CURIOSUM

"Curiosum'' opens with my all time favourite Cluster tune. 'Oh, Odessa'. It has a splodgy fat bass line with sprinklings of electronic tweakery. A menacing little tune that always makes me smile. Such a pity then that it's over in just three minutes.

Setting aside the great introduction 'Cluster' sound so lacklustre at this late period in their discography. Almost as though they've been anesthetized for the rest of the album. It's like listening to Zombie's attempting to replicate Mozart. Slow, plodding yet somewhat chilling if played at high volume 'Curiosum' was the right time for the duo to have a lengthy hiatus.

Melodies come and go like like petals in the wind. Unstable throbbing wobbly sounds bleep and burp. It's a lot better than their previous recording 'Grosses Wasser' as it has far more diversity in sound. Bendy, broken, discordant keyboards is the one thing I'll always remember from this.

The album gets odder the the longer it goes on. At times it almost feels like you're drowning, listening to lullabies sung by dolphins as they swoop up to your face to see if you're alright.

I don't think any of this recording was scored. It sounds like an improvisation. It's too erratic, with too little cohesion and only the unsettling vibe on certain tunes gets this a positive score.