Early Cluster music was new. New in the sense that it did not continue any tradition, instead laying the foundations for a future tradition. The duo’s utter renunciation of conventional harmony and rhythm, their embracing of near total aural abstraction, confident use of noise, rigorous live electronic improvisation and a positive mindset tuned to winning rather than losing – these were all factors in Cluster’s innovative trailblazing of 1971. For want of a better category, Cluster 71was classified rather inappropriately and incorrectly as “cosmic".
Few recognized Cluster for what it was - the synthesis of pop music stripped of embarrassing glamour and so-called serious music without intellectual constraints. Moebius and Roedelius took the liberty of raiding both disciplines to perfect their musical concept. A common enough practice today, but akin to a palace revolution in 1971. So it is that three pieces of electronic music meander and pulsate through Cluster 71, with no beginning and no end. Cluster’s music is free and open in all directions.
There are sounds, noises and structures to be heard on this album which would become ingrained in the electronic pop music of the 1980s and 1990s. Cluster had taken the first step into the future with Cluster 71.
