Cluster
Zuckerzeit

It is difficult to talk about a group, or rather, individuals, who in the span of 6-7 years revolutionized the way electronic music is understood.

Moebius or Roedelius met back in '69 within the "Zodiak Free Arts" club scene and from there until '76, with different groups, they created a series of works of immense historical significance. You can say you don't like their music, that it is dated (and it feels that way), but you cannot  question the historical value of these two figures who, without mincing words (along with a few others), gave birth to popular electronics,  borrowing it from cultivated music and inserting it into structures progressively closer to rock and pop.

With the very first Kluster, the two, along with Schnitzler, coined a difficult, experimental language in which acoustic instruments are distorted and a free, improvised, almost noise-like form of expression dominates. A language that Schnitzler would then maintain for much of the seventies (as a solo artist) and which I consider a strong inspiration for the impending industrial. Conrad then leaves, Moebius and Roedelius remain, they change their name to Cluster and record their first album in '71: "Cluster 71". The music changes, and the duo takes advantage of new electronic equipment: synth drones echo everywhere on a carpet of cosmic sounds that project the listener into another galaxy. A work which, along with "Alpha Centauri," represents the primordial stage of ambient electronics that will come to fruition the following year with "Irllicht" and "Zeit." The following year comes the second of the Cluster albums, which completes and refines the art expressed so far by the group by excellently blending atmospheres and industrial experiments.

Zuckerzeit, “The Sugar Time,” comes out two years later. The sound softens, deeply veering towards more accessible shores by eliminating the roughness of previous records and inaugurates a new season for the duo and music as a whole: that of electronic pop. The structure of the tracks changes radically: from extensive and improvised compositions to short-duration songs and simple harmonic structures  based on progressions typical of popular music. Most compositions are based on few-chord sequences supported by the sequencer on which splendid melodic synth lines are grafted, all accompanied by a dynamic and engaging rhythm section. Just listen to the opening track   to understand what we are talking about. "Hollywood" dazzles on the first listen. I never thought a song so simple could prove so revolutionary. Why?

In '74, electronic music had never been heard as immediate, extroverted, I would dare say danceable (only Kraftwerk from a few years earlier had approached this result). It is a song form devoid of the classic verse-chorus structure, in which the initial harmonic pattern extends throughout the track's duration and allows marvelous synthetic phrases, almost alien, to emerge on the surface, to which new ones are gradually added . The result is a unique style that uses new technological instruments playfully, in a fun way that contrasts with the seriousness and mysticism of many contemporaries.

The style already shifts in the subsequent “Sowiesoso” where the compositions return to lengthen yet maintain that typical Cluster sound freshness. Zuckerzeit  thus remains a unique gem in the group's repertoire, from which they would proceed to evolve new ideas that we will appreciate with Harmonia and thanks to collaborations with Brian Eno. A work to be discovered in all its beauty, which, along with the contemporary “Autobahn” by Kraftwerk, adds another facet to the prolific 70s music scene.

Rating out of ten: 9