''Deluxe'' is the second album from the West German
krautrock group
Harmonia
In Greek mythology, Harmonia (; grc, Ἁρμονία /Ancient Greek phonology, harmoˈnia/, "harmony", "agreement") is the immortal goddess of harmony and concord. Her Rome, Roman counterpart is Concordia (mythology), Concordia. Her Greek op ...
, consisting of
Neu!
Neu! (; German for "New!"; styled in block capitals) were a West German krautrock band formed in Düsseldorf in 1971 by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother following their departure from Kraftwerk. The group's albums were produced by Conny Plan ...
guitarist
Michael Rother
Michael Rother (born 2 September 1950) is a German experimental musician, best known for being a founding member of the influential bands Neu! and Harmonia, and an early member of the band Kraftwerk.
Early life and education
Born in 1950, ...
and the duo
Cluster
may refer to:
Science and technology Astronomy
* Cluster (spacecraft), constellation of four European Space Agency spacecraft
* Asteroid cluster, a small asteroid family
* Cluster II (spacecraft), a European Space Agency mission to study t ...
(
Hans-Joachim Roedelius
Hans-Joachim Roedelius (born 26 October 1934) is a German electronic musician and composer, best known as a co-founder of the influential 'kosmische' groups Cluster and Harmonia. He also performed in the ambient jazz trio Aquarello, and relea ...
and
Dieter Moebius
Dieter Moebius (16 January 1944 – 20 July 2015) was a Swiss-born German electronic musician and composer, best known as a member of the influential krautrock bands Cluster and Harmonia.
Moebius was studying art at Berlin's Akademie Grafik and ...
). It was recorded in June 1975 in Harmonia's studio in
Forst
Forst may refer to:
Communities
In Germany
*, in the district of Aachen
*Forst (Baden), in Baden-Württemberg
*Forst (Lausitz), in Brandenburg
* Forst (Unterfranken), part of Schonungen, Bavaria
* Forst, Altenkirchen, in the district of Altenk ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. It was first released on the
Brain Records
Brain was a Hamburg-based record label prominent in the 1970s releasing several important Krautrock records by bands such as Neu!, Cluster and Guru Guru. Many of its more prominent records are currently being reissued on CD by Repertoire Recor ...
label in 1975.
''Deluxe'' was produced by the band members and
Conny Plank
Konrad "Conny" Plank (3 May 1940 – 5 December 1987) was a German record producer and musician. He is known for his innovative work as a sound engineer and producer in Germany's krautrock and kosmische music scene in the 1970s. Plank was invol ...
.
The trio were also joined by drummer
Mani Neumeier
Mani Neumeier (Manfred Neumeier, born 31 December 1940 in Munich) is a German rock musician, free-jazz drummer, artist, and frontman (singer and drummer) of the German Krautrock-band Guru Guru.
Probably best known for his work with Guru Guru, Neu ...
for the release. It was officially reissued in 2004 by
Universal
Universal is the adjective for universe.
Universal may also refer to:
Companies
* NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company
** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal
** Universal TV, a ...
.
Background
For ''Deluxe'', Harmonia worked with producer
Conny Plank
Konrad "Conny" Plank (3 May 1940 – 5 December 1987) was a German record producer and musician. He is known for his innovative work as a sound engineer and producer in Germany's krautrock and kosmische music scene in the 1970s. Plank was invol ...
(who had previously worked with both their main projects
Cluster
may refer to:
Science and technology Astronomy
* Cluster (spacecraft), constellation of four European Space Agency spacecraft
* Asteroid cluster, a small asteroid family
* Cluster II (spacecraft), a European Space Agency mission to study t ...
and
Neu!
Neu! (; German for "New!"; styled in block capitals) were a West German krautrock band formed in Düsseldorf in 1971 by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother following their departure from Kraftwerk. The group's albums were produced by Conny Plan ...
).
He brought a 16-track recording machine and mixing desk to the band's country studio.
[ Plank brought along drummer and ]Guru Guru
Guru Guru is a German krautrock band formed in 1968 as The Guru Guru Groove by Mani Neumeier (drums), Uli Trepte (bass) and Eddy Naegeli (guitar), later replaced by the American Jim Kennedy. After Kennedy collapsed on stage due to a serious ill ...
member Mani Neumeier to perform on several tracks.[ ''Deluxe'' emphasized Rother's rock and pop sensibility over Cluster's more improvisational approach, which led to some creative tension between the members.]
