Cluster: Shaping the Sound of Germany

Cluster

Moebius,  Roedelius, and Plank, who performed together as Cluster, were each instrumental figures in the krautrock scene whose influence cannot be overstated. Between the three of them, they had their hands in the composition and/or production of over 300 albums of ambient and experimental electronic music that defined the German scene throughout the 1970s.

Hans-Joachim Roedelius has produced 115 releases to date with a new soundtrack pending. One notable work is his earliest recording finally issued in 2008 – Live at the Zodiak – Berlin 1968 which is a rare surviving example of work from the highly-influential West Berlin live music venue, Zodiak Free Arts Lab.

Conny Plank contributed to 122 albums during his lifetime, including influential releases by Kraftwerk, Can, Cluster, Guru Guru, Harmonia, Eno (for the ‘Berlin Trilogy’), Neu!, La Düsseldorf, and other major figures in krautrock.

Dieter Moebius was another principle artist of the scene. Moebius studied in Brussels and Berlin where he met Roedelius and Conrad Schnitzler to found Kluster in 1969, and later Cluster and Harmonia with Michael Rother of Neu!. Moebius is connected to 65 releases I’ll outline below.

I’d previously compiled a similar extended discography for the 178 releases by Tangerine Dream and its associated members’ solo projects, but this archive seems like it will offer a more dynamic range of sounds and shall make for most rewarding listening.

Hans-Joachim Roedelius Extended Discography (115-Release Catalog)

In Bands

In Human Being

2008 : Live at the Zodiak – Berlin 1968 (live album)

In Kluster

1970 : Klopfzeichen (studio album)

1970 : Zwei-Osterei (studio album)

1971 : Eruption (live album, originally released as Kluster und Eruption)

In Cluster

1971 : Cluster ’71 (studio album)

1972 : Cluster II (studio album)

1974 : Zuckerzeit (studio album)

1976 : Sowiesoso (studio album)

1979 : Großes Wasser (studio album)

1980 : Live in Vienna (live album)

1981 : Curiosum (studio album)

1984 : Stimmungen (compilation album)

1990 : Apropos Cluster (studio album, credited to Moebius + Roedelius)

1994 : One Hour (live album)

1997 : Japan 1996 Live (live album, credited to Roedelius Moebius on some editions)

1997 : First Encounter Tour 1996 (live album)

2008 : Berlin 07 (live album)

2009 : Qua (studio album)

In Harmonia

1974 : Musik Von Harmonia (studio album)

1975 : Deluxe (studio album)

2007 : Live 1974 (live album)

In Aquarello

1991 : Friendly Game (studio album, credited to Roedelius, Capanni, Alesini)

1993 : To Cover The Dark (studio album)

1998 : Aquarello (live album, credited as Roedelius solo album)

In Global Trotters (Kenji Konishi, Susumu Hirasawa, Alquimia, David Bickley, Felix Jay, Alex Paterson)

1999 : Drive (studio album)

1999 : GLOBAL TROTTERS PROJECT volume I – DRIVE (remix album)

In Qluster

2011 : Fragen (studio album)

2011 : Rufen (live album)

2011 : Antworten (studio album)

2013 : Lauschen (studio album)

2015 : Tasten (studio album – three pianos project)

2016 : Echtzeit (studio album)

Solo Work

1978 : Durch die Wüste (studio album)

1979 : Jardin Au Fou (studio album)

1979 : Selbstportrait (studio album)

1980 : Selbstportrait – Vol. II (studio album)

1980 : Selbstportrait Vol. III “Reise durch Arcadien” (studio album)

1981 : Lustwandel (studio album)

1981 : Wenn Der Südwind Weht (studio album)

1981 : Offene Türen (studio album)

1982 : Flieg’ Vogel fliege (studio album)

1982 : Wasser im Wind (studio album)

1984 : Auf leisen Sohlen (compilation album)

