Harmonia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Forst,Germany |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1973–1976 2007–2009 |
| Labels | Brain,Grönland, Water |
| Past members | Michael Rother Hans-Joachim Roedelius Dieter Moebius Mani Neumeier Brian Eno |
| Website | Official website |
Harmonia was aWest German musical "supergroup"[4] formed in 1973 as a collaboration between members of two prominentkrautrock bands:Cluster'sHans-Joachim Roedelius andDieter Moebius joined byNeu! guitaristMichael Rother. Living and recording in the rural village ofForst, the trio released two albums—Musik von Harmonia (1974) andDeluxe (1975)—to limited sales before dissolving in 1976.AllMusic described the group as "one of the most legendary in the entire krautrock/kosmische scene."[2]
In 1997, a series of shelved 1976 collaborations between Harmonia and British musicianBrian Eno saw release asTracks and Traces; it was reissued with more unearthed material in 2009. Following the release of the live albumLive 1974 (2007), the trio reformed between 2007 and 2009. In 2015, Grönland Records released the 6-disc box setComplete Works, featuring remastered recordings and archival material.
In 1971,[5] the duo of Moebius and Roedelius, members ofCluster, moved to the ruralWest German village ofForst near theWeser River after being offered residence in several centuries-old farmhouses by anantiquarian who hoped to establish an artist's commune there.[4]Michael Rother put his projectNeu! on hold in early 1973 to meet with Roedelius and Moebius, hoping they might act as a backing band for live Neu! performances.[4] Upon jamming with the duo, Rother claimed that "it was sort of a musical love at first sight, really [...] it was just something I hadn’t experienced before. In good moments, the three of us could produce a real, live music."[4] Together the trio recorded in their own home studio in Forst, and chose the name Harmonia partially as a joking reference to the common German phrase for "choir."[5] The idyllic, natural surroundings would influence their work.[5]
_South_To_Porta_West_Falica_(RLH).jpg)
They recorded two albums under the name Harmonia:Musik von Harmonia in 1974 andDeluxe in 1975, both released onBrain Records. The former was produced by Harmonia themselves using a primitive mixer and three tape recorders.[5] After its release and a period on tour, Rother took a short break from Harmonia to record the thirdNeu! album withKlaus Dinger,Neu! '75 (1975) in order to complete his contractual obligations. In his absence Cluster recordedZuckerzeit (1974), with Rother credited as co-producer.[5] The band's second albumDeluxe saw producerConny Plank co-produce with a 16-track recording machine and mixing desk, and featured live drumming byGuru Guru member Mani Neumeier.[5]Deluxe emphasized Rother's rock and pop sensibility over Cluster's more improvisational approach, which led to some creative tension between the members.[4]
After the release ofDeluxe, Harmonia went back to touring until Roedelius, Moebius and Rother ended their collaboration in summer 1976. All three members started solo projects but rejoined as Harmonia in September 1976 whenBrian Eno visited them in Forst for 11 days, living and recording with Harmonia before proceeding to collaborate withDavid Bowie on his 1977 albums. Eno brought along a four-track recorder and aVCS3 synthesizer.[4] The material forTracks and Traces was not released until 1997 because the tapes were long considered lost.
Eno has stated that Harmonia was "the world's most important rock band" in the mid '70s,[6] Eno had joined Harmonia once live in 1974, jamming with the group at The Fabrik inHamburg.David Bowie considered Harmonia one of the most important and influential German bands of the era.[6]
Harmonia reunited in 2007 following the release of their albumLive 1974, a recording of their concert of 23 March 1974 at Penny Station Club in Griessem, Germany. Rother, Roedelius and Moebius performed live as Harmonia for the first time since 1976, opening the Worldtronics Festival at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt inBerlin,Germany on 27 November 2007.[7][8]
Musician, writer, and rock historianJulian Cope places both albums in his Krautrock Top 50. The trio also toured and a new recording drawn from this period,Live 1974 was released on the UK-basedGrönland Records label on 22 October 2007 and theSan Francisco based Water Records label in the United States on 11 December 2007.
Harmonia made their first live appearance in the UK on 18 April 2008, playing on the opening night of theEther Festival in theQueen Elizabeth Hall atSouthbank Centre, London. In July 2008, the band also headlined the final day of theSupersonic Festival in Birmingham.
Harmonia further appeared at theAll Tomorrow's Parties music festival in the UK in May 2008, at the Numusic festival in Stavanger, Norway, at an edition of ATP curated byMy Bloody Valentine in New York in September 2008 and at the Australian series of the festival, curated byNick Cave and the Bad Seeds in January 2009.
In September 2009, an extended version ofTracks and Traces was released by Gronland. The new album features three additional tracks from the Harmonia & Eno ´76 collaboration.Tracks and Traces Remixed, an album composed of remixes followed in 2010.
Dieter Moebius died in July 2015.
In October 2015, Grönland Records released the 6-disc vinyl boxsetComplete Works. The box included all three studio albums,Live 1974 andDocuments 1975; a collection of 2 live tracks and 2 early versions ofDeluxe LP album tracks.Documents 1975 was released as a separate CD and vinyl-LP in March 2016.Documents 1975 had been released as a cassette prior to theComplete Works boxset in September 2015.
According toAllMusic, the work of Harmonia was borne out of "relaxed, improvisational jam sessions that wedded Cluster's exploratoryspace music with the chugging rhythms and guitar sense of Rother."[9]Uncut named their two studio albums as "among the best Krautrock had to offer, gentler thanCan orFaust, but with their shimmering keyboards and mechanical rhythms, every bit as compelling.[10]Pitchfork labeled them "a key krautrock band because they brought together the most familiar strands of the sound and effectively perfected the whole," calling attention to their hybrid ofelectronic androck instrumentation, long-form structures, and steady rhythms.[1]
AllMusic writer John Bush described Harmonia as "one of the most legendary in the entire krautrock/kosmische scene."[2] Collaborator Brian Eno described them in the mid-1970s as "the world's most important rock group."[2] Harmonia's work would influence the development ofambient music by Eno and albums byDavid Bowie, as well as otherelectronic androck acts.[6]
According toPitchfork, "copies of their records found their way into some famously open-eared and influential fans in the UK—Eno and Bowie, among others—and Harmonia’s music has been part of theexperimental rock canon ever since."[1] Harmonia continued to influence Brian Eno's work after their collaboration. Their work, according to critic Alex Abramovich, helped to lay the foundation "not only for ambient music but for generations of blues-less rock bands, fromWire andNew Order toMy Bloody Valentine."[6]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
