Though Harmonia
began as a sideline excursion for Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter
Moebius of Cluster and Michael Rother of Neu!, the group became one of
the most legendary in the entire krautrock/kosmische scene with the
release of several mid-’70s LPs.After two studio albums recorded as
Cluster, Roedelius and Moebius moved out to the German countryside to
build their own studio in the village of Forst. After several
disappointments in his attempt to expand Neu! into a live unit, Rother
retreated to Cluster’s studio for a series of relaxed, improvisational
jam sessions that wedded Cluster’s exploratory space music with the
chugging rhythms and guitar sense of Rother. The debut Harmonia LP,
Musik Von Harmonia, appeared in 1974 (with an accomplished live track,
recorded in Amsterdam). Though Rother also continued with Neu! to create
another Krautrock classic, Neu! ‘75, Harmonia remained his focus for
another LP, 1975’s De Luxe. Brian Eno had proclaimed Harmonia “the
world’s most important rock group,” and he eventually joined the
proceedings for several 1976 sessions — the legendary results of which
lay unreleased for over twenty years, until Rykodisc acquiesced with the
release of Tracks & Traces. Though Cluster and Eno continued their
collaboration during the late ’70s, Rother began a solo career with
1977’s ‘Flammende Herzen’. Line-up / Musicians Dieter Moebius/synthesizer,guitar,electronic percussion,nagoya harp,vocals Hans-Joachim Roedelius/organ,piano,guitar,electronic percussion,vocals Michael Rother/guitar,piano,organ,electronic percussion,vocals Discography(Album) Deluxe 1975
