Photo courtesy of Klaus D. Müller from the official Klaus Schulze website. The site lists it as being taken in 1970, but I'm not sure if this is correct, as Dieter’s involvement predates Conrad Schnitzler joining the band in 1969. 

The man in glasses pictured in the centre is only identified as “the landlord”, but otherwise everyone in the picture is from left to right as titled (i.e. Edgar on the left and Dieter furthest to the right).

“Happy” Dieter briefly played with Tangerine Dream as a bass guitarist, shortly after woodwind player Steve Jolliffe (who would later rejoin TD in 1978) had departed. Tangerine Dream's lineups during this period were very volatile, and there were multiple musicians who had short stints in the band before moving on to other things.

I’m unable to find much information about Dieter from web sources (such as what his full name was), but some background about him is detailed in the liner notes of the 2012 Esoteric Recordings CD reissue of Electronic Meditation:

The remaining members started to look for a suitable replacement, eventually finding one in the unlikely form of bass player "Happy" Dieter. Dieter was a well-known figure in the Berlin underground, a would-be hippie on the fringes of the left-wing urban guerrilla group the Umherschweifende Haschrebellen (Rambling Hashish Rebels). Soon he was regularly playing with the band including a concert in the courtyard of the bombed-out Bayernhof restaurant in Potsdamer Platz, which was one of Tangerine Dream's earliest TV appearances.

A 7-minute film of the concert, frequently called the “Bath Tube" or "Bathtub" session, was recorded for Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) and is readily available online. Present in the audience of this performance was Conrad Schnitzler (and Michael Hoenig, who himself would briefly tour with TD in 1975), and he joined the band shortly after Dieter had departed. 

The Tangerine Dream Wikipedia page lists Dieter as having passed away in 1974, but I am not entirely sure what source that is referenced from. I’d love to know if anyone here has more information about him.

Welcome to the monthly r/Krautrock discussion thread!

Did you…

• … find a new band that you would like to share?
• … want to ask questions about anything?
• … are unsure whether your content constitutes a separate post?
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Check out our automatically updated Spotify playlist.

I have 3 other CDs but they are stored in my closet, what are some recommendations?

I’m 19 so my budget is hit or miss

I found these two gems hiding deep in the miscellaneous sections of my local record store, the Micheal rother CD is BRAND NEW

The doors are open at r/ClusterBand for fans of all eras. I hope to see you there and build a nice community going forward. I’ve recently become a moderator here so I hope to interact with you more around here too.

This song is from After the Heat (1978), the second album by Cluster and Eno, produced and engineered by Conny Plank (but this time credited to the three as individuals by last name). The second half of the album features vocals by Eno on this track, the following one The Belldog, and the final one Tzima N’arki with Holger Czukay on bass.

Personally, I think it’s a great example of a dark track with a rhythmic line and grinding overtones. It strikes me and haunts me throughout. It feels like grinding my gears in my illnesses and struggles, stumbling and spinning on broken wheels.

I saw a comment once that said they thought Eno’s contributions did little for the work with Cluster. I feel that at minimum, the vocals and lyrics in the second half of this album are a plus. I also feel these Eno albums are less clear-cut pointed vignettes like Cluster was doing (see Sowiesoso, Grosses Wasser) of the era, and more ambient leaning like Eno was doing (see second half of Before and After Science, Ambient 1, Music for Films). He was certainly working with the tools and adding atmospheric influence in the studio, so I would say I disagree with that comment.

What are your thoughts on this song and After the Heat?

Anyone know where I could find/stream this interesting Documentaty?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH3Zgfw6jVw

I've never heard of them, but the store gave it to me for being a repeat customer. Only thing I've found about them is that they were a krautrock band in the 70s.

Couldn’t have asked for a better present ❤️

I present the 5th instalment of this series. Tracing the path of early electronic music — wood and wires to plastic pop — Krautrock, New Wave and Soundscapes. Previous editions were quite popular on here.