1984 : Geschenk des Augenblicks – Gift of the Moment (studio album)

1984 : Begegnungen (compilation album)

1985 : Begegnungen II (compilation album)

1986 : Wie das Wispern des Windes (studio album)

1987 : Momenti Felici (studio album)

1989 : Bastionen der Liebe – Fortress of love (studio album)

1990 : Variety of Moods (studio album)

1991 : Der Ohrenspiegel (studio album)

1991 : Piano Piano (studio album)

1992 : Cuando… Adonde (studio album)

1992 : Frühling (studio album) later re-released as Romance in the Wilderness

1993 : Tace! (studio album)

1994 : Sinfonia Contempora No. 1: Von Zeit zu Zeit (studio album)

1994 : Theatre Works (studio album)

1995 : Selbstportrait VI: The Diary of the Unforgotten (studio album)

1995 : Vom Nutzen der Stunden – Lieder vom Steinfeld Vol. I (studio album)

1995 : 61sechzigjahr (compilation album, released privately)

1996 : Sinfonia Contempora No. 2: La Nordica (Salz Des Nordens) (studio album)

1996 : Pink, Blue And Amber (studio album)

1999 : Selfportrait VII: dem Wind voran – ahead of the wind (studio album)

1999 : Amerika Recycled by America Inc (studio album)

1999 : Vom Nutzen der Stunden – Lieder Vom Steinfeld Vol.II (studio album)

2000 : Roedeliusweg (studio album)

2001 : Roedelius 2001 – Orgel Solo (studio album)

2001 : Das Verwirrte Schaf – Wort-Klang Collage zum Aschermittwoch (studio album) 2002 : Selbstportrait VIII – Introspection (studio album)

2003 : American Steamboat (studio album)

2003 : Counterfeit (studio album)

2003 : Lieder vom Steinfeld Vol.III (studio album)

2003 : Roedelius 1969–2002 (compilation album)

2006 : Works 1968–2005 (compilation album)

2007 : Snapshots/Sidesteps (studio album)

2008 : Back Soon (compilation album)

2010 : Ex Animo (studio album)

2016: Manchmal (1 track on 4 tracks compilation EP “past forward”, vinyl release only

2017 Release of Roedelius’ autobiography “Roedelius – Das Buch”

2017 Music for the soundtrack of Nick Cave for the film “War Machine”

2018 Music for the film “Symphony of Now” to be released February 14th

2018 Music for the film “Die Rueden”from director Connie Walther ( not yet released )

Collaborations

With Brian Eno, Dieter Moebius and Michael Rother

1997 : Tracks and Traces (credited to either Harmonia ’76 or Harmonia and Eno ’76)

2009 : Harmonia & Eno ’76 Remixes (remix album)

With Brian Eno and Dieter Moebius

1977 : Cluster & Eno (credited to Cluster & Eno)

1978 : After the Heat (studio album)

1985 : Old Land (compilation album) (credited to Cluster and Brian Eno)

With Brian Eno and Dieter Moebius on Eno’s solo album

1977 : Before and after Science (studio album)

Track: “By This River”

With Alexander Czjzek

1987 : Weites Land (studio album)

With Aqueous

1994 : Grace Notes (studio album)

1997 : Meeting The Magus (studio album)

With Richard Barbieri and Chianura

1998 : T’ai (studio album)

With Alquimia

2000 : Move and Resonate

With Tim Story (sometimes collectively referred to as Lunz)

2000 : The Persistence of Memory (studio album)

2002 : Lunz (studio album)

2005 : Lunz-Reinterpretations (remix album)

2008 : Inlandish (studio album)

With Conrad Schnitzler

2001 : Acon 2000/1 (studio album)

With Fabio Capanni, Felix Dorner, Hirishi Nagashima and Robin Storey

2001 : Evermore

With Lynn

2001 : Act of Love (studio album)

With Nikos Arvanitis

2002 : Digital Love (studio album)

