Roedelius - Durch Die Wuste

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5...according to our Brett on Tue 11 Aug, 2009.

On a trip through to yet another crushing football disappointment in Huddersfield last year I spotted a used copy of one of my favourite krautrock LPs, Durch Die Wuste by Hans Joachim Roedelius (of Cluster and Harmonia fame), but for some bizarre reason I didn't lay the cash down and I've spent the last six months or so regretting it. Thank heavens for reissue dons Bureau B then, since they've flung it back out there at a highly reasonable price on both CD and LP. Things kick off with 'Am Rockzipfel', an almost funky guitar-based art rock jam you could easily have imagined John Cale knocking out in the 70s, and it's a definite highlight. From there things take a more traditionally Cluster-esque route with highly sophisticated analogue synth compositions melding with ethnic percussion influences and a variety of soothing instrumentation (often contributed by co-producer Konny Plank) to serene and emotive effect. It's just a total classic, like.

The debut Roedelius album is an excellent showcase of the producer's talents in producing exquisite instrumental music for reflection. Though these tracks often stray from beatless space music (the opener "Am Rockzipfel" flits back and forth between electronic hard rock and space), the musical structures employed certainly suggest ambience, from the classical melodies of the title track to the gaseous atmosphere of "Glaubersalz."

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