''Selbstportrait'' is the third 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 ...

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 ...

, and Aquarello. The title is German for "Self Portrait", a title meant to reflect the gentle, introspective nature of the ambient and

new-age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation technique, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecs ...

of the album. The original

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, ambien ...

release was subtitled ''Teil 1 Sanfte Musik'', German for "Part 1, Soft Music." ''Selbstportrait'' was recorded by Roedelius at his home in Forst, in the

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of Bre ...

Uplands of

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

between various

sessions from 1973 until 1977 on his

ReVox ReVox (on-logo styling REVOX) is a brand name, registered by Studer on 27 March 1951 for Swiss audio equipment. History The first Studer-designed tape recorders were branded Dynavox. After the first production series of Dynavox recorders, a new ...

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reel to reel Reel-to-reel audio tape recording, also called open-reel recording, is magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording tape is spooled between reels. To prepare for use, the ''supply reel'' (or ''feed reel'') containing the tape is plac ...

. The music actually predates the two previously released solo albums: ''

Durch Die Wüste ''Durch die Wüste'' is the first full-length solo album by German keyboardist Hans-Joachim Roedelius, best known for his work with Cluster, Harmonia, and Aquarello. The title is German for "Through the Desert." The music on ''Durch Die Wüst ...

'' and '' Jardin Au Fou''. The final mix was completed at Gorilla Studio in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

at the end of April, 1979, with the exception of "Prinzregent" which was edited in Conny's Studio (owned by

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 invo ...

) in 1976. ''Selbstportrait'' was originally released by Sky Records in 1979. Phillipe Blache, writing the review for Prog Archives, describes the album, in part: "The music in itself is another exploration in electronic, pre-ambient 'picture' music but really orientated to the most 'mainstream' side of it." ''Selbstportrait'' and seven of 11 tracks from the follow-up album '' Selbstportrait - Vol. II'' were reissued as a single CD by Sky Records in 1996 under the title ''Selbsportrait I & II''. It was reissued in its original form on both LP and CD by the

Bureau-B Bureau B (sometimes quoted as ''Bureau-B'') is an independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to ...

label on December 3, 2010. In 2017, "Fabelwein" was featured in the film War Machine.

Track listing

#"In Liebe Dein" - 3:43 #"Girlande" - 3:47 #"Inselmoos" - 5:40 #"Fabelwein" - 5:05 #"Prinzregent" - 5:53 #"Kamee" - 3:59 #"Herold" - 3:32 #"Halmharfe" - 3:24 #"Arcona" - 5:05 #"Staunen Im Fjord" - 3:33 #"Minne" - 2:09

Personnel

- Producer, composer, piano, keyboards * Ernst Josef Seibl - Mixing (final cut) * Jürgen Kraemer - Mixing on "Prinzregent" * Udo Klemt - Mixing on "Prinzregent" * Martha Roedelius that catg - Photography

Notes

References

* Album liner Notes {{Authority control 1979 albums Hans-Joachim Roedelius albums