Kluster

Artist: Qluster
P: 2011
“Rufen” is the second instalment in a trilogy of Qluster music, following on from the “Fragen” studio album. In four impressive live recordings, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Onnen Bock (bios see below) unfold aural panoramas which can only be described, in the truest sense of the word, as fantastic. Had Claude Debussy not already composed “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun”, then Qluster would have been ideally placed to do so, their transparency and polymorphism so reminiscent of his high impressionism. Shunning computers and discarding digital sound Roedelius and Bock appear to have detached themselves from their own age, exclusively playing analogue keyboards, such as
the good old Korg MS 20 synthesizer. Nevertheless, they do not revert to earlier periods in search of their stylistic approach. Conventional rhythmic and harmonic patterns are wholly absent. Qluster’s foreign sounds and lucidity bring their music closer to contemporary electronic chamber music; although, as paradoxical as it may sound, a form of chamber music which Qluster first had to invent. If this album’s predecessor “Fragen” (released in spring 2011) ventured into strange, unworldly musical territory, then “Rufen” pushes the boundaries still further. Qluster take the listener along a path which seems to disappear on an imaginary horizon. Roedelius and Bock neither drift off course, nor do they lose sight
of their destination. As such, they prove to be reliable scouts who earn the trust of the wanderer at their side. Perhaps there is no goal in Qluster’s music, unless it lies in cloud cuckoo land. The direction, however, is clear: head towards the sun, further and
further, to a place where everything looks – and sounds – a little different. New land, terra incognita. Listening to Qluster feels as new an experience as the music they play. “Rufen” is not new just for the sake of it. That would not be enough. “Rufen” is new because two mature musical personalities have succeeded (effortlessly) in creating music which cannot be plotted on a timeline. Music which defies comparison in terms of form and sound. A chance occurrence? Very rare, to say the least.
Asmus Tietchens