Harmonia: Are they really as great as Eno says they are?

FUCK XPOST

Yes. And, predictably, the world didn't listen.

it's modest lo-fi home demos and long, long jams, & you can kind of hear why they didn't pull it together for a studio record... but it's still got the sound.

then rother took off and cleared the way for the two cluster & eno records, which I hear are getting reissued again soon

yes.

yes they are.

Mhm.

Why did Michael Rother and Michael Karoli never make a record together?

why did michael rother, michael karoli and michael costello never make a record together?

No.

yes, however avoid the harmonia/eno collab. it is shit.

-- Ô¿Ô (eman), Wednesday, 6 July 2005 03:18 (2 years ago)

^old me is rong

and how great is that live 1974 cd that just came out? shit is deeeeep cosmic groovin and the sound quality is top-notch for an old live gig

Oh, they were lovely at the RFH on Friday night, yes they were. WUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUB!

was it the three of them? cluster is playing here in may

tracks & traces to be reissued with previously 'lost' material included

proposed shcakleton and appleblim remixes make sense (if you've seen them live like i did earlier in the year).

best live show i've seen in years

The last 15 minutes of their show at queen Elizabeth hall, I wouldn't trade for any other gig Ive been to in the last 10 years.

Three minutes into the reissue - gorgeous. The first two tracks are an awesome addition/introduction to the 'ambient schaffel" of "Vamos Companeros" and from there on it's, well, terrific textures, really. I only had a low bitrate rip (that I listen to at work a lot), this is a massive improvement. Great work from Groenland records on the packaging, as usual.

Nice. I'll keep an eye out for this. Reissued on vinyl too?

is this really the cover? (lol)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41t86RNumvL._SS500_.jpg

hope so!

im digging 'musik von harmonia' a lot lately. def. one of my fave krautrock records.

all harmonia is essential, imo. (well, I wasn't too into the eno collab but I may give it another shot with this reissue.)

that live set that got released a few years ago is SO KILLER. sometimes I think I prefer it to the studio albums!

Deluxe is probably my #1 favorite Kraut/Kosmische record.

yes alan, that's the reissue cover - two more studio pics inside, too. don't know if there are plans for a vinyl reissue...

Gotta dig out the live thing again.
I didn't pick up Harmonia 76 before (my radio station got it) but I may buy the new reissue.

reissue is so good

can't believe these three tracks were left off the first time

other tracks completely remastered, much clearer / less fuzzy, sounds less like demo fidelity. though the appeal of this album is still that the playing is on the casual side. the long sprawling drone tracks are still my favorites.

packaging much better this time around. ilife's liner notes are a bit on the precious pie side but they're not boring and I'm right there with him when it comes to getting sentimental over just about everything every single one of these musicians recorded around this time

all day listening

This album is a true gem.
Next month somebody is going to re-release Moebius'Zero Set too.

"pitch control" aside, that album is not a true gem

and how great is that live 1974 cd that just came out? shit is deeeeep cosmic groovin and the sound quality is top-notch for an old live gig

― am0n, Sunday, April 20, 2008 2:53 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark

yessssssssssssssssssssssssss all day

and how great is that live 1974 cd that just came out?

Oh yes.

no liner notes on the Vinyl release.

'cause obviously anyone buying the vinyl, has only a passing interest in knowing more about the recording.

Dud.

Guys that do, amongst other things surely, the allez-allez blog have started a label: amazing sounds. First, upcoming, release: a 2 x 12" of Harmonia & Eno remixes by Shackleton and Appleblim & Komonazmuk.

!!!

Shackleton remix of "Sometimes in Autumn" is streamed from the rcrdlbl site and the Appleblim + Komonazmuk remix is included in this mix (link also has some more info).

Just listening to Deluxe for the first time.

Jeeeeeeeesus.

Everyone listens to Musik Von Harmonia, which is ace, obviously but Deluxe is in a league of its own.

both are just wonderful.

yes. but Deluxe is indeed superior

used to think so. now I'm not so sure. they both have much to like.

I love the woozy, hypnotic quality that some of musik von has. particularly "watussi".

the live disc from a few years ago amplifies these qualities and is great.

and "dino" is just this driving, awesome force.

deluxe is more polished. sometimes I want that, sometimes I don't.

heh, please ignore how my post reads like a telegram or something. v. strangely constructed. oh, well.

Live 1974 is just wow

Yeah? I see that around, I guess I need to get on it. Man I love these dudes.