With Noh 1

2003 : Imagine Imagine (soundtrack album, released as Roedelius and Fratellis)

2009 : Fibre (studio album)

With Morgan Fisher

2005 : Neverless (studio album)

With David Bickley

2008 : Bonaventura (studio album)

With Kava

2008 : The Gugging Album (studio album)

With Tim Story and Dwight Ashley

2008 : Errata (studio album)

With Alessandra Celletti

2009 : Sustanza di cose sperata (studio album)

With Christopher Chaplin

2012 : King of Hearts (studio album)

With Andrew Heath and Christopher Chaplin

2017 :Triptych in Blue (live album)

With Lloyd Cole

2013 : Selected Studies Vol. 1 (studio album)

With Leon Muraglia

2015 : Ubi Bene (studio album)

With Mateo Latosa and Cesar Gallegos (aka TKU Tecamachalco Underground)

2016 : Latitudes (music installation for photography exhibition, 2014/studio album release, 2016)

 

Conny Plank (122-Release Extended Discography)

Plank was involved with the following chronological list of albums, either as a direct contributor or because his studio facilities were used. The dates refer to the year of first release.

1969

The Living Music (Alexander von Schlippenbach)

Tone Float (Organisation)

1970

Just A Poke (Sweet Smoke)

Klopfzeichen (Kluster)

Kraftwerk (Kraftwerk)

1971

Zwei-Osterei (Kluster)

Legend (Parzival)

Eloy (Eloy)

Cluster (Cluster)

1972

BaRock (Parzival)

Mournin’ (Night Sun)

43 Minuten (Os Mundi)

Kraftwerk 2 (Kraftwerk)

Neu! (Neu!)

Cluster II (Cluster)

Echo (A.R. & Machines)

Lonesome Crow (Scorpions)

Kan Guru (Guru Guru)

Together (Jane)

I Turned to See Whose Voice it Was (Gomorrha)

Kollektiv (Kollektiv)

Supernova (Ibliss)

1973

Guru Guru (Guru Guru)

Neu! 2 (Neu!)

Ralf und Florian (Kraftwerk)

1974

Autobahn (Kraftwerk)

Zuckerzeit (Cluster)

Free Improvisation (Wired)

1975

Neu! ’75 (Neu!)

Andy Nogger (Kraan)

La Leyla (Ramses)

Hoelderlin (Hoelderlin)

Let It Out (Kraan)

Bröselmaschine (Bröselmaschine)

Mani und Seine Freunde (Guru Guru)

1976

Sowiesoso (Cluster)

Clowns & Clouds (Hoelderlin)

You Won’t See Me (Helmut Koellen)

La Düsseldorf (La Düsseldorf)

1977

Before and after Science (Brian Eno)

Cluster & Eno (Cluster and Brian Eno)

Flammende Herzen (Michael Rother)

Pompeii (Triumvirat)

Rockpommel’s Land (Grobschnitt)

1978

After the Heat (Eno, Moebius, Roedelius)

Ambient 1: Music for Airports (Brian Eno)

Flyday (Kraan)

Durch Die Wüste (Roedelius)

Question: Are We Not Men? Answer: We Are Devo! (Devo)

Out of Reach (Can)

Liliental (Liliental)

Sterntaler (Michael Rother)

Systems of Romance (Ultravox)

Welcome (SBB)

1979

Katzenmusik (Michael Rother)

Selbstportrait (Roedelius)

1980

Crann Ull (Clannad)

Rastakraut Pasta (Moebius & Plank)

Die Kleinen und die Bösen (DAF)

Three into One (Ultravox)

Hunger (The Meteors)

Tournee (Kraan)

Vienna (Ultravox)

Luminous Basement (The Tourists)

1981

Material (Moebius & Plank)

Phew (Phew, with Holger Czukay, Conny Plank & Jaki Liebezeit)

Alles Ist Gut (DAF)

Gold und Liebe (DAF)

