Hans-Joachim Roedelius - Offene Türen (1982)

As a huge Cluster fan, I was very excited to receive an email this morning from a local record store listing a few "rare and eclectic" records they had newly priced in the shop to find an original copy of Offene Türen for sale. Offene Türen is Roedelius' eighth solo album and came out the same year as Cluster's ninth album Curiosum and draws comparisons to it and to Cluster's prior album, and my personal favorite, Grossess Wasser.

While Roedelius is known for varying mainly between a sort of soft electronic minimalist style similar to what is found on Clusters Sowiesoso and a classical approach with acoustic piano, layering repetitive flowing Farfisa or synthesizer patterns over brief acoustic melodies and occasionally accompanied by basic tribal or polyrhythmic drumming, this album ventures further into what is a more common style of electronic music. The use of drum machines, loud synthesizer bass tones run through time-variant filter cutoff, occasionally 'pop' structured etc. It is still unmistakably Roedelius, but for example, the track Von Osten Her is the closest I've ever heard him come to where Moebius was headed back in 1974 with the track Caramel off their album Zuckerzeit, and this is why Offene Türen is my favorite from Roedelius solo work.

I have on vinyl everything he has put out since Selbstportrait I, including Lustwandel, Jardin Au Fou (my second favorite), Wasser Im Wind and Wenn Der Südwind Weht, all original first pressings, and so I am very excited to now get this one to add to my collection. It's not so much that it is a very rare record, nor is it very valuable, but around here finding anything from Sky Records is a rare and nice surprise, and especially from this store in particular, from which I've never found anything in my specific taste.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfyAw2KQtqw"]Hans-Joachim Roedelius - Von Osten Her - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUxyqEV3DIo&feature=related"]Hans-Joachim Roedelius Offene Türen - YouTube