VF Mix 157: Cluster & Harmonia by Fred und Luna

Motorik mannequins at play.

Fred und Luna are sonic cyphers. Two mannequins who live in a fashion boutique in unfashionable Karlsruhe, they are the plastic moulded vessels into which maverick proucer Rainer Buchmüller pours his creativity. They are Buchmüller’s Kraftwerk-like model muses, inspiring a form of motorik dance music that owes as much to the forefathers of Deutsche kosmische musik as it does the machine hum of the Motor City.

Loosely connected shape-shifting ’70s outfits Cluster and Harmonia, the 90-minute excursion features solo projects by electronic pioneers Moebius, Roedelius, Michael Rother and Brian Eno, and has been crafted to be exactly as long as the original Kluster’s (with a K) first two studio albums. Both records – Klopfzeichen and Zwei-Osterei – are faded in and out throughout the mix.

As Buchmüller explains: “The music of Cluster and Harmonia captured me from the first time I heard it – with its sweet melodies, longing atmosphere, minimal drum sounds, repetitiveness, playfulness, dreaminess, and humour. This variety of ingredients, without being overloaded, had a strong influence on me, from my teenage years and up until the present.”

Listen to the mix, endearingly titled “Fred und Luna zu Besuch bei Cluster und Harmonia” (Fred and Luna visit Cluster and Harmonia), and check out the tracklist below.

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Tracklist:

Intro 00:00
1. Harmonia – Walky Talky (starting 01:11)
2. Liliental (feat. Moebius) – Wattwurm (08:44)
3. Michael Rother – Feuerland (12:42)
4. Eno Moebius Roedelius – The Belldog (19:37)
5. Cluster – Fotschi Tong (25:43)
6. Roedelius – Regenmacher (29:35)
7. Cluster – Hollywood (34:51)
8. Cluster & Eno – Die Bunge (39:51)
9. Cluster – One Hour (excerpt) (43:00)
10. Moebius & Plank – Rastakraut Pasta (47:26)
11. Harmonia – Veterano (52:35)
12. Cluster – Breitengrad 20 (55:26)
13. Cluster – Umleitung (59:27)
14. Roedelius – Lustwandel (01:02:47)
15. Cluster – Helle Melange (01:06:35)
16. Cluster – Sowiesoso (01:10:07)
17. Harmonia – Dino (01:17:23)
18. Cluster – Rote Riki (01:23:00)
Outro (01:29:03)

Fred & Luna’s new album is one of our recommended new releases and is Im Tiefenrausch is out now.