Latest edition:
• Kosmischer Musikautomat 05

Previous editions:
• Kosmischer Musikautomat 01
• Kosmischer Musikautomat 02
• Kosmischer Musikautomat 03
• Kosmischer Musikautomat 04

Enjoy x

Engineered by Conny Plank

While we’re talking about Amon Düül, I stumbled upon something interesting related to them a little while ago that I’d like to share.

As you may know, the majority of the Amon Düül discography (to clarify, this is the political art commune and not the better-known Amon Düül II) consist of material from an informal jam session recorded in late 1968.

This was the accompanying description of this photo that _Avalon_ gave:

“here's a photo my friend took of the many studio masters from that session owned by [k]arl hausmann. karl and him are stumped by what "kaputt" is”

For a bit of context, Karl-Heinz Hausmann is a former member of Amon Düül II, primarily as an engineer and keyboardist on the albums Tanz der Lemminge and Carnival in Babylon. Although he had no affiliation with the Amon Düül commune itself and was not involved with the 1968 session in any capacity, he was apparently a member of the “Berlin Kommune 1” active around the same time.

I’m curious as to what the numbers on these signify and whether “Kaputt” might be a working title for one of the ADI albums or literal (i.e. indicating damaged/unplayable tapes). Or it could be something else entirely! Who knows.

I’m incredibly honored to have mastered four albums by Conrad Schnitzler for Flip-Flap: Nachtfahrt, LichtPunkte, Upwards, and Windmills. Now available to order through Flag Day Recordings if you’re in the US.

https://flagdayrecordings.bigcartel.com/category/pre-order

“Schnitzler was one of the true radicals of German experimental electronic music. A founding member of Kluster, an early member of Tangerine Dream, and one of the forces behind Berlin’s legendary Zodiak Free Arts Lab, he spent decades treating electronics, tape, rhythm, noise, and found sound as raw materials rather than limitations. His approach helped push electronic music away from conventional ideas of melody, instrumentation, and composition and toward something stranger, more physical, and completely open-ended.”

Black metal fans might recognize his work in Mayhem’s seminal work, Deathcrush

What makes Schnitzler’s work so enduring is that it never feels concerned with fitting neatly into a genre. It can be hypnotic, mechanical, cosmic, playful, abrasive, beautiful, or unsettling sometimes all within the same piece.

Windmills is a particularly fascinating example: 33 tracks described by Schnitzler himself as “Electro Cosmic Metal Industrial,” built from four continuous electric pieces and largely avoiding conventional keyboard-based composition.

Upwards presents 19 compact “electric miniatures,” constantly shifting direction while emphasizing the journey over any conventional destination.

LichtPunkte is denser and more expansive, filled with hovering melodies, intricate layers, and forward-moving electronic structures, a remarkable document of Schnitzler’s Berlin Kosmische approach.

And Nachtfahrt moves through darker, more hypnotic territory, transforming familiar sounds into something warped and unfamiliar, shifting between dreamlike weightlessness and noir tension.

I had the privilege of mastering all four releases at Vitória Régia Studios, helping prepare these pieces for their new editions while preserving the uncompromising character that makes Schnitzler’s music so important. Enjoy!

Paradieswärts Düül

Release Year: 1971

Label: Ohr

Not to be confused with the better-known Amon Düül II, Amon Düül were a group of (largely) amateur musicians affiliated with the eponymous art commune. Although most of their discography consists of material from informal late 60s jam sessions, their only album for Ohr is a more tranquil (albeit still lo-fi) acid-folk album, featuring personnel from Amon Düül II and Xhol Caravan. Recommended for psychedelic/folk rock enthusiasts and fans of Amon Düül-related projects.

If you’ve heard this album and/or want to share more commentary about it, feel free to discuss further in the comments section. As with all of these weekly discussion posts, we encourage you to give it a listen if you’re unfamiliar with it!

These are Péron’s words from the Faust-pages site and his humorous remark is actually used on Wikipedia. I thought the Faust fans might enjoy this.