Qluster - Rufen (2011)

Onnen Bock and the 84-year-old Hans Joachim Roedelius are still going strong as Qluster; Rufen was one of their first two releases.  A collection of live recordings from 2010, Rufen (along with Fragen - see below) set out their stall as fresh, forward-looking keepers of the Cluster flame for the 2010s, although still sampling their own past work here and there.  All the gear on Rufen is analogue, and in these four hands sounds spectacular.

Rufen's opening track is a 15-minute recording from the Roedelius-curated More Ohr Less festival in Linz, August 2010.  A vast, gaseous Vangelis-like open soundscape offers both melodic, meditative music in the Roedelius tradition and some darker moments.  Tantalizingly, it fades out just as a rhythm track gets going - wonder if the full concert will ever see the light of day. 

The remainder of the album is a three-part recording made in Schönberg in December 2010.  The first part opens in sampling mode with cut-up whispered voices, moving through piano melodies quickly submerged in whizzing electronics to water sounds and more.  The second establishes a more weightless ambience, like an update of the very earliest Cluster recordings, and the third burbles around nicely over a gentle rhythm.

link
pw: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG: Fragen / Tasten