Tag: Peter Baumann (Page 1 of 2)

A Beginner’s Guide To ROEDELIUS

4 January 2025 /

On 26 October 2024, the legendary German experimental music pioneer Hans-Joachim Roedelius turned 90. To celebrate, there were special solo shows in Austria and Germany.

An extremely prolific artist since his first release ‘Klopfzeichen’ in 1969 as a member of KLUSTER with Dieter Moebius and Conrad Schnitzler, he now has over 40 solo albums to his name. Meanwhile he has also been involved numerous other projects in collaboration with the likes of Brian Eno, Michael Rother, Conny Plank, Mani Neumeier, Peter Baumann, Holger Czukay, Tim Story, Blixa Bargeld, Lloyd Cole, Christoph H Müller and Thorsten Quaeschning.

Born in Berlin, during the Second World War, Roedelius and his family were evacuated to East Prussia which in the aftermath of Soviet liberation became part of East Germany during The Cold War. After being conscripted into the DDR Volksarmee, desertion led to a prison sentence but Roedelius would later successfully escape across the border into West Berlin in 1961.

In 1968, Roedelius and Conrad Schnitzler established the Zodiak Free Arts Lab with Klaus Schulze and Manuel Göttsching among those who passed through. The fledgling TANGERINE DREAM would make frequent live appearances there, playing improvised sets for several hours at a time. This was a fruitful period in German music with acts such as KRAFTWERK, CAN, AMON DÜÜL II and FAUST all emerging from various arts scenes and communes reacting against the dominance of America in popular culture.

Making lengthy improvised drone music using primitive electronic instruments and found devices such as coffee percolators, KLUSTER were clearly influenced by the experimental overtures of Karlheinz Stockhausen. After Schnitzler bowed out of KLUSTER to pursue a solo career, Roedelius and Moebius swapped the “K” for a “C” and continued as CLUSTER; they would make music together in various guises until 2009.

Label mates at Brain Records, when Michael Rother of NEU! asked to meet Roedelius and Moebius at their Forst studio in 1974 with a view to collaborating, the effect on all parties involved was to prove seminal. HARMONIA combined Rother’s chugging motorik rhythms, Roedelius’ melodies, and Moebius’ atonal weirdness into an amalgam of harmony and ammonia… finding a home to produce their best music yet, CLUSTER would join Rother at a new label Sky Records which had been established by Günter Körber after leaving his executive post with Brain, the label that he co-founded.

Through his solo work and particularly his romantic ‘Selbstportrait’ series of albums, Roedelius’ music has often been seen as seeding new age through its pastoral introspective nature. However, in collaboration, anything can and has happened. These days, his focus has been on the piano.

To sum up the portfolio of Hans-Joachim Roedelius in just 20 tracks is almost impossible but ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK will try for those only partially familiar with his music using this Beginner’s Guide with a restriction of one track per album. The man himself is unlikely to approve though because as he once said: “To get the complete picture of my music and art, people should listen and look to everything I did.”

CLUSTER Georgel (1972)

While Roedelius and Moebius originally continued with the dark droning style of their work with Schnitzler, the second album saw their work edited in smaller bite-sized dramas with actual titles. While still avant garde, it was signalling a change in approach. It saw Conny Plank working for the second time with CLUSTER with proceedings now less industrial. The ominous organ lines of ‘Georgel’ warbled as a sinister tension prevailed.

Available on the CLUSTER album ‘II’ via Cherry Red Records

https://www.roedelius.com/artist/cluster

HARMONIA Watussi (1974)

Roedelius and Moebius’ jams with Michael Rother became HARMONIA. Based around simplistic rhythm unit patterns, the restrictions allowed them to experiment on tracks such as ‘Watussi’. Effectively a condensed extract, this began as a solo Roedelius composition and the shortened edit was more of a pointer to the sound of the next CLUSTER album rather than NEU! or anything that would come later in Rother’s solo career.

Available on the HARMONIA album ‘Musik Von Harmonia’ via Grönland Records

https://www.groenland.com/pages/artist/harmonia

CLUSTER Fotschi Tong (1974)

Co-produced by Michael Rother and recorded in the same time frame as the two HARMONIA albums, although ‘Zuckerzeit’ was the third long payer by CLUSTER, it comprised of a solo EP each from Roedelius and Moebius. A highlight of the record was the Roedelius track ‘Fotschi Tong’ which featured immensely melodic keyboard lines and the hypnotic percussive chatter of an Elka Drummer One rhythm unit to give fresher sound.

Available on the CLUSTER album ‘Zuckerzeit’ via Bureau B

https://www.bureau-b.com/cluster.php

HARMONIA & ENO ‘76 By The Riverside (recorded 1976 – released 1997)

HARMONIA played several gigs in 1974 including one in the presence of Brian Eno. He suggested collaborating with the trio but this not happen until 2 years later. With a steadfast pulsing electronic ambience accompanied by field recordings, the ominous tones of ‘By The Riverside’ provided a lengthy standout from the sessions. However, these recordings remained unreleased until 1997.

Available on the HARMONIA & ENO ‘76 album ‘Tracks & Traces’ via Grönland Records

https://www.michaelrother.de/

CLUSTER Es War Einmal (1976)

After HARMONIA ran its course and Rother began his lucrative solo career, Roedelius and Moebius returned to CLUSTER. Their fourth album ‘Sowiesoso’ was the duo’s first fully realised exploration into the soothing world of ambient electronics. Recorded in just 2 days with Conny Plank at the helm, ‘Es War Einmal’ was wonderfully pastoral with gentle melodic phrasing from piano and synths and no rhythm machine interventions.

Available on the CLUSTER album ‘Sowiesoso’ via Bureau B

https://clusterofficial.bandcamp.com/

CLUSTER & ENO Für Luise (1977)

Brian Eno returned to work with Roedelius and Moebius on two fruitful recordings. On the first, the front cover photo of a microphone up near the clouds summed up the approach with the album full of angelic atmospheres and gentle melodies. ‘Für Luise’ was a tense cold war drama with stark piano and minimal synth but again no rhythmic centre. This first official release with Eno brought CLUSTER to a much wider audience.

Available on the CLUSTER & ENO album ‘Cluster & Eno’ via Bureau B

https://www.instagram.com/hansjoachimroedelius/

BRIAN ENO By This River (1977)

Originating from his sessions with Moebius and Roedelius in Forst, Brian Eno produced this beautiful piano and synth ballad with Conny Plank engineering for inclusion on his fourth pop solo album ‘Before & After Science’. While the warmth extracted from the Yamaha CS80 used by Eno was one of the key stand-out elements of ‘By This River’, the backbone from Roedelius’ sweet ivories provided a special lullaby quality.