Les Vampyrettes (Conny Plank and Holger Czukay)

Stormy Seas (The Meteors) Dutch band

In the Garden (Eurythmics)

Rage in Eden (Ultravox)

Der Ernst des Lebens (Ideal)

Edelweiß (Joachim Witt)

1982

Revelations (Killing Joke)

Latin Lover (Gianna Nannini)

Strange Music (Moebius & Beerbohm)

Für Immer (Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft)

1983

Zero Set (Moebius, Plank, and Neumeier)

The Fireman’s Curse (Hunters & Collectors)

Listen (A Flock of Seagulls)

Schlagende Wetter (Kowalski)

1984

Der Osten ist Rot (Holger Czukay)

Belfegore (Belfegore)

Begegnungen (Eno Moebius Roedelius Plank)

Les Rita Mitsouko (Rita Mitsouko)

The Collection (Ultravox)

Puzzle (Gianna Nannini)

Should Have Been Greatest Hits (The Tourists)

The Jaws of Life (Hunters & Collectors)

1985

Humpe Humpe (album) (Humpe Humpe)

Begegnungen II (Eno Moebius Roedelius Plank)

Tutto Live (Gianna Nannini)

Old Land (Cluster and Brian Eno)

Dein ist mein ganzes Herz (Heinz Rudolf Kunze)

Company of Justice (Play Dead)

1986

U-Vox (Ultravox)

Profumo (Gianna Nannini)

1987

The Prophecies of Nostradamus (Bollock Brothers)

Rome Remains Rome (Holger Czukay)

Savage (Eurythmics)

Mein Schatz (Heiner Pudelko) = his final production; finished by Annette Humpe

Posthumous

Laugh? I Nearly Bought One! (Killing Joke, 1992)

Box II (Brian Eno, 1993)

If I Was: The Very Best of Midge Ure & Ultravox (Midge Ure and Ultravox, 1993)

Rare, Vol. I (Ultravox, 1993)

Rare, Vol. II (Ultravox, 1994)

En Route (Moebius & Plank, recorded 1986, released 1995)

Space Ship (The Best Of, Part 1) (Guru Guru, 1996)

The Best of Ax Genrich (Ax Genrich, 1997)

Greatest Hits (The Tourists, 1997)

Guru Guru & Uli Trepte (Guru Guru and Uli Trepte, 1997)

The Michael Schenker Story Live (Michael Schenker, 1997)

Chronicles, Vol. 1 (Michael Rother, 1998)

Ludwig’s Law (Moebius, Plank, Thompson, recorded 1983, released 1998)

Music For Two Brothers (Rolf & Joachim Kuhn, 1998)

Best (Scorpions, 1999)

The Very Best of Guru Guru (Guru Guru, 1999)

La Luna (Holger Czukay 2000, expanded 2007)

Into The Arena 1972–1995 [Highlights and Overtures] (Michael Schenker, 2000)

Pioneers Who Got Scalped (Devo, 2000)

More Nipples (Peter Brötzmann Group, 2003)

Dieter Moebius Discography (65-Album Map)

