Deluxe by Harmonia

Deluxe by the German Kosmische Musik (Krautrock) group  Harmonia, from 1975

This band's discography is sumptuous, reaching its peak in my opinion in the highly underrated album Harmonia 76: Tracks & Traces with the great  Brian Eno  and the beautiful compilation Documents 1975.

This group consists of  Neu! guitarist Michael Rother and the Cluster  duo of Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius, who are joined on this album by drummer Mani Neumeier.

This is also an excellent album, clearly featuring important traces of Cluster and Neu!, but also a sound not far from  Kraftwerk ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and Can, with the inclusion of vocals in the long instrumental tracks. The melodies and rhythms are distinctive, very interesting, and this time, the production is excellent.

More complex than their debut album.

- Deluxe (Immer Wieder) is a great song, with the initial structure of a melodic and pleasant piece, then changing with a prevalence of synthesizers over a continuous electronic base alternating with breaks from keyboards, guitar, and fragments of percussion, and a rare sung chorus that is part of the music. The melody and overall transport are beautiful.

- Walky-Talky is a riot of percussion, drums, and overlying electronics. Some movements hark back to an oriental sound. Some sounds are Southeast Asian, and some are decidedly Asian, or more specifically Japanese, with the Nagoya harp. Effects, echoes, and background "noises" are very present, but are actually just distant instruments. A beautiful electro-acoustic jam in which the sound at times becomes psychedelic, creating wider spaces on the infinite loop that nevertheless remains the foundation of the piece. Very, Very Beautiful.

- Monza (Rauf Und Runter) begins with space rock, its ambient elements and a guitar that initially produces very long sounds, then the bass varies into more suspended themes...

- Notre Dame with its organ and its mutation towards space rock.

- Gollum with an almost ironic mood at the beginning and then the entrance of the synths that brings the sound back towards space rock.

- Kekse which once again starts with a simple and pleasant structure and then becomes avant-garde and experimental.

Beautiful, if you like the genre, certainly interesting for an undisguised tendency to compose songs that are deliberately full of contrasting sounds.

Recommended with the other works of this band.

Tracklist

1. Deluxe (Immer Wieder) (9:45)
2. Walky Talky (10.35)
3. Monza (Rauf und Runter) (7:07)
4. Notre Dame (4:15)
5. Gollum (4:35)
6. Kekse (5:35)
Duration 41:52

Line-Up
- Michael Rother - guitar, keyboards, vocals
- Hans-Joachim Roedelius - keyboards, vocals
- Dieter Moebius - synthesizer, Nagoya harp, vocals
With:
- Mani Neumeier - drums