Harmonia

by John Bush
 
Though Harmonia began as a sideline excursion for Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius of Cluster and Michael Rother of Neu!, the group became one of the most legendary in the entire Krautrock/kosmische scene with the release of several mid-70s LPs.
 
After two studio albums recorded as Cluster, Roedelius and Moebius moved out to the German countryside to build their own studio in the village of Forst. After several disappointments in his attempt to expand Neu! into a live unit, Rother retreated to Clusters studio for a series of relaxed, improvisational jam sessions that wedded Clusters exploratory space music with the chugging rhythms and guitar sense of Rother. The debut Harmonia LP, Musik Von Harmonia, appeared in 1974 (with an accomplished live track, recorded in Amsterdam). Though Rother also continued with Neu! to create another Krautrock classic, Neu! 75, Harmonia remained his focus for another LP, 1975s De Luxe. Brian Eno had proclaimed Harmonia the worlds most important rock group, and he eventually joined the proceedings for several 1976 sessions — the legendary results of which lay unreleased for over twnety years, until Rykodisc acquiesced with the release of Tracks & Traces. Though Cluster and Eno continued their collaboration during the late 70s, Rother began a solo career with 1978s Sternthaler.