As Cluster

Studio albums

1971 Cluster

1972 Cluster II

1974 Zuckerzeit

1976 Sowiesoso

1977 Cluster & Eno (with Brian Eno)

1978 After the Heat (by Eno, Moebius and Roedelius)

1979 Grosses Wasser

1981 Curiosum

1991 Apropos Cluster (by Moebius and Roedelius)

1995 One Hour

2009 Qua

Live albums

1980 Live in Vienna – Recorded with Joshi Farnbauer

1997 Japan 1996 Live

1997 First Encounter Tour 1996

2008 Berlin 07

2015 USA Live

Compilation albums

1984 Begegnungen (with Brian Eno, Conny Plank)

1984 Stimmungen

1985 Begegnungen II (with Brian Eno, Conny Plank)

1985 Old Land (with Brian Eno)

2007 Box 1 (boxed set)

As Kluster

1970 Klopfzeichen (studio album)

1971 Zwei-Osterei (studio album)

1971 Eruption (live album)

2008 Vulcano: Live in Wuppertal 1971

2008 Admira

2008 Kluster 2007: CMO (studio album)

2008 Kluster: 1970-1971 (Box Set)

2009 Kluster 2008: Three Olympic Cities Mix (studio album)

2009 CMO 2009: Three Voices (germany-usa-japan) (studio album)

2011 A unique remix of the material from Kluster 2007 featured in the Compilation CD VOL K compilation by Zelphabet Records.

2011 Kluster CMO 2010 (studio album)

As Harmonia, with Michael Rother and Hans-Joachim Roedelius

1973 : Musik Von Harmonia

1975 : Deluxe

1997 : Tracks and Traces (recorded 1976 with Brian Eno)

2007 : Live 1974 (Previously unreleased works)

As Cosmic Couriers, with Mani Neumeier and Jürgen Engler

1996 : Other Places

2014 : Another Other Places

With Brian Eno and Hans-Joachim Roedelius

1977 : Cluster & Eno

1978 : After the Heat

With Liliental

1978 Liliental

Solo albums and collaborations

1980 Rastakraut Pasta (with Conny Plank)

1981 Material (with Conny Plank)

1981 Strange Music (with Gerd Beerbohm)

1982 Zero Set (with Conny Plank and Mani Neumeier)

1983 Tonspuren

1983 Double Cut (with Gerd Beerbohm)

1986 Blue Moon (Original Soundtrack)[7]

1990 Ersatz (with Karl Renziehausen)

1992 Ersatz II (with Karl Renziehausen)

1995 En Route (with Conny Plank; recorded in 1986, additional mix in 1995)

1998 Ludwig’s Law (with Conny Plank and Mayo Thompson)

1999 Blotch

2002 Live in Japan (with Mani Neumeier)

2006 Nurton

2007 Zero Set II (with Mani Neumeier)

2009 Kram

2011 Ding

2012 Moebius & Tietchens (with Asmus Tietchens)

2014 Snowghost Pieces (Moebius, Story, Leidecker)

2014 Nidemonex

Posthumous Albums

2017 Musik Für Metropolis

2017 Familiar (Moebius, Story, Leidecker)

2017 Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (Live) (12″) (Moebius, Schneider)

 

And for those interested in the aforementioned Tangerine Dream library, you can peruse the index below.

 

Tangerine Dream (178-Disc Catalog)

 

Bootmoon Series

2004 – Aachen – January 21st 1981 – 2CD

2005 – Brighton – March 25th 1986 – 2CD

Studio Albums

1970 – Electronic Meditation

1970 – Electronic Meditation/Electronic Meditation

1971 – Alpha Centauri

1972 – Ultima Thule (2008) – 2CD

1972 – Zeit

1973 – Atem

1975 – Rubycon

1976 – Stratosfear

1978 – Cyclone

1979 – Force Majeure

1981 – Exit

1982 – White Eagle

1983 – Hyperborea (2008 HQCD)

1985 – Dream Sequence – 2CD

1985 – Le Parc

1986 – Green Desert

1986 – Underwater Sunlight

1987 – Tyger

1988 – Optical Race

1989 – Destination Berlin

1989 – Lily on The Beach

1990 – Melrose

1992 – Quinoa

1992 – Quinoa (2009)

1992 – Rockoon

1993 – Dream Music (the movie music of Tangerine Dream)

1994 – Tangents 1973-1983 (BOX) – 5CD

1994 – Turn of the Tides

1995 – The Dream Mixes – 2CD

1995 – TimeSquare Dream Mixes II

1995 – Tyranny Of Beauty

1996 – Goblin’s Club

1997 – Towards The Evening Star (Orb Remix)

