The latest project from
Hans-Joachim Roedelius of
Cluster/
Kluster and
Harmonia fame is
Qluster, a duo with
Onnen Bock of
Zeitkratzer. And even though
Bock is roughly half
Roedelius' age, the two men communicate very well on the seven analog synth improvisations that make up the disc. Many of them fit into the darkened kosmische music territory
Roedelius explored so ably in the 1970s, before moving into neo-classical composition, but others represent entirely new areas of investigation for him.
"Wurzelwelt" sounds like an early-'80s instrumental by
the Residents, with its dripping-water percussion sounds, haunted-house music-box sounds, and off-kilter melody.
"Haste Toene," on the other hand, is a slowly blossoming piece not far from early-'90s ambient work by
Aphex Twin or
the Orb. And
Roedelius and
Bock are masters of the recording studio; there are sub-bass rumbles here that would make
Bill Laswell swallow his tongue with envy. Like many classic analog synth discs from the '70s by
Roedelius,
Klaus Schulze,
Tangerine Dream, et al.,
Fragen sounds like an entirely different album when heard through headphones rather than speakers, and vice versa. But no matter how you listen to it, it's a very strong addition to the
Roedelius discography, and the history of synthesizer music in general. ~ Phil Freeman
