Instruments > All music
by Magic Aum Gigi: bass, piano, electronics. Recorded in the magic home studio
in December 2020. This track is dedicated to
Conrad Schnitzler. A tribute for the 50th anniversary of Kluster
1st “Klopfzeichen” (1970-2020).
Over forty years, Conrad Schnitzler’s discography is considerable, with countless solo and collaborative albums, not to mention all the unreleased material, surely gigantic, which remains in the artist’s archives! What fascinates me the most about Conrad Schnitzler is not all this astronomical amount of electronic music but concerns his first two albums « Klopfzeichen » and « Zwei Osterei » with his band Kluster. Two truly innovative and « UFO » records, released on the Schwann label. In the interview made by David Elliott in 1980 (Eurock n°16), Schnitzler specifies two very important things, first that these two albums are recorded both on the same day at the end of 1969 (at the same period as for « Electronic Meditation » by Tangerine Dream) and especially that the group concludes an agreement with this label, with a « detail » (or counterpart) that can be translated by the use of an « external » source other than that coming from the Kluster group and which, consequently, will « denature » in a certain way the music itself! A banal agreement, of the 50/50 type or to summarize: « I give you one side, and I take the other » but satisfactory for both protagonists, because on the one hand, for Schnitzler (as well as for both other partners Moebius and Roedelius) it is a « chance » to be able to launch his recording career (let’s not forget that at that time, Schnitzler is no longer very young, he is already in his thirties and it’s time to take the train!) and on the other hand for the producer, it is probably also a « chance » to be able to spread his « message » ! And this message is the counterpart, it’s the texts (religious, biblical, political) imposed by the label (devoted to religious music) which are present on the two A sides of each of the albums. To better understand, it is interesting to note that during this interview, Conrad Schnitzler himself asks the journalist two small questions, not trivial, because the subject seems to titillate him more than a little and we feel that this point of detail is important to him:
Conrad Schnitzler: Have you heard the record?
David Elliott: Yes
Conrad Schnitzler: What do you think of the German words?
David Elliott: I don’t understand them
Conrad Schnitzler: That’s good. If you know what it means, you’ll find it terrible.
It is therefore understandable that in this case, Conrad Schnitzler put water in his wine. The result is a first album « Klopfzeichen »: a side with sound + texts and the other side instrumental, and likewise for the second « Zwei Osterei ». Kluster’s music is by definition purely and exclusively instrumental music (with no texts or vocals on it!) and also, of course, for the other group that followed, Cluster (led by the duo Moebius and Roedelius). So why? Obviously Schnitzler does not want to miss this opportunity, he is undoubtedly right, indeed in the absence of having an ideal production, he can have two albums under the name of Kluster from 1970, because for a rather difficult music of access that this one at that time, one really wonders what other label (in 1969!) would have accepted to release such music?? Was there at that time a real audience for this kind of music? I think not, on the contrary: it is the desert and there is hardly anyone… We are far, very far from The Rolling Stones, BUT also from Guru Guru or Amon Düül… and moreover when I am notice that Kluster is labeled (everywhere) as a « Krautrock » band (even if the term did not exist at that time) it’s a joke because I see absolutely nothing rock in this music or else the joint was too strong… and Schnitzler himself must have been very well aware of this!!! But indeed, if he could have had the choice with complete freedom for that release, it seems certain that for him, a Kluster album would have been conceived by two sides of purely instrumental music. We can therefore even go so far as to say, in all logic, that there is in fact only ONE « studio » album by Kluster (the two B sides) i.e. the instrumental side of « Klopfzeichen » + the instrumental side of « Zwei Osterei » (my favorite side) which I remind you, were recorded together on the same day, one more reason to not separate them, and it should undoubtedly have been titled « Klopfzeichen Osterei » ! Because how to consider the two others (the two A sides) with the texts (resulting from the mutual agreement), it’s not really any more Kluster, one leaves the theoretical framework, or then it is undrinkable Kluster as if one put coca cola in the champagne… To quote Nik Cohn « pop is a question of coca cola », and Schnitzler does not belong with pop rock music, he confirms it very clearly in the documentary « Kraftwerk and the electronic revolution » by declaring: « I hate the melody ». Of course you can easily contradict me, for example, with the track « Coca » (album « Con 3 »), here I answer that first, the years are not the same and that Schnitzler to stay in the train must too adapt and be competitive in the face of the coming tsunami, the NDW.
The great merit that goes to Schnitzler in his artistic quest by committing himself from the start, into « free-sound-improvisation » with this very experimental Kluster, is to have persevered and continue on this perilous path, by tracing the fundamental principles « fluxus » teachings from Joseph Beuys, to finally find his own way, alone, or he will deploy treasures of ingenuity by marking a particular style of composition and by depositing his trademark « Con » to offer original music which seems both fluid and complex and which will evolve methodically in filigree throughout the course. As a pure autodidact, he has perfectly mastered his system in the tonality-rhythm-harmony equation and all those who have assimilated his work well, quickly recognize the « Schnitzler » signature that is his genius, because among all those who are thrown into synthesizers, there are really a lot that can’t say the same. The sprawling power of electronic machines with its infinite universe of cables has undoubtedly conditioned Schnitzler to produce a lot but this has contributed to making his music sometimes contradictory, in particular under the effect of the changes of eras and also probably according to the different and multiple orientations that he followed over the four decades of his course, which on the whole differs relatively between them, the first period of the 70s (underground and ‘sehr kosmische’, my favorite), the 80s (modern and alternative), 90s (contemporary and abstract) and after 2000 (in the continuity of the 90s, more physical perhaps and also more psychological). Nevertheless, I often find even more interesting the music of all these artists who are somewhat opposed in their register or in contradiction because in the end the field of action is even wider…
These two albums « Klopfzeichen » and « Zwei Osterei » have since been reissued several times and are important historically and musically, because they really are, in my opinion, the first foundations of so-called « noise or industrial » music (not to mention of course Italians Futurists and a few other avant-garde artists, John Cage, La Monte Young…) but before Lou Reed « Metal Machine Music » or even TG, Cabaret Voltaire, SPK etc… (moreover I doubt that all these groups knew Kluster when they started, to say how underground this music was!) AND apart of course from this curiosity which distinguishes them with the contribution of the texts. But one still need to know it as pointed out by Schnitzler! Because we do not listen to this music in the same way if we know (or not) this surprising « detail » which spoils and alters the taste naturally! When I got my hands on these two vinyl records (the 1980 reissue) that I had found in a small store in Lyon in 1992 or 1993, I didn’t know that!! It was before internet and I didn’t know Eurock magazine either! Two albums which therefore marked my memory because in the end the surprise was DOUBLE, the shock of the discovery and the « detail » that I knew well after… Today I present this track in tribute « The Well-Tuned Prepared Cage Recyklang Kluster Muzak » for the famous series of compilations « Out Of Standard !! » (‘’France 3’’ for this edition) released by ADN (legendary Italian label which had released, among others, a Conrad Schnitzler album in the 80s !) also adding my little « counterpart ».
Magic Aum Gigidiscography:
Magic Aum Gigi - My Metal Machine Music LP (Sparkling Spare Wheel) 2004
Magic Aum Gigi - Starring Keiko LP ( Fractal Records) 2007
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