"Conrad Schnitzler is an artist and musician who has been organizing sounds into musical works that have consistently blown minds all across the world since the late sixties." -- Angbase "Many consider Conrad Schnitzler to be the grandfather of European electronic music. In the late sixties/early seventies, it was Schnitzler who convinced Tangerine Dream and Kluster ... to `go electronic,' embracing the then-unexplored realm of synthesized sound. Having set those individuals on a new sonic course, Schnitzler went off to pursue a solo career that has lasted over three decades." -- Sonic Curiosity Admira is sourced from original master recordings discovered by Kluster member and Tangerine Dream engineer Klaus Freudigmann. It is presented here for the first time in this deluxe package. The intense sessions were made with Conrad Schnitzler at the helm, as always, after the departure of Mobius and Roedelius from the group. Admira is limited to 1,000 copies and is packaged in a deluxe gatefold jacket made to emulate the original die-stamped puffy packaging for Kluster's album Klopfzeichen. When you look at documentaries from the late sixties, it looks like California was everywhere. Endless summer, or a never-ending Woodstock. What we did not know than was that the Woodstock movie showed the pictures people wanted to see. The guys who made the film knew that, and the success at the box office was their reward for not disappointing their audience's expectations. Berlin was quite different. The winters were bitter cold. The people lived in old houses with little coal ovens, and keeping them working was a task that could consume half a day. Rock `n' roll, and its adventurous sibling psychedelia, were effective remedies against climatic, political, and mental cold. A few years ago Klaus Freudigmann found a suitcase that hadn't been opened for twenty years. Out popped a bundle of tapes from the Kluster sessions (1970-1973) that had stood the test of time quite well.
M**D
Kuster - 'Admira' (Important Records)
This previously unreleased Kluster CD is said to be a live recording - but if it is indeed that, it's most certainly a very quiet crowd at that. 'Admira' is very experimental to say the least. Sound quality here is fine but with the disc's twelve tracks with a duration of 61:25 didn't knock me out. Oh, it's an okay title but personally, I got much more out of this CD's companion release 'Vulcano: Live In Wuppertal 1971' (see my review). Each cut here is untitled. First few songs have a definite out-there sound with a dream-like krautrock presence in the background. Perhaps aimed toward the die-hard fans and the completists but I like to think that the average Kluster / Cluster fan would get something good out of this pick. Footnote here: the personnel for this audio CD is listed as Conrad Schnitzler, Wolfgang Seidel and Klaus Freudigmann. So where was Roedelius and Moebius?
B**T
Interesting document of early Kluster.
This is another interesting slice of early Kluster experimentation.In 1971 the original lineup of Kluster (Moebius, Roedelius, Schnitzler) split up with Moebius and Roedelius going off to form Cluster.The music presented here was recorded by Conrad Schnitzler in '71, more or less alone from what I gather. Engineers Wolfgang Seidel and Klaus Freudigmann are also credited in the liner notes, but it's not clear how they were involved in the recording. What is known is that these tapes were unreleased until Freudigmann unearthed them in 2008.The music within is typical of early Kluster: experimental sound collages made using various instruments and devices, twisting and manipulating them into ambient effects, feedback, etc.This makes a great companion to other early Kluser and Cluster albums.
K**L
Bad
While in the past K(C)luster have produced some striking music this is just noise. Tiring. Avoid.
V**N
Deluxe!
Given this is largely sounds, rather than most would consider "music", reviewing the quality has little to do with what is played, and more about what you allow yourself to HEAR. I like it, and that's all it needs to do. There are drones, with bits of Cello played in the background, some wild guitar freakouts that were relatively common at the time, and some odd organ sounds. It's all quite satisfying.A sticker on the front of the CD tells us that this release was made possible because the original masters had been found, and it shows. The sound quality is really good, albeit rather lo-fi stuff. However there is one caveat - the sticker also states "in deluxe packaging". No. It's a standard jewelcase, with a single fold out (total four pages including the cover and back). The fold out lists the musicians (well, the main ones), and that's it. No article, no background text, hell not even information about when and where this was recorded. This must be a new kind of "Deluxe" that I was previously unaware of. LOLHaving said that, minimal lo-fi packaging for minimal lo-fi krautrock - what's not to like. Shame they didn't put as much effort into the booklet as they did with the sticker, but hey-ho. I like it.
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2 months ago
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