Qluster - Echtzeit: of Krautrock’s original framework but not constricted by it

Echtzeit
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Artist: Qluster
Genre: Electronic
Label: Bureau B

If there’s a more liquid, melodic strain of music than prime-time Krautrock - specifically, in the late 1960s/early to mid-1970s, created by Can, Kraftwerk, Neu!, Harmonia and Cluster (now incarnated as Qluster) - then we have yet to hear it.

There is legacy here, then, as original Cluster member Hans-Joachim Roedelius remains at the heart of operations (assisted by keyboardist Onnen Bock and multi-instrumentalist Armin Metz).

What is most gratifying about Echtzeit, however, is that while it uses Krautrock's original framework, the music isn't constricted by it.

Tracks such as Beste Freunde, Glasperlenspiel and Auf der Lichtung are judiciously selected passages that benefit from coiling melodies and the kind of intuition that comes with decades of experience.

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Looking for an authentic Krautrock fix? Your search is over.

Tony Clayton-Lea

Tony Clayton-Lea

Tony Clayton-Lea is a contributor to The Irish Times specialising in popular culture