Legendary electronic pioneers Harmonia play their first concert in thirty years next week at the Worldtronics Festival in Berlin.
Held at the beautifully designed Haus der Kulturen der Welt, nicknamed ‘the pregnant oyster’ by locals for its bulbous shape, the Worldtronics Festival brings together electronic music from countries outside the usual Germany/UK/US axis. This year the focus is on Congo, Israel, Chile and Japan, and features cult performers such as Nobukazu Takemura and Konono No.1 in the lineup, but all eyes will surely be on the opening night of the festival when krautrock supergroup Harmonia will play their first ever concert since the seventies.
A collaboration between Michael Rother from Neu! and Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius from Cluster, the band released three classic albums in the seventies, the last of which was made with Brian Eno, who once dubbed the band “the world’s most important rock group”. The band’s tracks used organs, guitars, early drum machines and synthesizers to create their tracks, which over the course of the albums moved from percussive, repetitive synth-based pieces (dance fans will know ‘Watussi’ from Holden’s At the Controls mix) to dreamier, more abstract fare, paving the way for the ambient electronics which would follow. One for the history books then.
French musical chameleon Sébastien Léger compiles a planet-themed series of singles on a digital longplayer this month. Earthbound tour dates are also inside.
Nov 27 Worldtronics - Germany, Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt
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