A brief history of Kosmische Musik Pioneer
Conrad Schnitzler
Written by Massimiliano Galli
“Conrad Schnitzler (1937-2011) was one of the most important figures of the German Krautrock scene. ”
He was a member of Tangerine Dream, one of the Zodiak Free Arts Lab founders, and a co-founder of influential German band Kluster, with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius.
Schnitzler was born in the German city of Düsseldorf, but his musical life started changing when, with Roedelius and Boris Schaak, he founded the Zodiak Free Arts Lab in the West Berlin district of Kreuzberg in 1968. Zodiak was a theatre by day and a live music venue by night where every form of conventional music was banned.
“From 1962 until 1981, the building was the first home of the Schaubühne am Halleschen Ufer, a politically inspired and motivated theatre company. Unfortunately, Zodiak lasted, as an experimental music club, only a few months, closing in early 1969. ”
Nobody knows why. It could have been due to the Schaubühne's management calling for things to be toned down or the restlessness of the West Berlin scene simply seeking other outlets for expression.
Today it is simply a coffee shop and a place for electronic music history nostalgics to visit. Most importantly, Zodiak was the sparkle that inspired the formation of two of the most influential bands of the German electronic music scene: Tangerine Dream and Kluster.
Schnitzler, Dieter Moebius, and Hans-Joachim Roedelius formed Kluster in 1969. The band continued to release albums and changed its name to Cluster in 1971 when Schnitzler left to work on his solo career. They started performing at Zodiak in 1968 and, in addition to violin, flute, piano, cello, percussion, and organ, the trio used alarm clocks and kitchen utensils as instruments. Kluster released three albums, Klopfzeichen (1970), Zwei-Osterei (1971) and Eruption (1971).
In 1970 Schnitzer joined Tangerine Dream, playing cello, violin, and Addiator, a mechanical add/subtract calculator, for their debut album Electronic Meditation. The album was recorded in a rented factory in Berlin in October 1969, using just a two-track Revox tape recorder and released by Ohr Label.
Perhaps intrigued by more complex forms of music, Schnitzler left both bands to focus on his solo career. Exploring his solo works, it appears he was one of the most experimental and challenging artists of his generation.
His first solo album, Rot, was released in 1973 and was followed by Gelb, recorded in 1974 but unreleased for years, and Blau, released in 1974. These three "color" albums were compiled in the triple-LP Work In Progress (1974).
In 1973, he also produced an unreleased soundtrack for an underground movie titled Slowmotion, and, in 1974, he released The Red Cassette and The Black Cassette.
In 1980, Schnitzler recorded a live album called Die wandelnde Klangwolke aus Berlin at the Ars Electronica festival in Linz/Austria. He asked spectators to buy his cassettes, bring their cassette players, and meet with him. Together they walked around through the city playing bizarre sounds.
Schnitzler catalog expanded through the years, and it's very complex to track. He released an abundance of records and explored a vast combination of techniques, starting from the 1978 album Con. We are trying to list them all here:
In 1980 he released Consequenz, in 1981 the albums Contempora, Con 3, Conrad & Sohn (with his son, movie director Gregor Schnitzler), Conal, Control, Gelb (as a reissue of The Black Cassette), Context and Grün.
Then in 1982, Convex, The Russians Are Coming (an EP, with Peter Baumann) and Container. Con 3.3.83 in 1983, Con '84 (1984), Con '85
(1985).
In 1986 he released Concert, Consequenz II, Micon In Italia, Face on Radio (with Wolfgang Hertz), Con '86, GenCon Productions (with Gen Ken Montgomery), and Conversion Day.
In 1987 Congratulation, Contrasts (again with Wolfgang Hertz), Black Box 1987, Contra-Terrene, Deathcrush (with Norwegian black metal band Mayhem), and Conditions of the Gas Giant.
In 1988 ConGen: New Dramatic Electronic Music, CS 1 – CS 13: January 1988 – December 1988, Concho (with Michael Chocholak), and GenCon Dramatic (with Gen Ken Montgomery).
In 1989 Constellations, CS 89/1 – CS 89/12: January 1989 – December 1989 and The Cassette Concert (again with Gen Ken Montgomery).
In 1990 Kynak - Camma (with Giancarlo Toniutti), CS 90/1 – CS 90/12: January 1990 – December 1990, Confidential Tapes, and 00/001 – 00/004: Confidential Tapes followed in 1991 by Contempora 00/014 – 00/031.
In 1992 Tolling Toggle (with Jorg Thomasius), Tonart Eins (with Tonart), Ballet Statique (a reissue of the 1978 album Con), and Contempora 00/032 – 00/039.
In 1993 Clock Face (with Jorg Thomasius), Tonart Zwei (with Tonart), Con Brio and Contempora 00/040 – 00/044.
In 1994 Con Repetizione, Contempora 00/045 – 00/053, and Blue Glow, followed in 1995 by Charred Machinery and Electronegativity.
In 1997 00/106, 00/44, and Piano Works Vol 1.
In 1999 he released Construction, Piano 00/071, Piano 00/063, Con/Solo/1, Piano 00/121, Concert 00/139, Con/Solo/2, and Computer Jazz 2000, The 88 Game, and 5.5.85.
In 2001 he released Conal2001, Acon (with Hans-Joachim Roedelius), and 00/142-8, followed by Con '72 (2002), Live Action 1997 (2003), Gold (2003), Contakt (2003), Con '72 Part II (2004), Mi.T.-Con 04 (with Michael Thomas Roe, in 2005).
In 2006 Moon Mummy, Zug, Aquatic Vine Music (again with Michael Thomas Roe), Conviction, Con 2+, ElectroCon, Klavierhelm, and Trigger Trilogy.
In 2007 Mic + Con 07 (once again with Michael Thomas Roe), in 2008, he released Kluster 2007 with Michael Thomas Roe and Masato Ooyama, rare.
tracks 1979–1982 (with Remixes by Dompteur Mooner), and 20070709 (with Bernhard Woestheinrich).
In 2009 Schnitzler released Aquafit (with Big Robot), Kluster 2008: Three Olympic Cities Mix (with Michael Thomas Roe and Masato Ooyama), and Horror Odyssee (again with Big Robot).
In 2010 Kluster 2009: Three Voices (with Michael Thomas Roe and Masato Ooyama); in 2011, he released Consequenz 010B (with Wolfgang Seidel), Kluster CMO 2010 (with Michael Thomas Roe and Masato Ooyama), and Against The Grain (with multiple artists).
In 2015 GEN CON Barbarella (with multiple artists), GEN CON FLUX (with Gen Ken Montgomery & Mama Baer, Kommissar Hjuler), and genconhjulachinsky (with Gen Ken Montgomery, Steve Dalachinsky & Kommissar Hjuler).
For many years Schnitzler appeared in the comics of Matt Howarth, and his 2006 work Moon Mummy is a collaboration with Howarth based on an included PDF comic.
I know it is a vast, almost endless catalog, and it is very easy to get lost in it, but the music keeps flowing. Head of the label m=minimal, Jens Strüver, had permission to *Schnitzler's audio library around 2000. Then inventing the Con-Struct series, Schnitzler's archive was made into additional compositions by other artists. The first installment was handled by Strüver and Christian Borngräber, followed by Kreidler's Andreas Reihse after Schnitzler's death for stomach cancer in 2011. Currently, seminal krautrock/kosmische label Bureau B is continuing this massive rework project.
*source https://www.electronicbeats.net