Cluster (band)

Cluster
Origin	Berlin, Germany
Genres	Krautrock Electronic music Experimental music Ambient music
Years active	1971–1981 1989–1997 2007–2010
Labels	Philips, Brain Records, Sky Records, YHR, Curious Music, Gyroscope, Purple Pyramid, Captain Trip Records, Bureau B
Associated acts	Kluster Harmonia Qluster Conny Plank Brian Eno Moebius & Plank Aquarello Tempus Transit Moving Cultures
Website	Myspace: Roedelius/Cluster Roedelius: Official Website
Past members	Hans-Joachim Roedelius Dieter Moebius Conny Plank

Cluster was a German experimental musical group consisting of Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius. They recorded albums in a wide variety of styles ranging from experimental music to progressive rock and influenced the development of contemporary popular electronic and ambient music. Cluster was active from 1971 until 2010, releasing a total of 15 albums, including two collaborations with Brian Eno. Musician, writer and rock historian Julian Cope places three Cluster albums in his Krautrock Top 50 and "The Wire" places Cluster's debut album "Cluster '71" in their "One Hundred Records That Set The World On Fire".

After a decade long hiatus Cluster reunited in April, 2007. They performed at the opening of documenta 12, a major exhibition of modern and contemporary art held every five years in Kassel, Germany on June 15, 2007. In late 2007 Cluster performed at concerts across Europe and played the United States in 2008 for the first time since 1996.

Cluster disbanded at the end of 2010. Their final concert was on December 5 of that year. In 2011, Roedelius recruited Onnen Bock to reactivate Cluster under the name of "Qluster". Their debut release came in the form of a trilogy entitled Rufen - Fragen - Antworten (Calling - Questioning - Responding), containing a piano record, a live documentary and a normal record. In January 2013, Qluster released their fourth record Lauschen (Eavesdropping), a live record with world musician Armin Metz.

Cluster's musical style has varied greatly over the years, ranging from Experimental Music on early albums, to rhythmic Krautrock or Progressive rock on Zuckerzeit and After the Heat, to new age or ambient music on many tracks in the middle to late '70s, to truly avant-garde or industrial on Live in Vienna. Cluster always has an avant-garde edge even on gentle, ambient pieces. Michael Waynick, who reviewed Cluster & Eno for AllMusic writes a description that applies to more than the one album: "...too emotionally rich to waste as mere background music, evoking feelings of hesitancy and regret that rescue the music from mere vapid prettiness."

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Wikipedia