DELUXE

This is HARMONIA's second album and they've added the legendary Mani Neumeie (GURU GURU) on drums. We still have the duo (Moebius & Roedelius) from CLUSTER as well as Michael Rother from NEU !. I'm a big fan of the three bands represented here, but this is quite different from them all. I'll quote the liner notes. "What they were creating was unheard of music that remained unparalleled, something which they owed to their own special way of combining acoustic, electronic and electro-acoustic instruments,to the imaginative and sometimes some sort of transcendent way of using their studio equipment as well as to the natural discipline they used to display during the recordings.There was no cosmic wafting, but cool and sober electronics, no brutal rhythms but easy going drums and flowing patterns. Roedelius's dreamy keyboards tunes, Moebius's skilful use of the synthesizers and the Nagoya harp and Rother's unmistakable guitar sound were virtues that could hardly merge in a better way than they did on this HARMONIA album".

The compositions on this album were more complex than they were on the debut yet there is this charm about this recording that can't be missed. "Deluxe (Immer Wieder)" is such a great track. It just sounds so good early on with those spacey sounds then we get sort of a mechanical sounding beat as vocals come in. Guitar sounds come and go. This is catchy until after 4 minutes when it settles right down. Vocals are back 8 minutes in after a long break. "Walky-Talky" is led by what sounds like percussion, drums and various electronics.

"Monza (Rauf Und Runter)" is spacey to open. It stops after 1 1/2 minutes then the guitar sound signals a change as a catchy beat with vocals comes in. This is fun. "Notre Dame" opens with organ sounds as a beat joins in. It settles before 1 1/2 minutes and turns spacey. Contrasts continue. "Gollum" sounds silly to open but the melancholic synths a minute in and later after 2 minutes are very good. "Kekse" sounds so simple for the first 4 1/2 minutes then it changes for the final minute to an experimental soundscape.

I do know people who rave about this release despite the poor ratings on this site, and I have to join in on their praise.