Harmonia & Eno - Tracks & Traces

Revisited and expanded electronica summit

Historically, the first collaboration between Brian Eno, Hans-Joachim Rodelius and Dieter Moebius was released in 1977 on the album Cluster & Eno. Of course, Rodelius and Moebius had previously established – along with guitarist Michael Rother – the musical triangle that was Harmonia.

A year before the Cluster collaboration, Eno went into a studio with Harmonia to lay down musical sketches that remained unreleased until 1997 as Tracks & Traces. With the rights reverting back to the band, these musical sketches, originally assembled for release by Rodelius, have been reconfigured by Rother, who has added of three previously unheard tracks from the original session.

Musically, this refurbishment makes an amazing difference in mood and tone. Opening with the previously unheard Welcome, Rother’s pastoral guitar acts as a central pole around which the electronic vines of sequencers and synthesisers curl in beautiful musical bloom. Atmosphere is the sort of territory where Eno established his reputation, and it’s amazing to think that this is the sound of four men improvising electronics rather than painstakingly applying coat upon coat of gloss in the studio. Previously heard tracks such as By The River and Weird Dream remain as compelling as ever. Buried treasure of the finest quality.

Groenland | CDGRON 102

Reviewed by Ian Shirley
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