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Zuckerzeit

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Zuckerzeit
Studio album by
Cluster
Released1974
RecordedJanuary 1974
Genre
Length36:13
LabelBrain
Producer
Cluster chronology
Cluster II
(1972) 		Zuckerzeit
(1974) 		Sowiesoso
(1976)

Zuckerzeit (German: Sugar Time) is the third studio album by German band Cluster, released in 1974 on Brain Records. It was co-produced by Michael Rother, their bandmate in side-project Harmonia. The music on Zuckerzeit marks a shift from Cluster's abrasive early work toward a more rhythmic, pop-oriented sound.[1] Pitchfork ranked the album at number 63 on its list of the top 100 albums of the 1970s,[5] while writer and musician Julian Cope included Zuckerzeit in his "Krautrock Top 50" list.[6]

Background

Zuckerzeit was recorded following Cluster's move from West Berlin to the countryside of Forst, and came after their collaboration with Neu! guitarist Michael Rother on the 1973 Harmonia album Musik von Harmonia.[7] The album's short instrumental tracks marked the group's shift toward a pop-oriented style which utilized cheap drum machines and synthesizers.[8] Each track is a solo composition, with the two members recording separately on different days;[4] The Quietus noted that "it is in reality two solo EPs masquerading as a joint release."[7]

Rother is credited as co-producer, but his primary role was to leave the group some of his equipment, including Farfisa instruments, a four-track recorder, a stereo mixer, and an Elka Drummer One drum machine.[4] With the latter, the group experimented with mixing up multiple preset rhythms at once,[4] as well as running the drum machine through echo, vibrato, and wah pedals, and cutting parts of the rhythm entirely.[9]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
Mojo[11]
Pitchfork9.0/10[1]

John Bush of AllMusic described Zuckerzeit as "an unexpected jump from the extended kosmische jams of Cluster 71 into uncharted territory [...] fusing the duo's haunted melodic sense with crisp, scratchy drum programs."[10] Andy Beta of Pitchfork described it as "electronic pop at its most protean," and compared it to "a sugar overload: giddy, infectious, manic and a little queasy."[1] Peter Cauvel of Vinyl Me, Please stated that "even with drum machines and synths, Cluster pushed past the rigidity that defined their more successful peers in Kraftwerk, making spacier, improvisational electronic music."[2]

Legacy

In a review of Cluster's 1971–1981 box set, AllMusic's Paul Simpson called the album a "masterpiece [that] combined trippy drum machine rhythms with woozy, pastoral melodies, resulting in a skewed, playful vision of futuristic pop. The recording remains a watershed moment in electronic music, and is easily one of the best albums of the '70s."[12] Writer Ulrich Adelt stated that the album's "influence on electronic music was significant, and many more contemporary groups have copied [its] lo-fi sound."[8]

Pitchfork ranked the album at number 63 on its list of the top 100 albums of the 1970s.[5] Among its fans are Brian Eno[5] and Julian Cope, with Cope including Zuckerzeit in his "Krautrock Top 50" list.[6]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Hollywood"Hans-Joachim Roedelius4:48
2."Caramel"Dieter Moebius2:58
3."Rote Riki"Moebius6:18
4."Rosa"Roedelius4:13
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Caramba"Moebius3:57
6."Fotschi Tong"Roedelius4:21
7."James"Moebius3:21
8."Marzipan"Roedelius3:14
9."Rotor"Moebius2:40
10."Heiße Lippen"Roedelius2:23

Personnel

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Beta, Andy (7 May 2016). "Cluster / Brian Eno / Dieter Moebius / Roedelius: Cluster: 1971–1981". Pitchfork. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  2. ^ a b Cauvel, Peter (18 April 2017). "The 10 Best Krautrock Albums To Own On Vinyl". Vinyl Me, Please. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  3. ^ Seabrook, Thomas Jerome (2008). Bowie in Berlin: A New Career in a New Town. Jawbone Press. p. 85. ISBN 9781906002084. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d Stubbs, David (2015). Future Days: Krautrock and the Birth of a Revolutionary New Music. Melville House Publishing. ISBN 9781612194745. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  5. ^ a b c "The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s". Pitchfork. 23 June 2004. p. 4. Archived from the original on 19 February 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  6. ^ a b Cope, Julian. "A Krautrock Top 50". Krautrock.org.uk. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  7. ^ a b Doran, John (6 June 2016). "The Vinyl Staircase: June In Record Buying Misery". The Quietus. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  8. ^ a b Adelt, Ulrich (2016). Krautrock: German Music in the Seventies. University of Michigan Press. p. 180. ISBN 9780472053193. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  9. ^ Dayal, Geeta (20 January 2012). "Dieter Moebius". frieze. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  10. ^ a b Bush, John. "Zuckerzeit – Cluster". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  11. ^ Male, Andrew (May 2016). "Two's company". Mojo. No. 270. p. 103.
  12. ^ Simpson, Paul. "1971–1981 – Cluster". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 May 2019.

Further reading

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