ROEDELIUS - Selbstportrait (ristampa)

Hans-Joachim Roedelius, the other half of Cluster alongside Moebius, at the time of the release of the first of the six "Selbstportrait" records (1979), is exactly what the title says: his (artistic) persona. In other words, the sounds of this period have by now settled down, largely detached from the struggles and explorations of his earliest stylistic phase, and even further removed from those of the duo's major work.

The meat of the record consists of flowing sketches in graceful electronic pastels, built on an insistent, almost solfeggio-like arpeggiated base. The metaphysical flourishes of "In Liebe Dein" sound like an instrumental appendix to Robert Wyatt's "Rock Bottom" (minus the vocalizing), while "Inselmoos", "Fabelwein" and "Halmharfe" fit neatly into the pre-ambient category (with light, airy synth improvisations), and "Kamee" flirts with Erik Satie. A burst of modernist dynamism arrives with the dialogue between electronic keyboards and drum machine on "Arcona".

Drawn in by the magnetism of Brian Eno (the collaboration immortalized on "Cluster Und Eno" comes barely a year and a half later), he lacks the resonance and melodic plasticity of a Vangelis, but plays an even more foundational role in the shift from cosmic music to more meditative, shall we say new-age, sensibilities. Reissued in 2011 by Bureau B, like the duo's other solo works. The only "self-portrait" truly worth contemplating, the sequels in the series – "Selbstportrait vol. II", "Selbstportrait vol. III", subtitled "Reise Durch Arcadien", both from 1980, "Selbstportrait VI The Diary Of The Unforgotten", 1996, "Selbstportrait VII Dem Wind Voran", 1999, and "Selbstportrait VIII Introspection", 2002, along with the lost volumes IV and V – are mere holograms by comparison.

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22/02/2011