''Tracks and Traces'' is a collaborative album by German

kosmische Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in West Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electronic music, ...

supergroup

Harmonia In Greek mythology, Harmonia (; grc, Ἁρμονία /Ancient Greek phonology, harmoˈnia/, "harmony", "agreement") is the immortal goddess of harmony and concord. Her Rome, Roman counterpart is Concordia (mythology), Concordia. Her Greek op ...

(featuring

Neu! Neu! (; German for "New!"; styled in block capitals) were a West German krautrock band formed in Düsseldorf in 1971 by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother following their departure from Kraftwerk. The group's albums were produced by Conny Plan ...

guitarist

Michael Rother Michael Rother (born 2 September 1950) is a German experimental musician, best known for being a founding member of the influential bands Neu! and Harmonia, and an early member of the band Kraftwerk. Early life and education Born in 1950, ...

and Cluster members

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 ...

and

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 ...

) and British musician Brian Eno, initially credited to Harmonia 76. Eno joined the group at Harmonia's studio in Forst,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

for the September 1976 recording sessions. The results remained unreleased until November 1997, when they were compiled by the American

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record la ...

label (originally in Germany by the label ''S3'', remastered by Eric Spitzer-Marlyn and Othmar Eichinger). In 2009, a reissue featuring additional tracks and alternative artwork was released, this time credited to Harmonia & Eno '76.

Background and releases

Upon hearing Harmonia in the early 1970s, Eno proclaimed them "the most important band in the world." He eventually joined Harmonia on stage in 1974 at The Fabrik in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, and promised to join them at their Forst recording studio to record with them. After Harmonia had effectively disbanded, they briefly reunited to work with Eno at Forst in 1976. Eno joined the sessions for eleven days, shortly before traveling to work with

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

on his Berlin albums.Gabriele, Timothy
Review: ''Harmonia and Eno '76: Tracks and Traces''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

. Retrieved 2019-03-19 In the 1990s, Roedelius retrieved the session tapes from Eno and refashioned them into the 1997 release. He also reworked two pieces of music which were created, at the very beginning of the Harmonia collaboration/friendship with Brian Eno, but never finished. The two songs titled "Captured By Letters" and "Long Run", were modified and defined by Roedelius for use in two theaterplays.''Hans Joachim Roedelius - Theaterworks''

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. Retrieved 2019-03-19 The songs were released on his 1994 album; ''Theatreworks''.

2009 reissue

''Tracks and Traces'' was remastered and reissued in 2009 by

Grönland Records Grönland Records is a British–German independent record label founded in London, England, which relocated to Berlin in 2009. "Grönland" (German for Greenland) refers both to the country, the label's founder, Herbert Grönemeyer and the epo ...

. The new release featured three additional recordings from the sessions, sourced from Rother's own tape cassettes, which were unsuitable for release until digital technology made it possible to clean the cassette recordings. It also featured new artwork. It was credited to Harmonia & Eno '76. A 12" of remixes was also released, coupling "Sometimes in Autumn" and "By The Riverside" re-fixed by producers Shackleton and Appleblim/Komonazmuk. In 2009 a full album of remixes was released.

Reception

Ned Raggett, writing for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

, describes Eno as "the wild-card factor who turned out to be a perfect addition," adding: "If there's less of the glittering glaze of the earlier Harmonia albums, the explorations in ambient sound and mysterious and murky textures make for a more than fair exchange" Todd L. Burns of '' Resident Advisor'' stated: "Most of it is idyllic, and most of it is extraordinarily ahead of its time," describing the album as "the sound of four legends at their artistic peak finding new forms of expression, finally presented properly."

Track listing

Music written, performed and produced by Brian Eno, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Michael Rother and Dieter Moebius. "Luneburg Heath" vocals and lyrics by Brian Eno.

1997 release (Rykodisc/S3)

#"Vamos Companeros" – 4:32 #"By the Riverside" – 9:31 #"Luneburg Heath" – 4:53 #"Sometimes in Autumn" – 15:49 #"Weird Dream" – 6:39 #"Almost" – 5:28 #"Les Demoiselles" – 3:59 #"When Shade Was Born" – 1:30 #"Trace" – 1:31

2009 reissue (Grönland Records)

#"Welcome" - 3:01 #"Atmosphere" - 3:24 #"Vamos Companeros" – 4:32 #"By the Riverside" – 9:31 #"Luneburg Heath" – 4:53 #"Sometimes in Autumn" – 15:49 #"Weird Dream" – 6:39 #"Almost" – 5:28 #"Les Demoiselles" – 3:59 #"When Shade Was Born" – 1:30 #"Trace" – 1:31 #"Aubade" - 3:33

2010 ''Tracks and Traces Remixed'' (Grönland Records)

#"By the Riverside (Appleblim & Komonazmuk Remix)" – 7:49 (Remixed by Keiran Lomax and Laurie Osborne) #"Luneburg Heath (The Field Remix)" – 10:23 (Remixed by The Field) #"Sometimes in Autumn (Shackleton Remix)" – 10:26 (Remixed by Shackleton) #"Almost (Burger/Voigt Remix)" – 7:26 (Remixed by Jörg Burger and

Wolfgang Voigt Wolfgang Voigt (born 1961) is an electronic music DJ and producer from Cologne, Germany, known for his output under various aliases, such as Gas. He signed on numerous record labels, including Warp, Harvest, Raster-Noton, Force Inc, Astral In ...

) #"Vamos Companeros (Modularsystem Remix)" – 5:14 (Remixed by Hannes Talirz and Stefan Pfeffer) #"Sometimes In Autumn (MITMIX)" – 8:23 (Remixed by Mit)

Personnel

– e-guitar, keyboards, drum machine *

– synthesizer, mini harp *

– keyboards * Brian Eno – synthesizer, e-bass, voice, lyrics

References

External links

* * Rother, Michae
Harmonia web page
Retrieved September 2, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tracks And Traces 1997 albums Harmonia (band) albums Albums produced by Brian Eno Rykodisc albums