Available on the BRIAN ENO album ‘Before & After Science’ via Virgin Records

https://www.brian-eno.net/

ENO MOEBIUS ROEDELIUS The Belldog (1978)

Following ‘Cluster & Eno’, the second album from Eno, Moebius and Roedelius was issued under all their surnames and added Eno’s contemplative voice to the experimentation. While there was a mix of piano-oriented ambient pieces and avant pop songs like the unsettling ‘Broken Head’, the best number was the gentle sequencer led beauty of ‘The Belldog’ where “Most of the day, we were at the machinery…”

Available on the ENO MOEBIUS ROEDELIUS album ‘After The Heat’ via Bureau B

https://www.facebook.com/BrianEno

CLUSTER Breitengrad 20 (1979)

‘Grosses Wasser’ marked the return of CLUSTER working as a duo. Their producer this time was TANGERINE DREAM refugee Peter Baumann who was producing other acts likes Leda and in an interim phase before going pop with ‘Repeat Repeat’. Hinting at a form of avant jazz, ‘Breitengrad 20’ breezed like a morning walk as Roedelius’ clean piano lines sparred off the pulses from Baumann’s customised Project Elektronik modular.

Available on the CLUSTER album ‘Grosses Wasser’ via Bureau B

https://www.facebook.com/Roedelius

ROEDELIUS Wenn Der Südwind Weht (1981)

Roedelius was already progressing with his solo career which had begun in 1978 in parallel to CLUSTER. From his seventh solo album of the same name, ‘Wenn Der Südwind Weht’ was simply beautiful instrumental that translated from German meaning “When the south wind blows”; the piece was dominated by a glorious lead synth melody while gently rhythmical keyboard lines remained static in their hypnotic repetition. Everything blended for a soothing textural ambience.

Available on the ROEDELIUS album ‘Wenn Der Südwind Weht’ via Bureau B

https://www.bureau-b.com/roedelius.php

MOEBIUS + ROEDELIUS Emmental (1991)

Having put CLUSTER on hiatus for 8 years, Roedelius and Moebius cautiously reunited under their own names for ‘Apropos Cluster’. With a more understated ambience in the shorter compositions, taking a back seat was the rhythmical element. ‘Emmental’ saw a melodic fretless bass figure alongside spacious piano and synths. It became a signature track at their live shows and was often performed by Roedelius during his solo performances.

Available on the MOEBIUS + ROEDELIUS album ‘Apropos Cluster’ via Bureau B

https://www.bureau-b.com/moebius.php

AQUARELLO Deep Blue (1998)

AQUARELLO was a group comprising of the now-Austria based Roedelius and two Italian musicians, multi-instrumentalist Fabio Capanni and saxophonist Nicola Alesini. One of two new studio recordings on the otherwise self-titled live album, ‘Deep Blue’ was an adventurous cinematic piece co-written with Capanni that carried a marvellous European arthouse quality. It mutated into several distinct mini-suites despite clocking in an under 4 minutes.

Available on the AQUARELLO album ‘Aquarello’ via All Saints Records

https://www.instagram.com/capanni.music/

HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS & TIM STORY Lunz (2002)

Having already collaborated on the epic 56 minute soundscape ‘The Persistence Of Memory’, Roedelius had come together with Grammy-nominated American composer Tim Story to keep his muse alive. ‘Lunz’ featured largely shorter piano-based pieces reminiscent of Harold Budd, described as “Romantic and surreal – light and dark – an album of opposites attracts you like a moth to a flame”, this was the best in modern classical music.

Available on the HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS & TIM STORY album ‘Lunz’ via Grönland Records

https://timstory.com/

ARVANITIS & ROEDELIUS Digital Love (2002)

The biggest outlier in the Roedelius portfolio, he accepted an invitation to work with Greek producer Nikos Arvanitis on an electronic dance album. The superb title song was shaped by feisty house rhythms and deadpan vocals from Alexander Lovrek. But with an array of spikey and sparkling electronics, it highlighted Roedelius’ willingness to immerse himself into new music forms as he was approaching 70.

Available on the ARVANITIS & ROEDELIUS album ‘Digital Love’ via Plag Dich Nicht

http://www.nikosarvanitis.info/

HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS & THE FRATELLI BROTHERS Imogen (2011)

Roedelius’ musical instincts made him an ideal film soundtrack composer, but this did not happen until 2002 for Frederick Baker’s BBC TV documentary ‘Imagine IMAGINE’ about John Lennon’s iconic hit single. Working with THE FRATELLI BROTHERS, the tracks were re-recorded in 2011 for the album ‘Reverso’. With elegant synthetic strings and unusually in the music of Roedelius, a percussive loop, ‘Imogen’ offered a serene impressionistic quality even without the visuals.

Available on the HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS & THE FRATELLI BROTHERS album ‘Reverso’ via Musea

https://www.noh1.com/

LLOYD COLE / HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS Selbstportrait-Reich (2013)

Lloyd Cole was a fan of CLUSTER and his first electronic instrumental album ‘Plastic Wood’ recalled ‘Sowiesoso’. A mutual friend passed it over to Roedelius who was impressed and set about doing his own remix. Cole was flattered so the two discussed working together on a project. Cole created a number of minimal electronic sketches for Roedelius to develop in isolation. The glistening ‘Selbstportrait-Reich’ was a thoughtful union of the sorcerer and the apprentice.

Available on the LLOYD COLE / HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS album ‘Selected Studies, Vol1’ via Bureau B

https://www.lloydcole.com/

MUELLER ROEDELIUS 808 Fantasy (2015)

While perhaps not as much of a shock as ‘Digital Love’ was with Nikos Arvanitis, Roedelius’ collaboration with Swiss-German musician Christoph H Müller of the neotango band GOTAN PROJECT still sprung a surprise. ‘808 Fantasy’ did as it said on the tin with a curious contrast of jazzy piano and floating electronics glitched up around rigid drum machine beats. It closed the CD  version of their first album together.

Available on the MUELLER ROEDELIUS album ‘Imagori’ via Grönland Records

https://www.instagram.com/christoph.h.muller/

QLUSTER Beste Freunde (2016)

With CLUSTER splitting up, Roedelius changed the letters again and started QLUSTER with Onnen Bock before Armin Metz joined in 2013. The contemplative ‘Echtzeit’ album came after the sad passing of Dieter Moebius in 2015. With much of the recording taking place in a church, ‘Beste Freunde’ was self-explanatory, a musical eulogy from Roedelius where his piano took centre stage, sweetened by electronics and treatments.

Available on the QLUSTER album ‘Echtzeit’ via Bureau B

https://www.bureau-b.com/qluster.php

HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS, THORSTEN QUAESCHNING, HOSHIKO YAMANE, PAUL FRICK Klangtraube Part 9 (2020)

Roedelius was invited to perform at the 2019 Edgar Froese Memorial Day concert in Berlin by Froese’s widow Bianca Acquaye. Joining him were present day TANGERINE DREAM leader Thorsten Quaeschning along with violinist Hoshiko Yamane and new recruit Paul Frick. The closing ninth piece saw Roedelius on piano accompanied by the trio for a fitting tribute to his late friend from since the Zodiak Free Arts Lab days.

