Dieter Moebius - Kram

  by Jon Rogers

published: 30 / 9 / 2009

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For those that don’t know Dieter Moebius is something of a legend within German electronic music. Born in 1944 he first came to the attention of the wider public in the experimental electronic band Kluster (later changing its name to Cluster) and then was part of the supergroup trio known as Harmonia which mixed up proto-ambient sounds with pounding motorik rhythms. No less a figure than Brian Eno thought they were “the world’s most important rock group” and collaborated with Moebius in 1977 and 1978. Largely, Harmonia’s debut album ‘Musik von Harmonia’ in 1974 laid down the blueprint that would be picked up by Eno and turned into what is generally known as ambient now. Skip to 2009 and Moebius is still at it – but not quite as prolific as he was once – and ‘Kram’ see Moebius once more experimenting with sound. Moebius has always, generally, preferred the more ambient soundscapes of ‘Krautrock’ compared to Neu!’s more pulse-driven motorik drive and Kram (meaning ‘stuff’) is no exception. While a lot of ambient, experimental music can be little more than static wallpaper for the ears. ‘Kram’ still contains that sense of movement and is more interesting than what normally passes for being ambient nowadays. It’s all rather pointless picking out particular highlights or tracks as with many such albums the music flows on whilst gently changing and altering. There are no sudden, dramatic changes. It glories in its somewhat vastness and timelessness. ‘Kram’ though doesn’t suffer, like many ambient pieces, from being caught up in its own self-importance. All too often similar experimental work is often the result of the musician locked away in their studio playing around with sound. The results of which can be interesting but can result in navel-gazing as the music is created in its own snug, hermetically sealed environment. Moebius though manages to avoid this trap and the ten tracks here sparkle with a freshness and vitality. But there is a wider criticism that ‘Kram’ doesn’t challenge. To anyone that, miraculously, hasn’t happened to have heard any of Eno’s ambient work or anything by German experimenters like Harmonia or even Aphex Twin then ‘Kram’ will sound revelatory. But this style has been around since the late 1970’s and while it hasn’t been static there haven’t been any great revelatory changes within the genre since then. While Moebius is far from alone in this there is nothing on his latest offering that will alter that perception. ‘Kram’ may very well be crammed full of interesting ideas but none that are particularly new.

Track Listing:-

1 Start
2 Kommt
3 Womit
4 Dauert
5 Steigert
6 Lauert
7 Rennt
8 Rast
9 Schwitzt
10 Markt

Label Links:-

http://www.klangbad.de/
https://www.facebook.com/Klangbad-Music-Mailorder-114995231874893/
https://twitter.com/klangbad
https://www.youtube.com/user/klangbad
http://www.klangbadfestival.de/

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