buy
KrautrockÆ section in your local record shop sits a further, towering wall of German space music to explore
and first on your list should be Harmonia. Trust us, itÆs worth your time. TheyÆre a vital discovery for anyone
who thrills in kicking back and nodding out to motorik grooves, proto-ambience and a relentless, euphoric
drive. And, get this, theyÆre comprised of three of GermanyÆs experimental music heavyweights, Michael
Rother, Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius û all of whom played in the aforementioned stars of
Krautrock.
ThatÆs right. Harmonia were formed from the crusts of Kraftwerk, Neu! and Cluster and make up
something equally as tantalising as any of those three acts, inspired, according to Moebius, by æVelvet
Underground, Mozart, Coltrane, Brel, Arabic, Hindu à the list goes on and on.Æ Over the years theyÆve
turned the heads of anyone whoÆs heard them, such as Brian Eno û who once declared them the worldÆs
most important rock band û David Bowie, the Edge, Aphex Twin and, more recently, Secret Machines,
whoÆve been known to include a cover of æ(Deluxe) Immer WiederÆ in their sets.
In their short time together (1973-76), the trio released two albums: 1974Æs strung-out æMusik Von
HarmoniaÆ and the friendlier electro-pop of æDe LuxeÆ. Now, with renewed interest in them and the Krautrock
ægenreÆ in general, comes new material. Well, not new exactly, but unreleased, in the shape of æHarmonia
live 1974Æ, a dusted-down recording of hypnotic machine music from a gig on March 23rd 1974. It was
recorded at the Penny Station Club (a former railway station in Griessem) æin front of about fifty people,Æ
according to Neu! mainman Rother, who played the same venue in 1971 when he was still a member of
Kraftwerk.
It might be a live record but it wonÆt satisfy anybody in search of a rowdy, feel-like-youÆre-there gig
atmosphere; thereÆs no whooping, applause or even heckling. ItÆs simply the sound of a band locked into a
groove, backs to the audience (as youÆll see on the album sleeve) and concentrating hard in an effort to
blow minds and take their industrial space music to the further reaches. Rother suggests that the lack of
applause and noise wasnÆt because of audience indifference but because every member of the crowd is
either stoned (æno incense sticks though,Æ reassures Rother) or because they couldnÆt decipher when one
ten-minute epic started and another finished.
Amazingly, it still sounds as experimental as it must have done in that former railway station thirty-three
years ago. It certainly shows the kids a thing or two about losing themselves in music. The album contains
just one track under nine-minutes, featuring the wiggy, industrial chug (it was recorded in a former railway
station) of æSchaumburgÆ; the pulsing, seventeen-minute opus that is æVeteranissimoÆ; the almost pop
song-short æArabesqueÆ; the dark and dubby, proto-trip hop of æHolta PoltaÆ and ambient template æUeber
OttensteinÆ.
Full of twists, turns and hidden depths, these experiments-in-sound are what Roedelius calls artistic
science: æWe were û still are~û experimental. Science and art are really sisters in the way they approach
reality, exploring what there is and trying to do something different with it.Æ LetÆs hope that, with the release
of æHarmonia live 1974Æ, a new generation picks up this baton.
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