Available on the HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS, THORSTEN QUAESCHNING, HOSHIKO YAMANE, PAUL FRICK album ‘Klangtraube’ via Eastgate

https://www.tangerinedreammusic.com/

ROEDELIUS & ARNOLD KASAR Lifeline (2023)

Roedelius continues to compose and release music; one of his more recent works came with Berlin based musician and sound engineer Arnold Kasar. Their second album ‘Zensibility’ comprised of call-and-response pieces where Roedelius played piano while Kasar worked in the electronics. As with the vibey charm of ‘Lifeline’, the album’s end result exuded an airy meditative calm while any treatments and soundscapes were ultimately fitting and respectful.

Available on the ROEDELIUS & ARNOLD KASAR album ‘Zensibility’ via 7K!

http://kasarmusic.de/

‘90’ featuring unreleased music recorded between 1968 -1980 is out now as a 4LP boxed set via Grönland Records from https://www.groenland.com/

‘Kollektion 02: Roedelius Compiled By Lloyd Cole’ is available via Bureau B

For more information on the music and life of Hans-Joachim Roedelius, please visit https://www.roedelius.com/

An ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK playlist ‘The Roles Of ROEDELIUS’ highlighting these and other works can be heard on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/18OiPxpBrQRjBDzVcL8rc1

Text by Chi Ming Lai
4 January 2024

END OF YEAR REVIEW 2024

27 December 2024 /

Image by Simon Helm

Me? Definitely Won’t Be! Join the #SynthResistance

When ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK came into being in March 2010, synth was still on a recovery path and it seemed PET SHOP BOYS were the only act continuing to fly the flag successfully having been awarded the BRIT Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution To Music’ the previous year.

While DEPECHE MODE and SIMPLE MINDS had released albums in 2009, their latest material showed few signs of their imperial phases. BLANCMANGE, NEW ORDER and SOFT CELL had not yet returned, ULTRAVOX were still to release ‘Brilliant’ despite a well-received live return and while THE HUMAN LEAGUE were regulars on the live circuit, they had not issued a new album for 9 years. Meanwhile OMD and DURAN DURAN were in a state of creative flux having released disappointing albums in ‘History Of Modern’ and ‘Red Carpet Massacre’ respectively.

However in 2024, most of these acts are performing to sizeable audiences and while ULTRAVOX may have called it a day in 2013, Midge Ure continues to tour with songs from ‘Vienna’, ‘Rage In Eden’, ‘Quartet’ and ‘Lament’. For these heritage acts, the concert circuit is now very lucrative and a testament to their music still standing up after several decades and most importantly for longevity, appealing to new and younger audiences.

Photo by Chi Ming Lai

But for new synth music generally, particularly in Britain, it appeared to be in decline although these signs had been very apparent over the past few years. One thing that has been significant about ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 30 SONGS OF 2024 was that on only 4 occasions was there full or part representation from the nation that seeded Synth Britannia… how the mighty have fallen! And when Taylor Swift is doing better electronic pop songs than most, then there’s a real problem!

First time around during 1994 to 1997, Britpop had as good as killed off the synth and with the news of the OASIS live reunion in 2025 grabbing all the headlines, it looks as though history is repeating itself. But everything is cyclical and there was a backlash against guitar bands after the new millennium began. There is hope yet but while a MIRRORS reunion is unlikely any time soon, it takes darkness to appreciate the light so anything is possible 😉

2024 was a year fraught with uncertainty and this was reflected musically. With ongoing political tensions in their homeland and having spoken out against the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, MOLCHAT DOMA relocated from Belarus to Los Angeles. Their excellent fourth album ‘Belaya Polosa’ channelled the anxiety and fear of that journey into exile and literally saw the trio change from sounding like JOY DIVISION to sounding like NEW ORDER. But have they walked from the frying pan into the fryer?

Released back in March before the US Elections, one of the best albums of 2024, ‘Masochist’ by NIGHT CLUB became a dystopian prophecy come true. Emotions were summed up by the inclusion of ‘The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)’, a cover of the song by FUN BOY THREE. Written as a metaphor to the dangerous posturing games played by “The Cowboy” Ronald Reagan in 1981 during The Cold War, today the even crazier orange face is back followed by his flock of mindless MAGA sheep…

‘If You Tolerate This, Then Your Children Will Be Next’ sang MANIC STREET PREACHERS and more than ever in the UK, it is important to stand against the retarded racist scum getting behind the neo-fascist posturings of that pompous grifter Nigel Farage to cover up for their own life failings. Add in a crackpot billionaire who inherited blood money made during the vile South African Apartheid regime, playing a real life Dr Evil by throwing his cash into the far right and supporting the new Nazis in Germany of the AfD, and the world is in a very precarious position right now. Quoting Midge Ure who recently gave new live renditions of the ironically monikered RICH KIDS’ sadly relevant 1978 anti-Nazi anthem: “NEVER AGAIN DO I WANT TO HEAR THE SOUND OF MARCHING MEN!”

Anglo-German duo KALEIDA experienced an existential crisis due to the pressures of parenting and the shifting patterns of life. But Christina Wood and Cicely Goulder managed to make their long distance creative partnership work again and their reward was their third album ‘In Arms’. As the title suggested, it has been an impassioned battle capturing 3 years of artistic perseverance and reinforced their sense of purpose.

On a more personal level, Anglo-French artist Julia-Sophie delved deeper into the complexities of relationships by exploring themes of self-destruction, tenderness, love and emotional struggles. This is what happens when people ‘forgive too slow’ but swathed in an intriguing electronic sound, her understated fulfilment combined emotional unease with an airy beauty for some satisfying thoughtful listening for another of the best albums of 2024.

Photo by Chi Ming Lai

With the onset of climate change but still those in denial despite the scientific proof, Patricia Wolf conceived ‘The Secret Lives of Birds’. Having recorded various bird songs and calls, curiosity led her to become a conservationist and while her music was very beautiful at times, there were darker moments of angst and sadness driven by concern. Birds and their behaviour have been a creative haven for artists of a more ambient persuasion and Masayoshi Fujita continued his avian fascination on his new work ‘Migratory’.

Loula Yorke presented her new ‘Volta’ and the wonderful opener ‘It’s been decided that if you lay down no-one will die’ acted as a bittersweet meditation on overwhelm, an emotion many were feeling. For Finlay Shakespeare, his creative journey appeared to have taken its emotional toll and ‘Directions Out Of Town’ reflected turbulent times and was touted as possibly his last album. Meanwhile Polish producer ZAMILSKA summed feelings up with the impassioned ‘United Kingdom Of Anxiety’ as another exile from Belarus CHIKISS captured this moment ‘Between Time & Laziness’.