Reception
Ned Raggett's review for Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
describes the album as "a touch more immediate and song-oriented than its predecessor, but no less enchanting and lovely to hear," noting that "the motorik
Motorik is the 4/4 beat often used by, and heavily associated with, krautrock bands. Coined by music journalists, the term is German for "motor skill". The motorik beat was pioneered by Jaki Liebezeit, drummer with German experimental rock band ...
pulses and rhythms, however soft and subtle, still dominate the proceedings, while the glazed, warm feeling of the whole album is astounding."[Raggett, Ned. ]Allmusic review
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
Retrieved 3 September 2007. ''PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
'' called the album "a deeply beautiful record that redefines the word meditative and shimmers with breathtaking passages of unhurried, received music." Less positively, writer David Stubbs
David Stubbs (born 13 September 1962 in London) is a British music journalist. He grew up in Leeds and in the early Eighties was a student at the University of Oxford where he was a close friend of Simon Reynolds. The two were part of the Oxford ...
opined that "by comparison with the first album it feels just a little too light, lacking the gravitational pull of Moebius and Roedelius's influence; they feel like guests on what is more a Michael Rother album—a fine one, to be sure ..but the hearts of the Cluster duo were in it less and less."
Musician, writer, and rock historian Julian Cope included ''Deluxe'' in his Krautrock Top 50.[Cope, Julian. ''Krautrocksampler: One Head's Guide to the Great Kosmische Musik – 1968 Onwards''. 1995, Head Heritage, ]
Releases
CDs of ''Deluxe'' first appeared in 1994 on the Germanofon label. This dubious company based in Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
released numerous Krautrock albums without proper authorization or paying royalties, in effect producing bootlegs that somehow found their way into mainstream distribution. The Germanofon CDs were transfers from vinyl LPs and generally were of inferior sound quality. The album was not properly released on CD until 24 October 2004 on the Motor Music
Motor Music is an independent record label based in Berlin, Germany providing a wide range of music services including music publication, artists management, producing music for films and business and music advertising. Motor Music was founded in ...
label, a subsidiary of the Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
.[Rother, Michael]
Harmonia web page
Retrieved 2 September 2007. It was also reissued by Universal in Japan in 2005, by the Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
n label Lilith in 2006, and by the Revisited Records label in 2007.
Track listing
Music and concept by Michael Rother, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius
# "Deluxe (Immer Wieder)" ("Deluxe (Again and Again)") – 9:45
# "Walky-Talky" – 10:35
# "Monza (Rauf und Runter)" ("Monza (Up and Down)") – 7:07
# "Notre Dame" – 4:15
# "Gollum" – 4:35
# "Kekse" ("Biscuits") – 5:35
Personnel
;Harmonia
* Hans-Joachim Roedelius
Hans-Joachim Roedelius (born 26 October 1934) is a German electronic musician and composer, best known as a co-founder of the influential 'kosmische' groups Cluster and Harmonia. He also performed in the ambient jazz trio Aquarello, and relea ...
– keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
, vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
* Michael Rother
Michael Rother (born 2 September 1950) is a German experimental musician, best known for being a founding member of the influential bands Neu! and Harmonia, and an early member of the band Kraftwerk.
Early life and education
Born in 1950, ...
– guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
s, keyboards, vocals
* Dieter Moebius
Dieter Moebius (16 January 1944 – 20 July 2015) was a Swiss-born German electronic musician and composer, best known as a member of the influential krautrock bands Cluster and Harmonia.
Moebius was studying art at Berlin's Akademie Grafik and ...
– synthesizer, Nagoya harp, vocals
with:
* Mani Neumeier
Mani Neumeier (Manfred Neumeier, born 31 December 1940 in Munich) is a German rock musician, free-jazz drummer, artist, and frontman (singer and drummer) of the German Krautrock-band Guru Guru.
Probably best known for his work with Guru Guru, Neu ...
– drums
Covers
The band The Secret Machines
Secret Machines are an American alternative rock band, originally from Dallas, Texas, United States, before moving to New York City. The original lineup consisted of two brothers, Brandon (vocals, bass guitar and keyboards) and Benjamin Curtis ...
made a cover of "Deluxe (Immer Wieder)" on their 2005 EP ''The Road Leads Where It's Led
''The Road Leads Where It's Led'' is The Secret Machines' second EP, released in 2005. In addition to the title-track, a single from their first album, ''Now Here Is Nowhere'', the EP includes several cover versions, including Van Morrison's "Ast ...
''.
References
{{Authority control
1975 albums
Harmonia (band) albums
Albums produced by Conny Plank