Consider it a form of The Avengers saving the world from shitty disco music during the mid-1970s; Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius complemented their established Cluster aesthetic by joining Neu!’s Michael Rother to form, in 1973, Harmonia — an unsurprisingly combo kosmische/krautrock outfit that released the especially memorable albums Musik von Harmonia and Deluxe in 1974 and 1975, respectively. They ultimately disbanded for reasons that one can suppose revolved around their plethora of musical preoccupations, but the band, which at one point Brian Eno referred to as “the most important” of the rock variety (emphasis mine), briefly reformed for a few shows during the late 2000s. “It was amazing!,” is what I probably would have said if I had gone to any of them.
But Moebius sadly passed away on July 20, so what better way to honor the legendary Harmoniac and Clusterfarian than by releasing a “complete works” vinyl box set showcasing his time as the former. German label Grönland is taking it upon themselves on October 21, and the set will feature the aforementioned studio albums, as well as Tracks and Traces (a 1976 series of recordings with Brian Eno that wasn’t officially released until 1997) and Live 1974 (the 2007 release of a 1974 recording of a Harmonia concert that took place at Penny Station in Griessem, Germany).
Those items alone would constitute the bare minimum for a box set! Luckily, Harmonia Box also includes a poster, a download code to be used for that very purpose, and a 36-page booklet, partially photograph-based, documenting Harmonia’s history. Pics of their super secret Forst hideout are included, I’m sure! Feel free to pre-order the set here.
• Harmonia: http://www.harmonia1973.com
• Grönland: http://groenland.com/en