Photo by Thomas Stelzmann

While a new PET SHOP BOYS album was always on the cards and they duly delivered with their fifteenth ‘Nonetheless’, Michael Mertens and Ralf Dörper starting a new chapter of PROPAGANDA was perhaps on not on anyone’s bingo card at the start of 2024. Featuring the sultry vocals of Thunder Bae, PROPAGANDA presented an eponymous long player to signify a fresh start with the closing cover ‘Wenn Ich Mir Was Wünschen Dürfte’ being a key highlight.

There were several key esoteric releases in 2024; Gareth Jones and Daniel Miller released their third volume of ‘Electronic Music Improvisations’ as SUNROOF while Heiko Maile and Julian DeMarre offered ‘Neostalgia’, leaving Jori Hulkkonen with some ‘Hurt Humour’. And like a greeting from wherever he is now in the universe, Klaus Schulze had ‘101, Milky Way’ posthumously released in a continuation of his vast electronic legacy.

In 2024, there were albums released where 90 to 100% of the content comprised of previously released singles; one of those was the debut album by LEATHERS, the side-project of ACTORS keyboardist Shannon Hemmett which explored her love of dark electronic pop. Another was the appropriately titled ‘VII’ by Swedish duo KITE which was their seventh body of work containing music from their seven most recent singles released over the past seven years, gathering the power and the glory of their ambition.

Using a similar strategy,  R. MISSING finally released an album ‘Knife Shook Your Hand’ after years of embracing a scattergun standalone song approach which at times was frustrating to follow, especially with today’s now widely embraced Netflix-led home and mobile entertainment methodology of “binge watching” TV series.

Photo by Volker Maass

CAMOUFLAGE finally took their ‘Rewind To The Future & Goodbye’ tour on the German road with a show look backing on four decades. Meanwhile celebrating 45 years of BLANCMANGE, ‘Everything Is Connected’ was a new career-spanning collection supported by a tour where Neil Arthur supported himself with his collaborative side project THE REMAINDER. Celebrating 25 years of the multi-million selling ‘Play’, Moby delivered a mighty greatest hits set in front of a packed house at London’s O2 Arena as well as highlights from that album.

Midge Ure aired his catalogue of his greatest hits and with so many ULTRAVOX songs part of the set, it was difficult not to think of his departed bandmate Chris Cross who passed away this year. Another sad loss in 2024 who had connections to ULTRAVOX and their former leader John Foxx was the iconic photographer Brian Griffin; his other subjects included DEPECHE MODE, OMD, SPANDAU BALLET and TALK TALK.

With 16 tracks speeding through its restless 40 minutes, ‘Powder Dry’ saw Tim Bowness revisiting his passion for the post-punk and electronic pop acts of his teens, having opened for the solo Billy Currie version of ULTRAVOX and worked with members of JAPAN while in his first band NO-MAN with Steven Wilson; of course the latter has been behind the spate of new remixes of ULTRAVOX for their series of lavish boxed sets.

A number of veterans returned after long new release absences. Michel Moers, best known as the front man of Belgian electronic trailblazers TELEX released what was only his second solo studio album ‘As Is’ and had Claudia Brücken guest on its lead single ‘Microwaves. Meanwhile after several years in the making, Harald Grosskopf presented ‘Strom’, translated from German as “electricity”.

Across the Atlantic, Los Angeles-based multimedia artist Geneva Jacuzzi gave a detached Eurocentric poise reminiscent of Gina X and her third album ‘Triple Fire’ was an enjoyably delightful mix of accessible electronic pop and energetic art chaos. Comprising of North America’s alternative music power couple Tom Shear and Mari Kattman, HELIX took their fans to an ‘Unimaginable Place’ as another US based couple XENO & OAKLANDER further refined their precise yet spirited productions for their eight album ‘Via Negativa (in the doorway light)’.

Newer North American acts making a splash were IMMORTAL GIRLFRIEND and Canada’s MINDREADER while Los Angeles-based duo DIE SEXUAL finally brought their erotic charge to the stage opening for the likes of IAMX and LEÆTHER STRIP. But the most promising act emerging stateside were Haute & Freddy.

Photo by Tim Darin

For the past few years, Alison Lewis has focussed on her ZANIAS solo venture but she was back playing live with Ryan Ambridge as LINEA ASPERA in the summer with the pair having been quietly writing and recording new material together. Having found TikTok fame performing synthwave styled covers, DREAMKID released his second album ‘Daggers’ to capitalise on his social media traction while both exploring much darker climes, CURSES and CZARINA released their third full length albums.

In Europe, Belgian duo METROLAND released their sixth album ‘Forum’ as well as simultaneously maintaining their solo projects 808 DOT POP and LECTREAU. In Sweden, Johan Agebjörn was a very busy man releasing EPs with Yota and Mikael Ögren while also announcing he has a work-in-progress with NINA; the Queen of Synthwave’s own musical partnership with RADIO WOLF was developing nicely, with a European tour opening for CANNONS giving the couple a chance to showcase their darker sound.

As the summer ended, IONNALEE ambitiously issued her new album simultaneously in English and Swedish while Norwegian neighbours PISTON DAMP declared there were “No Points For Trying” as they launched the more pessimistic instalment of their twin volume ‘Mastermind’ album venture.

Photo by Joanna Wzorek

Presenting the second volume of their ‘Midnight Confessions’ series, ITALOCONNECTION were back with their vintage but modern style of Italo disco while Greco-German trio DINA SUMMER showed that good electronic dance music with a grittier impassioned outlook was alive and well in Berlin. Also based in the former divided city, Polish DJ and producer CHARLIE emerged as one of the promising new stars on the Italo-Proto scene.

Retrospective sets can often compile another time, another place as exemplified by releases this year from Bryan Ferry, Peter Baumann and NO-MAN proved. But the best one came from FRANK CHICKENS whose ‘Ninja Legends 1983-1989’ captured them in their quirky prime, especially on the collection of BBC radio  sessions which made it an essential purchase. On the book front, ‘1984: The Year Pop Went Queer’ was among the best.

The desire to revisit the past became a major thing in 2024, as exemplified by the frenzy surrounding the sale of tickets for the OASIS reunion shows which were among the first in the UK to employ the dreaded but perfectly legal scam of dynamic pricing. But the need to see any band years past their commercial peak with the likelihood of a less accomplished performance than before, be it vocally, musically or energetically, was a head scratching prospect. The music world has been trying to make up for lost time and money since 2021 but the post-covid gig bubble may have now burst.

With ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK having seen many bands back in the day at their best, the shows now available with a hint of nostalgia may not have been universally appealing as they were to those who were too young or not even born to have attended first time around. But paradoxically thanks to the dearth of new quality music, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK found itself listening to podcasts of old people talking about old music! So it was an honour to be invited by host Iain McDermott to chat about our favourite year in music 1981 for his wonderful ‘Back To NOW’ podcast centred around the noted compilation album series.

