''Jardin Au Fou'' is the second solo album by German keyboardist

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 ...

, best known for his work with

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 ...

. The title is French for "Madman's Garden". ''Jardin Au Fou'' was recorded from April through July, 1978 at

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Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

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 produced by former

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup ...

member

Peter Baumann Peter Baumann (born 29 January 1953) is a German musician. He formed the core line-up of the pioneering German electronic group Tangerine Dream with Edgar Froese and Christopher Franke in 1971. Baumann composed his first solo album in 1976, whi ...

and released by the

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label

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in 1979. ''Jardin Au Fou'' was the only early Roedelius album not to be released by

Sky Records Sky Records was a Hamburg, Germany-based independent record label specializing in krautrock/Kosmische Musik and electronic music. Some of their releases could be classified as progressive rock or art rock, experimental music, industrial, ambient, ...

. The original release included 10 tracks but the final short piece, "Final", was left off the track listing on the original album cover. ''Jardin Au Fou'' was reissued on CD in 1998 by the

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ese Captain Trip label. The reissued version added six bonus tracks which nearly doubled the length of the album. Three of the new tracks are remixes of material on the original recording while three others are newly released. The new tracks are very much in the style of the original album. The remixes, remastering of the original material, and production of the reissue is credited to Eric Spitzer-Martin and was done at The Hitbox in

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. Mike Ezzo, who reviewed the album for Groove Unlimited, writes, in part:

"...'Jardin au Fou' was where he cemented that particularly light-hearted and wistful Roedelius sound. Not a garden of madness, rather a garden of whimsy and odd delight, it is simple melodious keyboard music whose character is imbued with unexpected chord progressions that don't resolve in traditional ways, a naive rhythmic sense, and melodic lines that go where you least expect. One gets the feeling that Roedelius had envisioned the scenery of a park on a Sunday afternoon in Paris, or some kind of music from a traveling circus show, when the inspiration for this recording struck him."Ezzo, Mik
Groove Unlimited - Roedelius - Jardin Au Fou
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''Jardin Au Fou'' was the first of a series of albums where Roedelius ventured firmly into ambient or new age music. The French record label Jardin Au Fou named themselves after the Roedelius album.

Track listing

#"Fou Fou" - 3:59 #"Toujours" - 2:59 #"Rue Fortune" - 2:23 #"Balsam" - 2:18 #"Café Central" - 3:40 #"Le Jardin" 4:30 #"Gloria Dolores" - 4:14 #"Étoiles" 3:55 #"Schöne Welt" - 4:48 #"Final" - 0:49 :Bonus tracks on 1998 reissue: 11. "Tempera" - 7:25
12. "Étoiles II (remix)" - 3:53
13. "Übers Feld" - 5:40
14. "Le Jardin II (remix)" - 5:03
15. "Mittsommer" - 6:01
16. "Rue Fortune II (remix)" - 2:21

Personnel

- synthesizer, keyboards * Schagzerig Greene - cello, keyboards * Ulrike Lai - cello * Wolfgang Diumshede - flute * Hans Brandeis - guitar

Notes

References

* Album Liner Notes * Allmusic Jardin Au Fou Credits Retrieved September 20, 2007. * Discog
Roedelius - Jardin Au Fou
Retrieved September 20, 2007. * Jardin Au Fou Label Disco/Graphiqu
home page
Retrieved September 20, 2007. * Prog Archive
Hans-Joachim Roedelius - Jardin Au Fou
Retrieved September 20, 2007. {{Authority control 1979 albums Hans-Joachim Roedelius albums