* En anglais uniquement
Though
Harmonia began as a sideline excursion for
Hans-Joachim Roedelius and
Dieter Moebius of
Cluster and
Michael Rother of
Neu!, the group became one of the most legendary in the entire Krautrock/kosmische scene with the release of several mid-'70s LPs. After two studio albums recorded as
Cluster,
Roedelius and
Moebius moved out to the German countryside to build their own studio in the village of Forst. After several disappointments in his attempt to expand
Neu! into a live unit,
Rother retreated to
Cluster's studio for a series of relaxed, improvisational jam sessions that wedded
Cluster's exploratory space music with the chugging rhythms and guitar sense of
Rother. The debut
Harmonia LP,
Musik Von Harmonia, appeared in 1974 (with an accomplished live track, recorded in Amsterdam). Though
Rother also continued with
Neu! to create another Krautrock classic,
Neu! '75,
Harmonia remained his focus for another LP, 1975's
De Luxe.
Brian Eno had proclaimed
Harmonia "the world's most important rock group," and he eventually joined the proceedings for several 1976 sessions -- the legendary results of which lay unreleased for over 20 years, until Rykodisc acquiesced with the release of
Tracks & Traces. Though
Cluster and
Eno continued their collaboration during the late '70s,
Rother began a solo career with 1978's Sterntaler. ~ John Bush