Qluster

Following the trailblazing four-decade trajectory of the Krautrock duo Cluster, whose roots trace to the late 1960s under the Kluster name alongside Conrad Schnitzler, Hans-Joachim Roedelius exchanged both a bandmate and one letter in the early 2010s to launch Qluster alongside Onnen Bock. A musician and sound installation artist affiliated with Zeitkratzer, Bock had already begun collaborating with Roedelius in 2007. The project upheld the exploratory ethos of its forerunners through unplanned improvisations centered on analog synthesizers and Roedelius’ characteristic piano lines. Issued by Bureau B—the imprint responsible for multiple Cluster and Roedelius releases and reissues—Qluster’s first album, Fragen, surfaced in May 2011 and was succeeded later that same year by the concert document Rufen. Antworten, captured from Roedelius and Bock’s joint piano improvisations dating back to early 2007, arrived in early 2012 as the trio’s third outing. Lauschen, the initial Qluster release to feature Armin Metz as a third participant, was recorded live at the CTM-Zodiak Festival in Berlin and appeared in early 2013; a split 12" single with Schneider TM followed that April for Record Store Day. Tasten, the fifth album and another piano-centric work, emerged in 2015, while 2016’s Echtzeit pursued a sparse though tuneful path. Elemente arrived in 2018 and delved into sequencer-driven electronics reminiscent of Tangerine Dream.