A further co-founder of The Zodiak Free Arts Lab, as well as a pioneer, living legend and long-standing formative influence on the electronic music scene, is Hans-Joachim Roedelius. Following Kluster (founded in 1969 with Conrad Schnitzler and Dieter Moebius) and Cluster (in duo as of 1971 with Dieter Moebius), he has been treading new paths since 2007 in collaboration with Onnen Bock, under the name Qluster – and thus continues to pursue his original concept, the free improvisation of electronic music. Roedelius’ musical influence is far-reaching and he certainly riveted the attention inter alia of Belgian artist Köhn, whose newest works attest to a fusion of American minimal music and free-form electronica à la Roedelius.
Whether playing with K, C or Q, Hans-Joachim Roedelius personifies a fundamentally experimental mind-set. To be in the moment, to trust one’s intuition and to embrace the unforeseeable as well as mistakes and the possibility of failure have always been and remain today, essential to his music. This is probably why, despite its utopian thru metaphysical connotations and its expansive, otherworldly beauty, his music consistently evinces a deeply sympathetic and humane dimension. Despite its grace, it is music born also of irreconcilable opposites. And so, in the Qluster creations conjured still exclusively from analog hardware and acoustic instruments, there is always something tender and intimate to be heard, as well as something that beckons one to cross the borders of identity.
Or, as veteran associate Asmus Tietchens says, "The listener is taken along with Qluster, on a path that appears to lose itself on an imaginary horizon. Roedelius and Bock never stray from this path however, and nor do they lose sight of their destination. So they are conscientious boy scouts in a sense, whom the wanderer can join in full confidence. Qluster music may have no destination as such, and possibly lies in cloud-cuckoo-land. Yet the direction is always clear: always follow the sun, over ever greater distances, to wherever things look a little different, and sound a little different: new ground, terra incognita".
For their performance, Qluster are not only going to haul an arsenal of analog electronic sound machines to Berlin but have also invited Armin Metz to join them as their special guest.
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Latest tracks by Qluster