1998 – Ambient Monkeys

1998 – The Analogue Space Years 1969-1973 – 2CD

1999 – Atlantic Bridges

1999 – Atlantic Walls

1999 – Dream Encores

1999 – Mars Polaris

1999 – The Hollywood Years Vol 1

1999 – The Hollywood Years Vol 2

2000 – Antique Dreams

2000 – The Seven Letters From Tibet

2001 – Dream Mixes III

2002 – Journey Through a Burning Brain – 3CD

2003 – The Bootleg Box Set Vol 1 – 7CD

Set 1 – Sheffield – Oct 29th 1974 – City Hall

Set 2 – London – April 2nd 1975 – Royal Albert Hall – 2CD

Set 3 – Live at Croydon Fairfield Halls – 23rd October 1975

Set 4 – Bilbao – Jan 31st 1976 – Pabellion de la Casilla – 2CD

Set 5 – Electronic Rock at the Philharmonics – Berlin – June 27th 1976

2004 – Dream Mixes IV

2004 – Purgatorio – 2CD

2005 – East

2005 – Jeanne D’Arc

2005 – Space Flight Orange

2006 – Blue Dawn

2006 – Metaphor

2006 – Nebulous Dawn [The Early Years] – 3CD

2007 – Booster – 2CD

2007 – Canyon Cazuma (2009)

2007 – Cyberjam Collection

2007 – Madcap’s Flaming Duty

2007 – One Times One

2007 – Silver Siren Collection

2007 – Springtime In Nagasaki

2007 – Summer In Nagasaki

2007 – Tangines Scales

2008 – Autumn In Hiroshima

2008 – Booster Vol 2 – 2CD

2008 – The Anthology Decades

2008 – Views From A Red Train

2009 – A Cage in Search Of A Bird

2009 – Flame

2009 – Plays Tangerine Dream

2009 – Winter In Hiroshima

Live Albums

1982 – Pergamon (Live)

1984 – Poland (Live)

1988 – Live Miles (Live)

1993 – 220 Volt (Live)

1998 – Tournado (Live)

1998 – Valentine Wheels (Live)

1999 – Sohoman (Live)

2000 – Soundmill Navigator (Live)

2002 – Inferno (Live)

2003 – Rockface (Live) – 2CD

2004 – Live in America (Live)

2005 – Rocking Mars (Live) – 2CD

2006 – Paradiso (Live) – 2CD

2007 – Bells Of Accra (Live)

Soundtrack Albums

1977 – Sorcerer (OST)

1981 – Thief (OST)

1983 – Risky Business (OST)

1983 – Wavelength (OST)

1984 – Firestarter (OST)

1984 – Flashpoint (OST)

1985 – Heartbreakers (OST)

1985 – Legend (OST)

1987 – Near Dark (OST)

1987 – Three O’Clock High (OST)

1988 – Shy People (OST)

1989 – Miracle Mile (OST)

1990 – Dead Solid Perfect (OST)

1991 – Canyon Dreams (OST)

1991 – Rumpelstiltskin (OST)

1991 – The Park Is Mine (OST)

1994 – Catch Me If You Can (OST)

1996 – Zoning (OST)

1997 – Oasis (OST)

1997 – The Keep (OST)

1999 – Great Wall of China (OST)

1999 – Transsiberia (OST)

1999 – What A Blast (OST)

2003 – Mota Atma (OST)

Solo Artists

Christopher Franke

1991 – Pacific Coast Highway

1992 – The London Concert

1992 – Universal Soldier

1993 – New Music for Films – Vol 1

1994 – Enchanting Nature

1995 – Klemania

1996 – Perry Rhodan – Pax Terra

1996 – The Celestine Prophecy

1999 – Epic

Peter Baumann

1979 – Trans Harmonic Nights

Johannes Schmoelling

1986 – Wuivend Riet

1988 – The Zoo of Tranquillity

2009 – A Thousand Times

Edgar Froese

1974 – Aqua

1975 – Epsilon In Malaysian Pale

1979 – Stuntman

1983 – Pinnacles

1995 – Beyond The Storm – 2CD

2003 – Ambient Highway Vol 1-4

2003 – Introduction To The Ambient Highway

2004 – Dalinetopia

Singles

2007 – One Night In Space (CD-Single)

