Cluster (Dieter Moebius & Hans-Joachim Roedelius) is a German experimental musical group that has influenced the development of contemporary popular electronic and ambient music for more than 30 years. Cluster has amassed a large discography as a group, including their landmark eponymous releases and a critically acclaimed collaboration with Brian Eno.

Apart from Cluster, Roedelius and Moebius have numerous solo projects and individual collaborations to their credit as well. Though commonly categorized as Krautrock and Kosmische Musik, in fact they are neither; rather, they rightly belong in a unique category known as Cluster.

Renowned as a child actor in Nazi Germany, Roedelius had a post-war career path of relative obscurity, working as a coal miner, salesman, nurse, gardener, waiter, and masseur until finding himself in the midst of Berlin’s own version of the cultural revolution of the 1960s. A brief encounter with several future members of the infamous Baader-Meinhof gang convinced him that art, not politics, was the form of protest best suited to him — and thus began a life in music that for the next four decades inspired a generation of musicians who followed.

Through the Berlin arts scene, Roedelius met Conrad Schnitzler, a kindred spirit with whom Roedelius ultimately co-founded the Zodiak Free Arts Lab and the 1968 happening known as Human Being. The project’s eventual demise gave rise to the trio Kluster, featuring Roedelius, Schnitzler and a young, unknown Swiss art student, Dieter Moebius. When Schnitzler left after two short years to pursue a solo career, Roedelius continued with Moebius as Cluster, going on to produce several albums in the late 1970s that defined electronic music of the era.

In the 1980s, Roedelius turned his attention to solo projects, which ranged in style from experimental to neo-classical. By the turn of the century, Roedelius had more than 50 albums to his credit, and was still hard at work on solo projects and collaborations, touring periodically with Cluster, and routinely performing at festivals throughout Europe, Asia and the US. In 2010, he and Moebius completed another Cluster studio album, Qua, produced by Ohio-based composer and Roedelius’ long-time collaborator, Tim Story.

In 2011, Roedelius and Dieter Moebius broke-off formals ties with each other and Cluster. Roedelius then went on to form a new variant of Cluster called Qluster. The new configuration is lined up with Hans Joachim Roedelius and Onnen Bock.

To read more on the life of Roedelius, read the wonderful biography written by Stephen Iliffe; Painting with Sound: The Life and Music of Hans-Joachim Roedelius.

Formally trained in Brussels and Berlin as a visual artist, Swiss-born Dieter Moebius has worked in the German film industry for years — but his world-wide reputation was made as a musician.

From his early work with the pioneering Krautrock band Cluster to his later solo recordings, Dieter Moebius remained one of the most innovative and prolific voices in contemporary electronic music, anticipating movements from ambient to techno years before the fact. By day a student at Berlin's Akademie Grafik, Moebius was moonlighting as a cook at an area restaurant when in 1969 he was befriended by Conrad Schnitzler, a key figure in local avant-garde circles, and invited to join Kluster, a band Schnitzler was forming with fellow underground artist Hans Joachim Roedelius. The trio released their debut LP Klopfzeichen, in 1970; in the wake of their third album, 1971's Kluster und Eruption, Schnitzler exited to pursue a solo career, and Moebius and Roedelius continued on as a duo, modifying the name to Cluster.

Working with famed producer Conrad Plank, Cluster began to move increasingly towards more structured soundscapes — with 1974's Zuckerzeit, they even pursued an electronic pop sound similar in spirit to Kraftwerk. Moebius and Roedelius also teamed with Neu!'s Michael Rother in Harmonia, releasing a pair of much-acclaimed mid-'70s LPs which caught the attention of Brian Eno, who in response collaborated with the trio on a legendary session (released much later as Harmonia 76) heralding a turn towards ambient textures (and influencing the sound of the 1976 Cluster album Sowiesoso). Roedelius and Moebius subsequently worked with Eno on 1977's Cluster and Eno and 1979's After the Heat as well; in the wake of 1981's Curiosum, however, they dissolved Cluster, with both pursuing solo endeavors.

Moebius' first subsequent effort was 1981's Material, a second collaboration with Plank (his proper solo debut, Rastakraut Pasta, had appeared two years earlier); together, they produced some of the most experimental recordings of their respective careers, creating harsh mutant soundscapes which over time gave way to the proto-ambient textures of 1986's En Route, their final work before Plank's untimely death. Concurrently Moebius also teamed with Gerd Beerbohm for 1982's Strange Music and 1983's Double Cut, both explorations of pure noise; meanwhile, with the solo album Tonspuren (also from 1983), Moebius clearly anticipated the emergence of techno. Apart from teaming with Karl Renzeihausen in the duo Ersatz. Because of his film career, his solo effort were put on-hold until his 1999 release Blotch and again in 2006 with Nurton. Around 2006 a building interest in Cluster reuniting (caused the soon-to-retire from his film career) Moebius and Roedelius to go on tour for around 4 years off and on. In 2009, he and Roedelius, with producer Tim Story came out with the first studio release in over 14 years, Qua. 2009 also brought out a new Moebius solo releases Kram. At the endof 2010 Cluster called it quits for good. As a result, Roedelius went on to form Qluster adding Onnen Bock to replace Moebius. In 2011, Moebius will be releasing his 5th solo release, Ding.

To date as of 2011, Moebius appears on well over a dozen Cluster recordings, as well as on collaborations with Brian Eno, Mani Neumeier, Gerd Beerbohm, Conny Plank, Karl Renziehausen, Tim Story and Dwight Ashley. Moebius also has released five solo albums, and has a soundtrack to his credit.

2009 Releases

Nepenthe Music & Publishing is a micro label dedicated to the music releases of Ashley/Story (Dwight Ashley & Tim Story), Dwight Ashley and selected projects by A.R.S.(e) (Ashley, Roedelius, Story), Cluster, Dieter Moebius, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, and Tim Story. Our focus will be on the work of these artists; currently we are not soliciting projects involving other artists.

Nepenthe Music & Publishing also handles licensing for Jealous Entropy Publishing. Jealous Entropy Publishing is the publisher of all of Dwight Ashley's work and selected works of Deiter Moebius. In the future, full scores and sheet music published by Jealous Entropy will be available for purchase and downloading at nepenthemusic.com. For licensing information, please contact Nepenthe Music or visit youlicense.com.