ONE HOUR (180G)

Bureau B reissues Cluster's 1994 album One Hour. Cluster's hiatus between Curiosum?(BB 038CD/LP) and Apropos Cluster (BB 171CD/LP) in 1990 lasted for almost 10 years.?Roedelius and Moebius spent this time developing their individual musical characteristics?in a series of solo albums and collaborations which they released with other musicians.?Naturally, they also thoroughly explored newly emerging digital technology. Cluster's music?evolved substantially through this decade, less so in basic style (color had simply been added?to Cluster's world), but more in a more mature handling of rhythm, harmony and melody. If?Apropos Cluster had been the fulminant reboot, then One Hour four years later already?represented a fully-formed progression of the new concept. Roedelius and Moebius stayed?true to their spirit of improvisation, playing together with a minimum of prior arrangements.?So, in the duo's finest tradition, One Hour is the product of two sessions recorded in the?studio of musician and sound engineer Eric Spitzer-Marlyn in Austria. Sixty minutes were?selected from the most interesting passages and assembled into a coherent, cohesive musical?sequence. The askesis in the apparent matter-of-factness and lightness of One Hour is an?expression of strict artistic conception. Nothing veers off course, not a single flash of genius?is overplayed. Moebius and Roedelius guide their listeners deeper and deeper into the?fantastical realm of musical extravaganzas. One image follows the next, disappearing in?similarly unhurried fashion to be replaced by another. As placid as One Hour may seem, the?album is nothing less than meditative. This is not ambient music. High impressionism would?be a more apposite description. Appreciating the fleeting imagery and flow of ideas requires?the listener's undivided attention. Using Cluster as acoustic room scent would be a hopeless?undertaking. The exquisite particles of sound would dissipate far too quickly and?ineffectively. --Asmus Tietchens?TRACKLISTING?no tracks, 60 minutes of music