‘The Album Years’ hosted by Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness remarked that “talking about music IS the new music” and on the most knowledgeable, passionate and humorous podcasts, hosts were able to express their opinion and say a record or an artist was “sh*t” without immediate fear of social media retorts while also praising where praise was deserved!

But during a recent edition of ‘The Small Town Boys’, Clark Datchler of JOHNNY HATES JAZZ remarked that while music critics back in the day could be “cynical” and “nasty”, today they are at the other extreme and “sycophants now” with “hardly any criticism of records released” – this everything is brilliant mentality has undoubtedly led to an acceptance of mediocrity and a lack of perspective in a monoculture of medium pleasure.

With those forthright and articulate expressions key to their success, live presentations of these podcasts in theatres and arenas are becoming increasingly popular and profitable thanks to lower overheads, especially when compared to concerts.

Among ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s favourite music podcasts in 2024 were ‘Word In Your Ear’ presented by former Smash Hits and Q editors David Hepworth and Mark Ellen, ‘Electronically Yours With Martyn Ware’ and ‘The Giddy Carousel of Pop’ discussing the history of Smash Hits. But best of all was the more general podcast ‘The Rest Is Entertainment’ hosted by Richard Osman and Marina Hyde which is part of Gary Lineker’s Goalhanger Podcast empire also behind ‘The Rest Is Politics’, ‘The Rest Is History’, ‘The Rest Is Money’, ‘The Rest Is Classified’ and ‘The Rest Is Football’; one suspects the popular socially conscious former footballer will not miss the BBC the way it will miss him 😉

If 2023 was something of a strange year, 2024 might have actually been stranger. There is a glimmer of hope for the future, but the signs are already there that things may get worse, be it socially, politically, environmentally or culturally… sometimes, people really do deserve what they get!

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 2024 playlist ‘The Great Bleep Forward’ containing over 235 tracks from the year can be listened to on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4xMrAkCbeWvUmTfrN6i6Gu

Text by Chi Ming Lai
27 December 2024

THE ELECTRONIC LEGACY OF 1978

3 August 2024 /

At the start of 1978, disco and AOR was still ruling the airwaves.

ABBA had released ‘The Movie’ which reinforced their success of previous years while the UK charts became dominated by songs from the film ‘Grease’ which helped facilitate a rock ‘n’ roll flavoured revival led by bands like SHOWADDYWADDY, DARTS and RACEY!

Punk had peaked with THE SEX PISTOLS’ Johnny Rotten rhetorical statement “Ever Get the Feeling You’ve Been Cheated?”. However, punk’s ethos was mutating into a form of power pop under the guise of new wave with BLONDIE, BUZZCOCKS and THE BOOMTOWN RATS. One epic opus that captured the public imagination was ‘Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the World’; featuring synthesizer work from Ken Freeman, it complimented the album’s orchestrated rock with an alien science fiction edge.

Although first released in Autumn 1977, ‘Supernature’ by Cerrone belatedly became a Summer 1978 Top10 hit in the UK singles charts, indicating that after ‘I Feel Love’, ‘Oxygène’, ‘Magic Fly’, ‘Sound & Vision’ and ‘Trans-Europe Express’, electronic pop music had potential longevity and was not a novelty.

A new DIY art pop form was emerging as the independently produced singles ‘Warm Leatherette’ by THE NORMAL and ‘Being Boiled’ by THE HUMAN LEAGUE were released to an unsuspecting public but despite not troubling the mainstream due to their limited audience reach, they were to have a wider impact.

Meanwhile, as punk band TUBEWAY ARMY were preparing to record their debut long player, their leader Gary Numan tried a Minimoog that had been left behind from a previous studio session. It was to be an epiphanal moment as he decided that electronics would become a future part of his sound.

According to a recent Ace Records podcast hosted by Pete Paphides, his guest Bob Stanley said that Minimoog belonged to reggae legend Dennis Bovell who was working on a song he had just written called ‘Silly Games’. When it stalled a No2 sung by Janet Kay, in a bizarre coincidence, the single that was to stop it from getting to No1 in Summer 1979 was recorded in the same Gooseberry Studios in London’s Chinatown… it was ‘Are Friends Electric?’!!!

Here are 20 albums which ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK sees as contributing to the electronic legacy of 1978. They are listed in alphabetical order with a restriction of one album per artist moniker…

ASHRA Blackouts

Featuring “Sequencer, Keyboards and a lot of guitar” with the recommendation that “this record should be heard comfortably”, ‘Blackouts’ was Manuel Göttsching’s second album as ASHRA and while it did not quite have the total cosmic magic of its predecessor ‘New Age Of Earth’, it was a satisfying record. ‘Midnight On Mars’ set the scene while there was another wonderful 20 minute end piece in ‘Lotus Part I-IV’.

‘Blackouts’ is still available via Virgin Records

https://manuelgoettsching.com/

AUTOMAT Automat

AUTOMAT were Romano Musmarra and Claudio Gizzi who released just one album. Stating “in the beginning there was the machine – the survival and the organization of the planet depended upon the machine – the future and the past depended upon the machine – …the past? But who wanted the machine?”, the key track was the eponymous three part electronic prog disco opus that would have made Giorgio Moroder proud. Meanwhile ‘Droid’ showed the Italian duo were also fans of Vangelis.

‘Automat’ was originally released by EMI Italiana, currently unavailable

https://www.discogs.com/artist/29817-Automat

BRIAN BENNETT Voyage (A Journey Into Discoid Funk)

The drummer for THE SHADOWS since 1961, Brian Bennett worked on theme music on the side and became inspired by the emergence of electronic disco from the likes of Giorgio Moroder and Marc Cerrone. Described as “A Journey Into Discoid Funk”, ‘Voyage’ was a cosmic affair with jazz and funk influences. Highlights included ‘Pendulum Force’, ‘Ocean Glide’ and ‘Chain Reaction’ while one track ‘Solstice’ was later sampled by rappers Kanye West and Nas.

‘Voyage (A Journey Into Discoid Funk)’ is still available via Cherry Red Records

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/brian-bennett-voyage-2cd-expanded-edition

DROIDS Star Peace

Inspired by ‘Star Wars’, French space disco combo DROIDS were best known for their underground hit ‘(Do You Have) The Force’ in 1977. Included on it, their only album ‘Star Peace’ came the following year with material written and played by Yves Hayat using Moogs, ARPs and Oberheims. It was an enjoyable electronic romp with groovy tracks like ‘Be Happy’ and ‘Shanti Dance’ to take on fellow countrymen SPACE.

‘Star Peace’ is still available via Barclay

https://www.discogs.com/artist/93198-Droids

LA DÜSSELDORF Viva

Fronted by Klaus Dinger from NEU! while also featuring his brother Thomas on percussion and Hans Lampe on drums, the second long player LA DÜSSELDORF ‘Viva’ was self-produced and their most successful album. There was the magnificent 20 minute madness of ‘Cha Cha 2000’, but the album also yielded the beautifully epic ‘Rheinita’, a glorious instrumental that became the blueprint for OMD’s ‘Architecture & Morality’ album.

