Kluster

The Profile

German experimental trio formed in Berlin in 1969 by Conrad Schnitzler, Hans‑Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius. They released three landmark albums of amplified acoustic instruments, tape manipulation and spoken texts. After Schnitzler left in 1971, Roedelius and Moebius continued as Cluster.

Schnitzler and Roedelius opened the Zodiak Free Arts Club in 1969; the first two Kluster albums included German religious recitations due to church funding; after Schnitzler’s 1971 departure, Roedelius and Moebius continued as Cluster.

Two in-depth reviews chart Kluster’s early albums Klopfzeichen and Zwei Osterei: long-form improvisations, amplified cellos and organs, tape work, and German narrations born from church funding. The music is hypnotic, noisy, and defiantly avant-garde—historically crucial to krautrock’s rise. Reviewers connect the trio’s Berlin roots and Zodiak scene to later Cluster. Challenging, but essential for adventurous listeners.