Name: Qua
Brand: Cluster

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

bb274

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2017-11-17

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Shellshock

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

Total Cap

1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

bb274lp

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2LP & CD

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2 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Cluster

Genre GB

Krautrock

Label GB

Bureau B

Bureau B is an independent record label, music publisher, and booking agency based in Hamburg, Germany. Founded in 2005 by Gunther Buskies as a sister label to Tapete Records, Bureau B specializes in releasing a diverse range of electronic and avant-garde music. With a focus on reissues and new productions, the label has built an extensive catalogue that includes iconic albums from the Krautrock genre of the 1970s and early 1980s. They also release recordings by influential artists such as Die Wilde Jagd, Kreidler, Toulouse Low Trax, and more.

Known for their commitment to preserving classic electronic music, Bureau B has been rereleasing albums from renowned artists like Cluster, Faust, Moebius, Roedelius, Plank, Schickert Schnitzler Tietchens Tyndall. In addition to these reissues, they also release works by similar artists including Blenner Heldon Pinhas Rev or NDW Plan Pyrolator.

With their impressive catalogue and dedication to promoting innovative music across various genres within the electronic spectrum - from pop to avant-garde - Bureau B continues to be a prominent force in the global music industry. Their contributions have solidified them as an authoritative figure in the world of independent labels.

Cluster is a multi-instrumental and electronics duo formed in 1971 in Berlin. Originally part of the trio Kluster, their early recordings were experimental and on the edge of Krautrock. Collaborations with Michael Rother from Neu! led to a more musical direction for Cluster. They also worked with Brian Eno and explored various styles. Although they went on hiatus in 1981, Cluster has reformed multiple times. Both members have also been active with solo works and other projects.

Reissue of the last studio album by the legendary krautronic duo (Dieter Moebius/Hans-Joachim Roedelius), recorded 2009 in Ohio by Tim Story. every piece on 'qua', however concrete it might be in its production, remains ambiguous and open. but are we even speaking here about pieces, or works, or tracks? according to the old fashioned definition of a work, a composed piece of music is defined among other things by its duration. for this reason alone the term doesn't apply to cluster's music. for their pieces, or let's call them 'musical units', start and at some point end again. what happens between the start and the end is infinite. each of these units could easily have been longer. each piece wants to and should never end. this is the magic in cluster's music. how many bands have been set on their way since the release of cluster's first album in 1971, doing somehow repetitive, loop-based music. none have quite reached the sometimes friendly, sometimes disconcerting stoicism of their role-models. for all its eventfulness and sonic richness, cluster never sound staged. the events and changes in sound don't want to force a new direction on the pieces, sorry, musical units. they just happen, almost unintentionally and as if by their own accord. and so cluster lead us through their new, utterly timeless album as though through a garden full of strange plants. we stand amazed in front of each of these plants. some have wildly rampant lives of their own, others almost leafless, with barren branches. the source of rhythm on 'qua' is often one solitary pulse of undisclosed origin; bass-drum, snare and hi-hat are rarely used. on 'na ernel' they generate a beat that stumbles along as if the cd were jumping. but gradually a groove emerges out of the piece and the endlessness has us again. cluster have been making music for nearly 40 years. they have long since earned legendary status. if this bands music had lost any of its currentness, one would honor it as a gesamtkunstwerk. but it's far too early for that, as cluster are as productive, wide awake and important as ever before.

Music GB