''First Encounter Tour 1996'' is the thirteenth full-length album by German electronic music outfit

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. It is also the third live album released, and the only double album released by Cluster. ''First Encounter Tour 1996'' was recorded at various concert venues around the

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in 1996 and was produced by noted keyboardist and ambient musician Tim Story at Zeta in

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. It was released on February 25, 1997. ''First Encounter Tour 1996'' was Cluster's only release for the Purple Pyramid label. The music of ''First Encounter Tour 1997'' flows from one music style to the next and reflects all the varieties of Cluster's music from the 1979 release Großes Wasser onwards. Some sections of the longer tracks do seem to break new musical ground for Cluster, with deeply atmospheric ambient music leading into sections with a definite melody and beat. Each track is named for the city or cities in which the concerts took place, with the sole exception of the last track which is named for guest musicians Bond Bergland and

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(the duo of Paul M. Fox and Tommy Grenas), which was recorded in Anderson, Indiana and Chicago, Illinois. Much of the music is improvisational but some set pieces were included. For example, the track "Portland Oregon #2" is a live performance of "Emmental" from the

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release

Apropos Cluster ''Apropos Cluster'' is a full-length studio album by Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius also known as German electronic music outfit Cluster. It was also their first album after an eight-year-long hiatus. In 1989 Dieter Moebius and Hans-J ...

. A short section of "New York City", the nearly 33 minute piece which opens the album, is taken from the avant-garde middle section of the title track from ''Grosses Wasser''. A number of sections of various pieces are very similar to sections of ''

Japan 1996 Live ''Japan 1996 Live'' is the eleventh full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster. It was the second of three live albums released by Cluster. ''Japan 1996 Live'' was recorded at On Air West in Tokyo and also in Osaka, Japan i ...

''.

Track listing

# "New York City" – 32:58 # "Phoenix Arizona #1" – 4:04 # "Portland Oregon #1" – 29:05 # "New Orleans Louisiana" – 4:42 # "Portland Oregon #2" – 3:36 # "Providence Rhode Island" – 7:01 # "Eugene Oregon" – 20:13 # "Asheville North Carolina" – 2:41 # "Chicago Illinois" – 5:31 # "Phoenix Arizona #2" – 13:30 # "Covington Kentucky" – 4:51 # "Minneapolis Minnesota" – 6:51 # "Bond Bergland / The Brain" – 15:56

Personnel

Dieter Moebius Dieter Moebius (16 January 1944 – 20 July 2015) was a Swiss-born German electronic musician and composer, best known as a member of the influential krautrock bands Cluster and Harmonia. Moebius was studying art at Berlin's Akademie Grafik and ...

– Korg Prophecy, Proteus FX, mini-Moog, preprepared tape material, effect machine, mixing table *

Hans-Joachim Roedelius Hans-Joachim Roedelius (born 26 October 1934) is a German electronic musician and composer, best known as a co-founder of the influential 'kosmische' groups Cluster and Harmonia. He also performed in the ambient jazz trio Aquarello, and relea ...

– Ensonique TS10, grand piano, wind chimes, preprepared tape material, effect machine, mixing table * Bond Bergland * Paul M. Fox * Tommy Grenas * Tim Story – producer * Russ Curry – engineer

References

* Curry, Rus
A Curious History of Cluster
Retrieved August 17, 2007. * Discog

Retrieved August 20, 2007. {{Authority control Cluster (band) albums 1997 live albums