Bleep

Zuckerzeit roughly translates to “the sugar era” from German, and that makes for a solid enough analogy when describing Cluster’s third LP. The kosmiche duo formed by Moebius and Roedelius underwent great change in the run-up to its 1974 release, and their move out of Berlin to the country along the founding of a side project named Harmonia factor greatly into its (relatively) bucolic vibe. Gone (mostly) are the clanging, machine-like marathon drones of their prior material in favour of glacial, almost soothing combo of synth-y ambience and plugged-in folk that most hovers around the 4 minute mark. To some a ghastly rewiring of their tripped-out dread genius has now rightfully been reconsidered a masterstroke of electronic listening music as well as a crucial DNA strand for chill-out, dub techno, and a variety of other subgenres, this Anniversary Edition from Bureau B brings this marvellous collection back to wax for the first time in quite a while.