In
2003, one of the proclaimed
founding fathers of ambient
composition and electronica,
Hans-Joachim Roedelius (Cluster,
Harmonia and Aquarello) collaborated
with acclaimed Grammy nominated
composer Tim Story under
the banner of LUNZ to produce
one of the year's most evocative
and stunning debuts. LUNZ
rightly garnered glowing
praise from all quarters:
Now,
their eponymous work is
to be re-released, accompanied
by an additional disc of
remixes and variations
on the originals. Some
of the most adventurous
and alive acts operating
in contemporary music comprise
the diverse cast, among
them: Alias, Lloyd Cole,
Faultline, Elbow, Adem,
Ulrich Schnauss, Icarus,
Half Cousin, Alquimia,
Millenia Nova, Munk and
Arkham.
The
protagonists of Lunz each
have a story as rich and
as interesting as the textures
that weave through their
music. Tim Story, a keen
student of his counterpart
Roedelius, has nearly twenty
years worth of ambient soundscape
and electronic work in his
wake, which notably includes
a Grammy nomination for his
soundtrack work and a Naird "Album
of the Year" award for
his solo album "Beguiled".
Roedelius on the other hand
has a story that would be
more appropriately set to
film than music, so extraordinarily
does it read.
Born
in 1934 Berlin, Hans-Joachim
Roedelius endured the twin
trials of a prodigious childhood
and enforced membership of
the Hitler Youth during the
war ('Hitler went crazy.
He wanted us all to be child
soldiers in the Hitlerjugend
and go off to fight the Russians.').
Eventually escaping from
East Germany he then faced
imprisonment even before
his musical career might
have been considered formative.
Roedelius'
first prodigious steps into
creative life began in his
childhood, when he found
himself thrust into roles
as a child actor in six German
feature films before the
age of ten. The War and its
aftermath then presented
particularly difficult times
to Roedelius' life, with
his family forced to evacuate
toward the Russian border
in 1943. The post-war atmosphere
became less friendly still
with a sinister new civil
police known as The Stasi
marshalling the then shaping
East Germany. Uncomfortable
and incongruent Roedelius
fled this regime, selling
fake jewellery and living
in a single apartment with
refugees for company. Only
to be arrested and interrogated
as he attempted to cross
the border to visit family
in 1952.
Given
time and freedom, Roedelius
found himself in the creative
outskirts of the different
new society in which he was
now immersed. Eventually
in the 1960s, following hippy
expeditions (at one time
he was masseuse to the President
of the French Republic. "I
used to go in and out of
the Elysée Palace
barefoot - it was part of
my "Hippie Healer" outfit,
along with the long hair
and sheepskin jacket.")
and various dabblings in
almost-jazz, Roedelius set
out as a professional composer,
indulging in experiments
with sound that he described
as 'anarchic musical actionism'.
Taking aboard the political
and social climate of the
re-emerging nation in which
he found himself, Roedelius
has oft been credited as
one of the ubermeiesters
of what became known, affectionately,
as Krautrock.
But
to define his oeuvre in this
way would be to perhaps ignore
his overall impact across
many a genre, because the
list of his colleagues and
collaborators reads more
as a who's who across the
generation From founding
Kluster in 1969, with Conrad
Schnitzler and Dieter Mobius,
who's eponymous debut pioneered
the brick-a-brack approach
to electronic music.
To
Cluster, where the spelling
of the bands name would not
be the only change, inspired
by Schnitzler's departure
Roedelius recruited luminaries
such as Brian Eno and Michael
Rother (NEU!) to fill the
vacant position. Later Roedelius
continued such impressive
collaborations by working
with Holger Czukay (Can),
Conrad Plank (Krautrock producer
extraordinaire) and reuniting
with Mobius to form Harmonia.
He even dabbled in spatial
art with Gilbert Bretterbauer
and has formed alliances
with some of the most interesting
names in modern-day composition
(Fabio Capanni, Jurij Novoselic,
Hiroshi Kobayashi, Andres
Gil to name but a few).
"I've
been a coal miner, shepherd,
toilet cleaner, roofbuilder,
carer for the dying, jewellery
salesman, masseur...my university
was life itself" - Roedelius
A
fluid, soothing balm of a
record, Lunz and its followers
have both a history and present
more than worthy of your
attention. |
