Grooves Magazine Review : Roedelius Snapshots CD

Roedelius

Snapshots/Sidesteps

Psychonavigation

Now in his 70s, Hans-Joachim Roedelius is one of the most enduring 20th-century musical pioneers, but one who may not be sufficiently celebrated. A large portion of his reputation certainly extends from the earliest days, when, in 1968, he co-founded the Zodiak Free Arts Lab in Berlin and sowed the seeds for the legendary groups K/Cluster and Harmonia and their later ambient work with Brian Eno. He has continued to collaborate, experiment, and record, releasing nearly a solo album per year since the end of the '70s in a variety of styles. It's no surprise, then, to find many musicians from across the globe joining Rödelius on this enjoyable collection of 10 improvised and collaborative tracks spanning from 1995 to 2005, though most dating from after 2000.

Equally satisfying is the range of styles covered, giving something of a sense of what Rödelius has been up to these many years, from his more avant-garde improvised studies to piano segments and even some straight-up experimental techno, in this case with Timothy O'Keefe. The opening track with Seiichi Suzuki, however, is the weakest of the lot. It resembles a half-finished trip-hop track underpinned with ambient noise, though the beat is rather lame and ambles on too long without enough interesting dynamics. Several other early pieces are also long, but are more improvised and alluring, with Haeyoung Kim and Nikos Arvantitis' track "Dynamo" a particular gem, with a slow, dirty, slow electro pulse bursting through the seams after several minutes of ambient noise. The Orb's Alex Patterson and Thomas Fellman contribute a downbeat electronica track of skittering beats that disintegrates into a gorgeously sad wail of female vocals from Yuko Matsuzaki, who sounds as if she's from another dimension. Cluster colleague Werner Moebius even manages to join in for the humorous, Fluxus-inspired 2002 work "Fait Accompli." While it's often hard to tell what is homage and what is collaboration on Snapshots/Sidesteps, all the artists seem able to see a personal element of Roedelius in the music, even when at its most abstract. The most telling sign of this is the undercurrent of genuine joy that has always run through Roedelius' work, even from the beginning, and continues to be felt in those the music inspires and, as well, in this collection.

Chris Mann

Rating: 3.0/5 (5 votes cast)