Harmonia: Deluxe [GROENLAND]

Why you'll love it

This digitally remastered reissue comes from Grönland, Michael Rother's longtime home label. Julian Cope included Deluxe in his Krautrock Top 50.

This edition

• Remastered

About the album

Harmonia was a krautrock supergroup that lived in the countryside. Neu!'s Michael Rother moved in with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius of Cluster at their studio in Forst, and for Deluxe in June 1975 producer Conny Plank drove out his 16-track machine and mixing desk to record them right there, in the same rooms where they lived, cooked and rehearsed.

Plank also brought Guru Guru drummer Mani Neumeier to play on several tracks, and his playing pushes the songs toward Rother's melodic, motorik side. The title track "Deluxe (Immer Wieder)" sets a warm, rolling pulse, "Monza (Rauf Und Runter)" races along like its namesake track, and "Notre Dame," "Gollum" and "Kekse" drift into glowing, unhurried ambient territory. AllMusic called it "no less enchanting and lovely to hear" than their debut.

Its mix of pulse and calm fed straight into ambient and electronic music for decades after, and Rother, Moebius and Roedelius all carried its spirit into long solo careers. Three musicians, a country studio and a mixing desk delivered to the door, which is how most of us imagine retirement, with considerably better results.

Also at Kops: more Harmonia on vinyl · browse Electronic

Tracklist

Listen

On Grönland / Brain (cat# LPGRON151), a reissue of the 1975 album.