Live 1974>All other Harmonia material>"Most Music"

it's a shame harmonia 76 doesn't get more accolades. i think the recent tracks and traces reissue w/ the extra trax is my favourite harmonia overall. parts of it are so dark and weird, but it still has that delicate, melodic roedelius touch here and there

deluxe is waking up sunday morning music, musik von is like a druggy early morning after party, live 1974 is hypnotic; but none have that perfect late night wooziness like harmonia 76

i love the setup as well -- eno, cluster and michael rother in a farmhouse just jamming out every day and pressing record. such an inspiration

Live 2008 ATP set not in the same magic league as the 70's recordings but I keep coming back to it. I can see why M & R nixed the idea of a longer tour, their need for freeform improv would clash with Rother's drive to accurately recreate live versions of the their 70's studio tracks. A tour might not work out but the good parts of 'Live 2008' definitely make me hope they can get in the studio again for a week and make some new stuff, at least when Rother plays with M & R he lets them handle all the synths and mostly concentrates on his guitar tone, which is still there

& also that remix 12" of harmonia & eno remixes, I was afraid of it, but I shouldn't have been

is that the shackleton and appleblim thing? i should get 'round to that i guess

is the ATP 2008 thing an official release?
(live 1974 might be my favorite "krautrock" kinda thing ever)

"almost" from tracks and traces killing me right now. maybe the most beautiful thing any of these artists ever made

is that the shackleton and appleblim thing? i should get 'round to that i guess

Structurally nothing too incredible, but the remixes respect the original sounds and simply let you hear them evolve in a new context. I winced when I heard this even existed, so basically they'd get points simply for this not being a disaster and it's not a disaster, it's kind of fun

is the ATP 2008 thing an official release?

mp3's hosted at wfmu blog

The question that should be asked is whether Eno is as great as his association with Harmonia would suggest, and the answer is: indeed.

it's a shame harmonia 76 doesn't get more accolades

otm. I <3 that record, though I love all of them equally I think, but Tracks and Traces is slept on genius.

(live 1974 might be my favorite "krautrock" kinda thing ever)
It's so good, I bought a Roland Tr-77 on eBay. Not the drum box Harmonia/Cluster used, but close enough that I "had to have" the sound.

Have not heard their first album yet (though I've heard "Watussi" and it's amazing). Of what I have heard, I prefer Deluxe to Tracks and Traces.

Starting to dig into the Tracks and Traces reissue at last. Part of me thinks if this had been the first issue, it would have been received very differently. All due respect to Milton's love of the drone, the new tracks sound a bit more like maybe you'd have imagined this collaboration "should have" sounded -- with Michael Rother and Roedelius duetting over Eno textures. Lovely.

There is one cover of the album that just shows Rother, Eno, and the Cluster boys drinking tea; that's the impression I got from it. It doesn't really sound like 'composed' material but rather the guys just hanging out and experimenting around. As a result I don't like it anywhere near as much as the other two Harmonia albums but those two are classic so you can only ask for so much.

the new tracks sound a bit more like maybe you'd have imagined this collaboration "should have" sounded -- with Michael Rother and Roedelius duetting over Eno textures

Obviously Moebius was off making the tea the "boys" are enjoying so much on the cover

Ha ha -- possibly! But in all seriousness, he was probably working with Eno on the textures.

As for the "just hanging out and experimenting around"...that's exactly how I felt about the first issue of it. But the three tracks on the reissue sound a bit more composed (or at least melodically thought out), and given that two of those tracks lead the set off, it really changes the way you perceive the set as a whole.

Just bought this today.

Listening to the first part of Live on WFMU from 2008 -- surprisingly good. Sounds as if they've found their sound palette.

this is kinda one of things where .. you know, I bought the original issue of this when first came a decade ago or whatever (Ryko, was it?), and I am just goddamn sick of buying the same records more than one time.

But you guys are making me need to hear this.

If you are a casual fan, it's probably not critical. But if you love them and were disappointed, it's definitely worth getting.

first version was mixed by roedelius from a dub of the multitracks -- one of the reasons edition #1 sounds like demos is because it's very fuzzy / murky

new version was mixed by rother from the original multitracks, and the three new tracks are among the best on the record, not leftovers. definitely worth getting again.

perfect, good intel, Milton .. sold .. will buy the re-sh

is it just me or is the drum programming on Musik Von and Zuckerzeit a little "off", maybe intentionally? it'll be on-beat, off-beat, 4/4, 3/4, it's very strange (partcularly on "Watussi" and "Hollywood"). at least that's how it sounds, to me

Listening to this 2009 Tracks and Traces and it really does sound a lot better than the earlier one! Thanks for reminding me of its existence, ILM.

its not rly drum programming, just rhythm box presets going through delays, no sequencing / midi syncing. get multiple loops going and they're gonna phase in and out of sync naturally.

re: who did what, and why they didn't do a "real" album together etc... isn't the story that Eno came to visit them, recorded what they were doing and then released it without their knowledge? Or was that the cluster/eno stuff? or both? I seem to remember Rother saying something like that in the BBC krautrock doc.