Artist: Hans Joachim Roedelius
P: 1979 / 2013
„Selbstportrait III” gathers together (as did parts I and II) enrap tured low-fi Piano/synthesizer/electronic miniatures, musical sketches and ideas which Roedelius recorded at home in the living room on his Revox tape machine between 1973 and 1979 as a kind of “musical diary“ - Recorded 1973–1978; originally released 1980 on Sky 044.
The long overdue reissue of “Selbstporträt III/Reise durch Arcadien” closes a gap in the Roedelius oeuvre which his followers have long since had their eyes on. Those who found the self-portrait series irresistible had to endure a lengthy, impatient wait for the “Journey
Through Arcadia”. As on the other releases in this series, the pieces on “Reise durch
Arcadien” are musical sketches, fleeting ideas and aphorisms of a musician whose exuberant imagination assumes tonal form in almost every moment of his life. Created between 1973 and 1978 and recorded with decidedly modest technical equipment, this music reflects Roedelius’ most intimate, wholly undisguised vision of humane music.
Almost casually, Roedelius offers us as listeners direct access to his artistic riches. Neither seeking to impose himself upon us, nor setting out to impress, he simply wishes to share with us something he could barely put into words. Utterly detached from time, stylistically unique, these tracks could easily be contemporary creations. Only the questionable recording quality (common to the majority of the self-portrait pieces) hints at a bygone age. This in no way diminishes the musical quality, however. On the contrary, it serves to emphasize the spontaneity and authenticity of the sketches. Roedelius was not interested in creating smoothly polished, perfect electronic music productions. His artistry lies in capturing musical ideas which appear like flashes of lightning and developing
them through improvisation. With this in mind, he always pressed record on his tape machine when he sat down at the keyboard, channelling his thoughts, feelings and moods into music. In such moments of inspiration, there was simply no space to consider sound
quality, dynamics, tonal balance or special sound effects. Music was born in Roedelius, it flowed out of him in realtime, unfiltered, and was caught on tape by the assiduous recording device.
Asmus Tietchens
Weight:
0,105
kg per
piece