‘Viva’ is still available via WEA Records

https://dingerland.de/

ENO MOEBIUS ROEDELIUS After The Heat

Following aborted sessions with cult German band HARMONIA featuring Michael Rother of NEU! alongside Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius of CLUSTER, Brian Eno continued collaborations with the latter pair. With a wonderful 1977 ambient collection ‘Cluster & Eno’ to their name, their second album ‘After The Heat’ added Eno’s contemplative voice to the experimentation, the best track of which was the gentle sequencer led beauty of ‘The Belldog’.

‘After The Heat’ is still available via Bureau B


‎
https://www.roedelius.com/album/after-heat

EDGAR FROESE Ages

This double album was released at the start of 1978 before TANGERINE DREAM took their vocal prog rock misstep with ‘Cyclone’. ‘Era Of The Slaves’ was a particular delight in the Berlin School vein with Edgar Froese channelling his creative energies wonderfully following the departure of Peter Baumann. Overall, ‘Ages’ was lively, as exemplified by ‘Nights of Automatic Women’ while ‘Children’s Deeper Study’ displayed a brighter tone.

‘Ages’ is still available via Virgin Records

https://www.edgarfroese.com/

JEAN-MICHEL JARRE Equinoxe

The follow-up to the massively successful ‘Oxygène’, ‘Équinoxe’ was conceived as representing a day in a person’s life. As well expanded multitrack recording, ‘Équinoxe’ benefitted from the use of the customised Matrisequencer 250 designed by sound engineer Michel Geiss. The album’s eight parts were rich in melody, rhythm and in places neo-gothic grandeur. It confirmed Jean-Michel Jarre was not to be just a one-hit wonder.

‘Equinoxe’ is still available via Sony Music

http://jeanmicheljarre.com/

KRAFTWERK The Man Machine

By 1978, the classic KRAFTWERK line-up of Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Wolfgang Flür and Karl Bartos were at the height of their powers with ‘Trans Europe Express’ becoming an unexpected favourite on the New York dancefloors. ‘The Man Machine’ contained the belated hit single ‘The Model’ while there was also the Giorgio Moroder-inspired ‘Spacelab’ and ‘Metropolis’. With ‘The Robots’, the Das Quartett reinforced they were Musikarbeiter.

‘The Man Machine’ is still available via EMI Music

http://www.kraftwerk.com/

LEDA Welcome To Joyland

Having left TANGERINE DREAM and inspired by the success of ‘I Feel Love’, Peter Baumann produced Italian artist Leda on her album ‘Welcome To Joyland’. Applying his sequenced knowhow into a more song based format, highlights included the title song and the Giorgio Moroder aping ‘Future’. Something of a curio in his portfolio, it became a pointer to the pop based direction he launched in 1981 with ‘Repeat Repeat’.

‘Welcome To Joyland’ is still available via Private Records

https://www.voices-in-the-net.de/welcome_to_joyland.htm

GIORGIO MORODER Midnight Express

‘Midnight Express’ was a graphic prison drama directed by Alan Parker who wanted electronic accompaniment in the style of ‘I Feel Love’ for a key scene in the film. Enter Giorgio Moroder who, assisted by Harold Faltermeyer, did just that with the mighty ‘Chase’. Meanwhile, the moody main theme and with its exotic overtones all but invented synthwave. Moroder would win his first Oscar for “Best Original Score”.

‘Midnight Express’ is still available via Casablanca Records / Universal Records

http://www.moroder.net/

RICHARD PINHAS Chronolyse

Richard Pinhas was a member of French rock band HELDON who became fascinated by the possibilities of experimental electronics. Inspired by sci-fi writers Michel Jeury and Frank Herbert, the ‘Chronolyse’ title suite was split into seven waves of cerebral minimalism reminiscent of Terry Riley and Philip Glass. But there was a volte face in ‘Paul Atreïdes’, a noisy half hour jam with his HELDON band mates that took up an entire side.

‘Chronolyse’ is still available via Bureau B

https://www.richard-pinhas.com/chronolyse/

RIECHMANN Wunderbar

The only album by the tragic figure of Wolfgang Riechmann, ‘Wunderbar’ was an elegant and ultimately fragile collection with a fine balance of electronic technology and real instrumentation where none of the elements were overdone. The resonant melancholy of its content became even more poignant once it is learnt that he was murdered in Düsseldorf just weeks before its release by Sky Records in August 1978.

‘Wunderbar’ is still available via Bureau B

https://riechmann.bandcamp.com/album/wunderbar

MICHAEL ROTHER Sterntaler

After the success of ‘Flammenden Herzen’ set Michael Rother off on the path to becoming Germany’s answer to Mike Oldfield, his second solo album ‘Sterntaler’ saw a greater use of synths for melody lines as on the uplifting title track. ‘Orchestrion’ was more of a layered guitar symphony but the moody textures of ‘Sonnenrad’ would later become the inspiration for ULTRAVOX’s ‘Dancing With Tears In My Eyes’.

‘Sterntaler’ is still available via Grönland Records

http://www.michaelrother.de/en/

CONRAD SCHNITZLER Con

Conrad Schnitzler had been a member of TANGERINE DREAM and KLUSTER before going solo. ‘Con’ was produced by Peter Baumann. While much of the album was unsettling soundscapes like ‘Electric Garden’ and ‘Black Nail’, ‘Ballet Statique’ was his most accessible piece and up there with the best of minimally structured German electronic music. Meanwhile ‘Zug’ did as the title suggested with its locomotive rhythm collage.

‘Con’ is still available via Bureau B

https://www.fancymoon.com/con_s/

KLAUS SCHULZE X

After his 1977 masterpiece ‘Mirage’, Klaus Schulze was by now well into what many consider his imperial phase and planting the seed for New Age in the process. For the ambitious double opus ‘X’, drums by Harald Grosskopf and strings were incorporated into “Six Musical Biographies” in honour of figures such as philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, King Ludwig II of Bavaria, composer Friedemann Bach and ‘Dune’ author Frank Herbert.

‘X’ is still available via SPV

https://klaus-schulze.com/

SPACE Just Blue

Having had a worldwide hit with ‘Magic Fly’, ‘Just Blue’ was the third album by France’s SPACE and the last featuring original writer Ecama, the pseudonym of Didier Marouani. With proggier inflections and more vocal phrasing, this album did not hit the highs of ‘Magic Fly’ but this was still a good record. The title song had catchy synth hooks while ‘Final Signal’ brought in fretless bass and ‘Secret Dreams’ got all new age.

