Cluster

Formed in Berlin, Germany in 1971, Cluster was an enormously influential krautrock / space rock / electronic duo founded by Dieter Moebius (born January 16, 1944, in St. Gallen, Switzerland) and Hans-Joachim Roedelius (born October 26, 1934, in Berlin), both of whom played synthesizers and other electronic keyboards. Originally a trio featuring Conrad Schnitzler, the group came together as Kluster in 1969. By the time they recorded their 1971 self-titled debut album – later retitled Cluster ’71 - with producer Conrad ‘Conny’ Plank, the group was a duo under the new name Cluster. That first album revealed the group’s unique sound that blended avant-garde, experimental, drone, and ambient music. After two albums for the Brain Records label - Cluster II (1972) and Zuckerzeit (1974) - the duo collaborated with Neu!’s Michael Rother on two albums with the Harmonia project and then released their own album Sowiesoso (1976). Their two collaborations with Brian Eno – Cluster & Eno (1977) and After the Heat (1978) – brought the duo to the attention of a wider audience. Two more albums followed – Grosses Wasser featuring Tangerine Dream’s Peter Baumann (1979) and Curiosum (1981) – the duo split up and worked on separate projects. They reunited in 1989 and released the albums Apropos Cluster (1990) and One Hour (1994) before parting ways again. In 2007, Moebius and Roedelius came together again for a series of international live shows, releasing the live album Berlin 07 (2008), which was recorded during this tour. Cluster split again before releasing any studio recordings. On July 20, 2015, Dieter Moebius died at the age of 71.