2007 – Sleeping Watches Snoring In Silence (CD-Single)

2008 – Choice (CD-Single)

2008 – Das Romantische Opfer (CD-Single)

2008 – Fallen Angels (CD-Single)

2008 – Purple Diluvial (CD-Single)

Remasters

1974 – Phaedra (1995 SBM Remaster)

1975 – Ricochet (1995 SBM Remaster)

1977 – Encore (Live)(1995 SBM Remaster)

1979 – Force Majeure (1995 SBM Remaster)

1981 – Thief (1995 SBM Remaster)

1982 – Logos (1995 SBM Remaster)

1982 – White Eagle (1995 SBM Remaster)

1983 – Hyperborea (1995 SBM Remaster)

2000 – Axiat (2009 Remaster)

2007 – Hollywood Lightning (2009 Remaster)

2007 – Mars Mission Counter (2009 Remaster)

Fall 2015 Megapost: The Playlist Project

This summer brought many changes to The Innerspace Library.  First we started fresh with a Linux OS and finally said “farewell” to Windows.  There was a brief period of limbo as I tested various open source media management software to find the right fit for my collection.  I finally settled down with gmusicbrowser which outperformed Clementine and other major players in its handling of large libraries and in the incredible versatility and customization of its GUI.

This was the very first time since the launch of Winamp 5 (the amusing successor to  Winamp 3) that I’d explored the power of music metadata to organize my library dynamically across multiple data points.  (I’d never really saw the need during my years with MediaMonkey Gold.)

But as the summer drew to a close, I was still irked  that my Subsonic media server lacked the function of genre browsing.  I’d previously sidestepped this issue by generating mammoth genre playlists to serve as my personally-themed radio stations, each with hundreds or even thousands of the finest albums of their respective genre.

But it was this fresh start in the last few weeks that inspired my refinement of those playlists into distinct album libraries which would zero in on a specific moment of music history.  The aim was to bring a semblance of order to the hundred thousand plus tracks in my file library and to give me a set of starting points to really explore the neglected and unplayed folders of my drive.

I’m proud to declare that this evening, the project was a complete success.  I’ve created 100 all-killer-no-filler libraries showcasing each of the largest collections in my catalog.  I found that 68% (9,300 albums) of my music library fell neatly into one of these 100 categories.

The following is an index of these 100 playlists, sorted by number of albums.  This roster effectively summarizes and gives order to what is otherwise an insurmountable archive.  I’m going to enjoy exploring these playlists throughout the fall and into the winter months.

Playlists by Descending Size (in # of Albums)

Playlists with 1000+ Albums
Midnight on Mars: Ambient Worlds – 2,986 Ambient Albums
Hearts of Space: Innerspace Journey – 30 Year Complete 1,069 Broadcast Archive

Playlists with 200-999 Albums
Kelly Watch the Stars – 607 Classic Albums of the Downtempo Genre
Mentalism: Psybient Dreams – 545-Disc Archive of Psybient Electronic Music
Echowaves: Intergalactic Radio – 450 Legendary Krautrock Albums
The Shape of Jazz to Come – 387 Modern Jazz LPs (1959-1979)
Just Gimme Indie Rock!: 379 of the Greatest Indie Rock Albums (1988-2014)
Underworld: Dark & Long – A 35 Year Chronology – 339 Albums from Screen Gemz to Eno & Hyde
Old Time Radio: Dragnet (298 Broadcasts)
Salute to Birdland – 259 Classic Jazz Records (1924-1958)
FAX +49-69450464 Label Archive: The Legacy of Pete Namlook 254 Disc Catalog
We Came to Funk Ya – A 227 Album Funk Odyssey
Ninja Tune: Turn Me Loose – 204 LP Archive of Ninja Tune Records

