ROEDELIUS / SCHNEIDER

The electronic pioneer Hans-Joachim Roedelius is a legendary figure in popular music. He founded the seminal bands Cluster (with Dieter Moebius) and Harmonia (with Moebius and Michael Rother). He recorded the albums "Zuckerzeit" (Cluster, 1974) and "Deluxe" (Harmonia, 1975), which are considered blueprints for today's electronica and were recently successfully reissued. And in the late 70s he worked with the great Brian Eno.

Roedelius began releasing solo albums in 1978. He was already exploring the interplay between piano and electronics on his second LP, "Jardin au Fou" (1979). This synthesis is also the core of his collaboration with Stefan Schneider. Schneider was a founding member of Kreidler (1994 – 1999) and is part of the trio To Rococo Rot. He has released several albums under the name Mapstation.

The collaboration is a meeting of two important exponents of "classic" and "neo" kraut rock

Roedelius and Schneider first met ten years ago at a festival in Geneva. The two chatted and got along well. It was at their next meeting, at a Cluster concert in Berlin in 2007, that they decided to work together. The idea of recording an album came after their first joint appearance in the Berger Kirche, a 17th Century church in Düsseldorf. The music was intended to match the location of the concert: Sounds for a vestry, to which Roedelius spoke his own texts.

"Stunden" was created in the early months of 2010, during five meetings in Baden (Austria) and Düsseldorf (Germany). The initial reference for the collaboration was their concert experience. Gradually, however, the concept opened up and the lyrics fell away, until there was only one proviso: The music should be quiet – otherwise anything goes. The core of the album is the track "Stunden", which is heard in three variations. The focus is on the piano playing by Roedelius, with Schneider hanging his synthesizer sounds around it, laying a bass beneath it, essentially playing around the piano line, supporting it.

"Stunden" is a bold and inspired record. It's effect recalls the title of the most successful solo album by Roedelius – a "Gift of the Moment". Together, the pieces create an impression of pleasant vagueness. This is music for the room which opens upwards. It's about congregation and meditation. The music tells of experiencing the world and the present. "Stunden" is a serene record.