‘Just Blue’ is still available via Nang

https://www.facebook.com/Didier.Marouani.et.spAce/

TOMITA The Bermuda Triangle

Best known for 1974’s pioneering ‘Snowflakes Are Dancing’ which reinterpreted Debussy, Isao Tomita was applying his Moog modular craft to Prokofiev and Sibelius for an ambitious concept album subtitled “A Musical Fantasy of Science Fiction”, there was even an adaptation of ‘Close Encounters Of The Third Kind’. As befitting a record about ‘The Bermuda Triangle’, it was dark and experimental in places with a fabulous palette of sound design.

‘The Bermuda Triangle’ is still available via Revive Music

https://www.isaotomita.info/

ULTRAVOX Systems Of Romance

Working with the legendary Conny Plank for their third album ‘Systems Of Romance’, ULTRAVOX became more texturally powerful thanks to the ARP Odyssey of Billy Currie, Chris Cross’ EMS Synthi AKS and new guitarist Robin Simon. Despite leader John Foxx leaving to go solo, ‘Slow Motion’, ‘Quiet Man’, ‘Dislocation’ and ‘Just For A Moment’ were a harbinger of things that were to come with a certain Gary Numan taking notes.

‘Systems Of Romance’ is still available on ‘The Island Years’ via Caroline Records

https://www.ultravox.org.uk/

YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA Yellow Magic Orchestra

YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA was intended as one-off project for producer Haruomi Hosono with Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto; all three already had solo careers. Their self-titled debut was noted for its use of the then-new Roland MC8 Micro-Composer progammed by Hideki Matsutake. The trio became standard bearers for Japanese technopop with the hit single ‘Firecracker’, also known as ‘Computer Game’.

‘Yellow Magic Orchestra’ is still available via Sony Music

http://www.ymo.org/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
3 August 2024

Lost Albums: LEDA Welcome To Joyland

8 June 2024 /

In 1978, Peter Baumann had left TANGERINE DREAM and pondering his next move.

He had released his first solo album ‘Romance 76’ while still a member of TANGERINE DREAM but in 1977, electronic music had changed when Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ produced by Giorgio Moroder pointed towards the future. Baumann had his new Berlin-based Paragon Studio to maintain while his next solo album ‘Trans Harmonic Nights’ was still a year off, so needed to earn some money quickly.

Inspired by ‘I Feel Love’, he hit upon the idea of doing a disco flavoured electronic record with an alluring female voice that had commercial promise. His musical collaborator in the project would be ethnomusicologist Hans Brandeis while providing the vocals was a mysterious Italian girl. While Leda has often assumed to be her name, this was never confirmed.

With his customised Project Elektronik modular system used during the shows featured on TANGERINE DREAM’s ‘Encore’ live album, Baumann came up with eight electronically-based sequenced songs and one instrumental for ‘Welcome To Joyland’.

The opening sequencer laden ‘Welcome To Joyland’ title song made a fine statement of intent with the vocals coming over very natural and complimentary to the sparkling electro Weimar cabaret aesthetic. With an archetypical TANGERINE DREAM styled bassline, ‘Endless Race’ took an icy journey of its own thanks to angelic vocals as if calling from the Alps as synthesized gulls boosted the atmospheric effect.

Further arpeggiated sparkles came from ‘White Clouds’ although the drumming put it into prog territory while the vocals were wispier and more child-like. The brilliantly cosmic ‘Movin’ On’ sat on a steady 3/4 time signature and the vocals even got soulful while the freeform synth solo provided by Baumann was a total delight.

Photo by Jerome Froese

Beginning in a much more discordant fashion, ‘City Of Light’ throbbed like Moroder although pointing more to his MUNICH MACHINE work with Chris Bennett rather than Donna Summer, but its Sci-Fi resonances were spoilt slightly by the recorded distortion. With pipey textures and minimal synthbass, ‘Space Ride’ offered an instrumental interlude in the vein of Baumann’s first solo record ‘Romance ‘76’. However, veering towards synthesized folk music, ‘Caroussel’ was something of an odd outlier and even brought flutes in!

In acknowledgement of ‘I Feel Love’ which had been signalling the future of pop, the mighty ‘Future’ completely aped it with enticing combination of throbbing electronics, cosmic solos and high pitched vocals. Closing with the mystical prog waltz of Stardust’, ABBA-like vocal phrasing was adopted although the backdrop of white noise waves indicated this was anything but the Swedes. Oddly though, this track had stylistic similarities to ‘Bent Cold Sidewalk’ from his former band’s long playing vocal experiment ‘Cyclone’ also released in 1978.

Clocking in at just under 34 minutes, ‘Welcome To Joyland’ was an accessible and melodic work with disco flirtations and sweet vocals but despite this, there was an esoteric quality about the majority of the songs and with a number of strong highlights, this was a far better and more appealing record than TANGERINE DREAM’s ‘Cyclone’.

But with misgivings about its perceived commercial nature, Peter Baumann took on the alias of Hacoon Mail while Hans Brandeis used the Franco pseudonym Cyril Claud for the ‘Welcome To Joyland’ credits and its release on the European multi-national label Metronome was accompanied by virtually non-existent promotion to retain a mystery and stimulate the press curiosity… however, the strategy backfired and the album flopped.

Baumann went back to making the instrumental music that he made his name with on 1979’s ‘Trans Harmonic Nights’, but he introduced a vocalised aesthetic albeit using vocoder as Moroder had done on his acclaimed Giorgio electronic albums.

‘Welcome To Joyland’ remains something of a curio in the Peter Baumann portfolio, but it is a pointer to the pop song based direction he launched on the 1981 Robert Palmer produced ‘Repeat Repeat’. It proved to be an even bigger surprise to TANGERING DREAM fans but that is another story…

‘Welcome To Joyland’ is available via Private Records on most online platforms

Text by Chi Ming Lai
8 June 2024

PETER BAUMANN Phase By Phase – The Virgin Albums

29 May 2024 /

Peter Baumann is best known for being a member of the classic line-up of TANGERINE DREAM.

Joining in 1971, together with Edgar Froese and Christopher Franke, the trio produced a run of imperial albums released on Virgin Records including ‘Phaedra’, ‘Rubycon’, ‘Ricochet’ and ‘Stratosfear’ which exemplified The Berlin School, a sub-genre of otherworldly electronic music whose other exponents also included Klaus Schulze, Manuel Göttsching and Florian Fricke.

Baumann’s father was a composer and conductor, so it was almost a given that he would take an interest in music and he began playing organ in covers bands. A chance meeting with Christopher Franke at an EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER concert in Berlin led to an invitation to replace Steve Schroyder in TANGERINE DREAM.

With Edgar Froese having already released his first solo album ‘Aqua’ in 1974, it was suggested by Virgin Records that Baumann could follow suit. Already thinking ahead on his own terms, he had commissioned the Berlin-based electronics company Project Elektronik to build a customised modular synthesizer system which used toggle switches rather than cables to enable faster re-routing during live performance; its controller keyboard was designed by Wolfgang Palm, later to found PPG who would become known for their Wave series of synthesizers.

