Harmonia - "Deluxe" 1975

As promised, another krautrock gem of the so-called Berlin School. Analogue synth exploration in a more pop context with some real cosmic tunes......

Harmonia - Deluxe
Brain, 1975

















"This is the second album of Harmonia, a merger of the members of Cluster and Michael Rother from the influential Krautrock band Neu! The minimalist, repetitive strains that were common for what I call the 'Plank camp' of Krautrock (i.e. the Krautrock albums and bands produced by the late engineer Conny Plank) reign as ever they could here. And though I personally don't think of this as progressive rock (like much of the Plank-related recordings), from a historical context this is an impressive antecedent of the New Wave era (early 80s) of popular music. The album also has more of a drive to it than the first Harmonia album, perhaps in part to Rother's guitar being much more upfront and noticeable, as well as the addition of Guru Guru drummer Mani Neumeier on some tracks. A noteable comparison to this music is La Dusseldorf (the band led by Rother's ex-bandmate, Klaus Dinger). The trio also lay down some vocals here (e.g. the opening track), sounding something like happy zombies. This CD is available at typically exorbitant sums that I cannot support (I found it for really cheap in a used CD shop one New York summer long ago) given what's on the album. But, this might just be the best of the Harmonia albums; it's certainly more animated than the debut." - Joe (from Ground and Sky)

From Wikipedia:
"Deluxe was recorded in June, 1975 in Harmonia's studio in Forst, Germany. It was first released on the Brain Records label in 1975. It was produced by the band members and legendary Krautrock producer, Conny Plank. Ned Raggett's review for Allmusic opens: 'A touch more immediate and song-oriented than its predecessor, but no less enchanting and lovely to hear, De Luxe again features the trio experimenting with a variety of approaches, most particularly including vocals here and there for the first time... The motorik pulses and rhythms, however soft and subtle, still dominate the proceedings, while the glazed, warm feeling of the whole album is astounding.'"

personnel:
Michael Rother, guitars, keyboards, vocals;
Hans-Joachim Roedelius, keyboards, vocals;
Dieter Moebius, synthesizer, Nagoja harp, vocals;
with Mani Neumeier, drums























this album is apparently also available as a vegetable supplement.......
















and the title track as a Secret Machines cover:





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