| Harmonia | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Forst, Germany |
| Genres | Krautrock Kosmische Musik Art-rock Ambient music Electronic music |
| Years active | 1973–1976 2007–present |
| Labels | Brain, Grönland, Water |
| Associated acts | Neu! Cluster Kluster |
| Website | Michael Rother's Harmonia page Myspace: Roedelius/Cluster/Harmonia |
| Members | |
| Michael Rother Hans-Joachim Roedelius Dieter Moebius |
|
| Past members | |
| Mani Neumeier Brian Eno |
|
Harmonia is a Krautrock supergroup from Germany. They formed as a collaboration between Michael Rother of Neu! and Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Möbius of Cluster and later included the British musician Brian Eno.
Contents |
As two-thirds of the original group were the entirety of Cluster, the first album, Musik Von Harmonia, leaned more towards that band's ambient-tinged rock than Neu's Motorik rock. The second album Deluxe had much stronger beats and a more Motorik and arguably more commercial sound. With the addition of Brian Eno for the 1976 recording sessions the third album, Tracks and Traces, was again more ambient in style.
In 1971 the duo of Moebius and Roedelius, also known as Cluster, moved to the rural village of Forst, West Germany. Michael Rother put his project Neu! on hold in early 1973 to form the band Harmonia with Roedelius and Moebius. Together they built their own studio in Forst and recorded two albums under the name Harmonia: Musik Von Harmonia in 1974 and Deluxe in 1975, both released on Brain.
Musician, writer, and rock historian Julian Cope places both albums in his Krautrock Top 50. The trio also toured and a new recording drawn from this period, Live 1974 was released on the UK-based Grönland Records label on October 22, 2007 and the San Francisco based Water Records label in the United States on December 11, 2007.
After the release of the first Harmonia album and a period on tour Michael Rother took a short break from Harmonia to record the third Neu! album with Klaus Dinger, Neu! '75 in order to complete his contractual obligations. In his absence Cluster recorded Zuckerzeit. Rother did not participate on this album but his influence is greatly felt. Zuckerzeit sounds different from any other Cluster album, with clearly defined melody and beat and a very rhythmic sound, at times approaching the Motorik style of Neu!
After the release of Deluxe Harmonia went back to touring until Roedelius, Moebius and Rother ended their collaboration in summer 1976. All three members started solo projects but rejoined as Harmonia in September 1976 when Brian Eno visited them in Forst for 11 days, living and recording with Harmonia. The material for Tracks and Traces was not released until 1997 because the tapes were long considered lost.
Various websites quote Eno as saying that Harmonia was "the world's most important rock band" in the mid '70s, including Sherman Wick in his review of Musik Von Harmonia. Daniel Dumych, who also cites that quote, writes in his article for hyperreal.org: "Perhaps Eno's reason for praising Harmonia so highly was that their music fit the requirements of ambient rock. Its music was equally suitable for active or passive listening. The careful listener found his/her attentions rewarded by the musical activities and sounds, but Harmonia's music was also capable of setting a sonic environment." Clearly Eno had been very impressed with both Musik von Harmonia and Zuckerzeit and had joined Harmonia once live in 1974, jamming with the group at The Fabrik in Hamburg.
Harmonia continued to influence Brian Eno's work long after its demise. A review of Musik Von Harmonia on the Cult Cargo website cites the track "Ahoi" as "the blueprint for a couple of the tracks on Eno's Apollo LP, with its minimalist picked guitar and simple piano runs."
Harmonia reunited in 2007 following the release of their album „Live 1974“, a recording of their concert of 23 March 1974 at Penny Station Club in Griessem, Germany. Rother, Roedelius and Moebius performed live as Harmonia for the first time since 1976, opening the Worldtronics Festival at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, Germany on November 27, 2007.[1][2]
Harmonia made their first live appearance in the UK on 18 April 2008, playing on the opening night of the Ether Festival in the Queen Elizabeth Hall at Southbank Centre, London. In July 2008 the band also headlined the final day of the Supersonic Festival in Birmingham.
Harmonia further appeared at the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in the UK in May 2008, at the Numusic festival in Stavanger, Norway, at an edition of ATP curated by My Bloody Valentine in New York in September 2008 and at the Australian series of the festival, curated by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in January 2009.
In September 2009 an extended version of Tracks and Traces will be released by Gronland. The new album features three additional tracks from the Harmonia & Eno ´76 collaboration.