Photo by Jerome Froese

Written in the baking Summer of 1976, ‘Romance ‘76’ comprised of two contrasting suites. In the first half, ‘Bicentennial Present’ showcased strong synth lines and hypnotic rhythmic backbones in a move towards melody away from the cerebral soundscapes of ‘Phaedra’ and ‘Rubycon’; Baumann can even be heard chuckling to himself while performing it. Sparse heartwarming sequencer passages provided a fitting backdrop to ‘Romance’ while ‘Phase By Phase’ continued with the minimal template albeit in a more bubbly fashion and adding church bells!

The second half was more experimental and organic featuring female vocals and the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir conducted by Peter’s father Herbert in Munich. With cello, violins and choirs, ‘Meadow of Infinity (Part One)’ was eerie, dramatic and off the beaten track using electronics only for effects, before segueing into ‘The Glass Bridge’ which brought percussion and woodwinds into the equation before returning back for the ominous Part Two reprise of ‘Meadow of Infinity’ where electronics returned alongside the sombre orchestrations.

But all was not happy within the TANGERINE DREAM camp. Baumann’s confidence had increased to the point that his sharp contributions on the Project Elektronik system during live shows were now outshining Franke’s Moog. Creative and musical tensions were at a high during the trio’s two US tours in 1977. After completing work on the subsequent live double album ‘Encore’, Peter Baumann left TANGERINE DREAM.

Baumann began producing other artists such as Italian artist Leda on her album ‘Welcome To Joyland’ and applied his sequenced knowhow into a more song-based format. The record featured a combination of throbbing electronics and high pitched vocals in acknowledgement of ‘I Feel Love’ which had been signalling the future of pop. Although at the time he felt ‘Welcome To Joyland’ was “too commercial”, it had a profound effect on Baumann and the development of his aesthetic.

As a result, 1979’s ‘Trans Harmonic Nights’ was something of an interim record, mostly comprising of shorter instrumental compositions using mysterious melodies and occasional vocoder textures pointing halfway towards conventional pop vocal phrasing. To open, ‘This Day’ brought in guitar and vocoder alongside drones and sequences. Wolfgang Thierfeldt provided drums on ‘White Bench & Black Beach’ in another sign of adopting less experimental considerations while its strident synthlines recalled Vangelis.

Using harpsichord, ‘Chasing The Dream’ offered mediaeval resonances before pacey pulses took hold on the climax while with vocodered vocals, ‘Biking Up the Strand’ sprang a surprise as a bouncy waltz. ‘Phaseday’ though was perhaps more of what was expected from Baumann as ‘Meridian Moorland’ piped along stridently in a more abstract manner. The fabulous ‘The Third Site’ presented pacey barrage of electronics with spikey overtones nut an even bigger surprise came with a real flugel horn from Bernhard Jobski to accompany the percussive mantra and folk-like overtures of ‘Dance at Dawn’.

Today, ‘Trans Harmonic Nights’ remains something of an underrated electronic gem that clearly connected to TANGERINE DREAM before the start of Baumann’s adventure in pop with ‘Repeat Repeat’. Throwing in his lot with the-then burgeoning Neue Deutsche Welle movement, the album was recorded in New York and at Compass Point Studios in The Bahamas.

Signalling a complete departure from TANGERINE DREAM, it was co-produced by Robert Palmer, fresh from the critical acclaim for his more synth and art funk driven 1980 album ‘Clues’. Using musicians such as keyboardist Carsten Bohn, guitarists Ritchie Fliegler and John Tropea, and drummer Mike Dawe, the ‘Repeat Repeat’ title song was a quirky commentary on popular culture that could have come straight off ‘Clues’.

Listening closely to his then-Virgin Records label mates, ‘Home Sweet Home’ offered a detached cross between SPARKS and MAGAZINE while ‘Deccadance’ sounded as if aliens had landed in a Weimar Cabaret. More guitar driven, ‘Real Times’ continued Baumann’s Russell Mael impression but also recalled Eno’s ‘Here Come The Warm Jets’ era.

As its title suggested, ‘Brain Damage’ was mad and fun while with its reggae inflections, ‘Kinky Dinky’ was a homage to CAN. Declaring “I love money, I love cars, I love TV too”, the detached ‘Daytime Logic’ was an absorbing rhythmic excursion that almost funked! Meanwhile, ‘Playland Pleasure’ was totally SPARKS and what the Mael Brothers might have sounded like had they adopted the synths but not gone disco with Giorgio Moroder. With some neo-flamenco drama but without the acoustic guitars, ‘What is Your Use’ made its presence felt both percussively and synthetically to close.

Enjoyable but very much of its time, the conclusive overview of ‘Repeat Repeat’ is that Robert Palmer was able to realise some of his more synthesized ambitions that were not able to be put in place for ‘Clues’. For Baumann, he got to play the pop star although ultimately he was not able to come up with anything quite as memorable and anthemic as say Peter Schilling with ‘Major Tom’ or Nena with ’99 Luftballons’. Whatever, this album was a shock to TANGERINE DREAM fans and an even bigger surprise was to come.

Ending his tenure with Virgin Records, Peter Baumann caught the attention of Arista Records whose founder Clive Davis had signed Barry Manilow and would later give Whitney Houston her first record contract. The resultant Italo and Europop flavoured album ‘Strangers In The Night’ included an electronic disco cover of the title song made famous by Frank Sinatra and confused TANGERINE DREAM fans even more!

Baumann retried from composing but remained in music, founding his successful Private Music label in 1984 which was later bought by BMG in 1994. Among the roster were notable names including Andy Summers, Ravi Shankar, Carlos Alomar, Suzanne Ciani, Yanni and TANGERINE DREAM.

Although Peter Baumann briefly rejoined TANGERINE DREAM in 2015 and released The Berlin School inspired ‘Machines Of Desire’ in 2016 on Bureau B, in 2019 he launched his new project NEULAND with another former member of TANGERINE DREAM, Paul Haslinger; with seemingly no further activity on the NEULAND front, Baumann continues his work for The Baumann Institute which he founded in 2009 “dedicated to exploring the nature of awareness and its relationship to human health and well-being.”

What ‘Phase By Phase’ captures is a fascinating period in which Peter Baumann never rested on his laurels and took creative risks. Because of the gaps running decades in his back catalogue, his contribution to electronic music is perhaps underrated, especially within the family tree of the band with whom he made his name. This new boxed set should help put things right.

‘Phase By Phase – The Virgin Albums’ is released as a 3CD box set on 7 June 2024, available from https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/peter-baumann-phase-by-phase-the-virgin-albums-3cd-box-set/

https://www.bureau-b.com/peterbaumann.php

https://www.discogs.com/artist/54855-Peter-Baumann

Text by Chi Ming Lai
29 May 2024

« Older posts

© 2017 ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK | Email: [email protected]
Privacy Policy

Up ↑