Admira Deluxe Jacket

This previously unreleased Kluster CD is said to be a live recording - but if it is indeed that, it's most certainly a very quiet crowd at that. 'Admira' is very experimental to say the least. Sound quality here is fine but with the disc's twelve tracks with a duration of 61:25 didn't knock me out. Oh, it's an okay title but personally, I got much more out of this CD's companion release 'Vulcano: Live In Wuppertal 1971' (see my review). Each cut here is untitled. First few songs have a definite out-there sound with a dream-like krautrock presence in the background. Perhaps aimed toward the die-hard fans and the completists but I like to think that the average Kluster / Cluster fan would get something good out of this pick. Footnote here: the personnel for this audio CD is listed as Conrad Schnitzler, Wolfgang Seidel and Klaus Freudigmann. So where was Roedelius and Moebius?

This is another interesting slice of early Kluster experimentation.In 1971 the original lineup of Kluster (Moebius, Roedelius, Schnitzler) split up with Moebius and Roedelius going off to form Cluster.The music presented here was recorded by Conrad Schnitzler in '71, more or less alone from what I gather. Engineers Wolfgang Seidel and Klaus Freudigmann are also credited in the liner notes, but it's not clear how they were involved in the recording. What is known is that these tapes were unreleased until Freudigmann unearthed them in 2008.The music within is typical of early Kluster: experimental sound collages made using various instruments and devices, twisting and manipulating them into ambient effects, feedback, etc.This makes a great companion to other early Kluser and Cluster albums.

While in the past K(C)luster have produced some striking music this is just noise. Tiring. Avoid.

Given this is largely sounds, rather than most would consider "music", reviewing the quality has little to do with what is played, and more about what you allow yourself to HEAR. I like it, and that's all it needs to do. There are drones, with bits of Cello played in the background, some wild guitar freakouts that were relatively common at the time, and some odd organ sounds. It's all quite satisfying.A sticker on the front of the CD tells us that this release was made possible because the original masters had been found, and it shows. The sound quality is really good, albeit rather lo-fi stuff. However there is one caveat - the sticker also states "in deluxe packaging". No. It's a standard jewelcase, with a single fold out (total four pages including the cover and back). The fold out lists the musicians (well, the main ones), and that's it. No article, no background text, hell not even information about when and where this was recorded. This must be a new kind of "Deluxe" that I was previously unaware of. LOLHaving said that, minimal lo-fi packaging for minimal lo-fi krautrock - what's not to like. Shame they didn't put as much effort into the booklet as they did with the sticker, but hey-ho. I like it.