CD version. Kluster - Cluster - and now Qluster . Fragen documents the extraordinary shedding of skin of one of the most important German electronic groups. Hans-Joachim Roedelius was there from the beginning (1969), with Onnen Bock taking the place of Dieter Moebius . Little need be said about Roedelius, whose collaborations with Konrad Schnitzler , Cluster and Harmonia earned him a worldwide reputation as a pioneer of electronic music. Onnen Bock (born in 1974), a qualified musician and sound installationist, played a part in the Zeitkratzer ensemble, worked together with the likes of Christina Kubisch and was a sound engineer for the Berlin Philharmonic. Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Onnen Bock are Qluster. The two artists have been meeting up to explore new musical directions together since 2007. Fragen is the first part of an exceptional trilogy, a grandiose new beginning, backed up by 40 years of tradition. Two fundamental decisions, borne of an acutely refined sense of musical self-conception, have shaped Qluster: the use of analog keyboards only and a focus on improvisation through vibrant playing technique. Qluster have jettisoned all forms of ballast pertaining to music and sound. Roedelius and Bock develop their musical aesthetic through seven impressionistic pictures, an aesthetic which borders on ascetic rigor. And yet each piece is motivated by something deeply human, a playful element setting the tone. Qluster's modus operandi guides the listener towards peaceful, pale blue rooms where airy veils of suspended matter sparkle, as if floating gently to and fro on the breeze. Beyond the veils one senses further rooms, in colors which have lost their names and become sound. To be perfectly clear: Qluster's music is not psychedelic, neither in the traditional, nor in a wider sense. This is no meditative soundtrack for a "journey to the inner self." In its own way, however, it does represent a trip to the realms of utopia, where particularly careful listening is required in order to appreciate the music in all its richness and splendor.