Playlists with 100-199 Albums
Days of the Lords: 195 Album Archive of Ethereal & New Wave, Gothic Rock, Minimal Wave, Post-Punk, Jangle & Noise Pop (1976-1997)
The KLF: Abandon All Art Now – 189-disc Catalog of the Justified Ancients of MuMu
Shirt Tail Stomp: Swing & The Big Bands – 181 LP and Broadcast Archive
Tangerine Dream: Journey Through a Burning Brain – 178-Disc Chronology of TD & its Side Projects
Old Time Radio: The Adventures of Superman (171 Broadcasts)
Night Lines – 140 Album Archive of Deep House Sessions
Light Patterns – Jazz of Tomorrow – 139 Future Jazz Albums
Heaven or Las Vegas: 30 Years of Dream Pop & Ethereal Wave (134 Album Archive)
Max & Dima: Sapovnela Studio Sessions – 131 Deep House DJ Sets
Nurse with Wound: Walking Like Shadow – 127 Album Discography
Old Time Radio: X Minus One – 122 Broadcasts (1955-1973)
Deutsche Grammophon: 111 Years of DG (111-Disc Box Set)
Lemon Jelly : Going Places – 110-Disc Catalog of All Things Jelly
Miles Davis: The Complete Prestige & Columbia Recordings – 109 LPs released between 1955-2014
Daft Punk: Daftendirekt – 104-LP Chronology
Flea Market Funk – 100-Disc Archive of Funky Soul & Rare Groove
Frank Zappa: Shut Up ‘n Play Yer Guitar – 100-disc Catalog (1966-2006)
RYM’s Top 100 Downtempo & Trip Hop Albums

Playlists with 75-99 Albums
Franz Liszt: Lisztomania! – 97 LP Archive
Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser – 97 LP Discography
Good Looking Records: 94-Disc Archive of LTJ Bukem’s Intelligent D’n’B Label
Franklin Mint: The 100 Greatest Classical Recordings – 88 LP Catalog
Somnium – 87-Album Library of Pure Drone Music
Aphex Twin: We are the Music Makers – 86 Album Chronology of Richard D James
The Electronic Brain: Future Sounds of London & Amorphous Androgynous 86-Disc Complete Chronology
Mike Oldfield: Tricks of the Light – 86 LP Discography (1973-2010)
Jimmy Smith: Jazz Scattin’ – 85 LP Discography
Cinematic Soundscapes – 83-Disc Library of Music for Films
Old Time Radio: CBS Radio Mystery Theater – The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (83-Disc Box Set)
Klaus Schulze: I Sing the Body Electric – 81 LP Discography
Ludwig Van Beethoven: The Bicentennial Collection – 80 LP Complete Works
Old Time Radio: BBC Radio – The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (79-Disc Set)
Vangelis: Poem Symphonique – 77 Album Discographic Archive
Old Time Radio: The Shadow – 75 Original Broadcasts (1937-1954)

Playlists with 50-74 Albums
Sun Ra: Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy – 74-Disc Catalog (1957-1994)
John Cage: A Chance Operation – 73 LP Discography
2manyDJS – This is Radio Soulwax: 72 Mashup Sessions
Brian Eno: Strange Overtones – 70 LP Discography (1972-2015)
Peter Gabriel: Here Comes the Flood – 68-Disc Catalog (1977-2010)
Ornette Coleman: Change of the Century – 66 LP Discography
Prayer for the Paranoid: 66 Albums from a Decade of Shoegaze (1993-2003)
Muslimgauze: The Broken Radio of Istanbul Station – 63 Album Discography
The Piano Has Been Drinking: The Complete Recordings of Tom Waits – 63 LPs (1973-2011)
Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers: Just Coolin’ – 62 Album Discography
Karlheinz Stockhausen: Kontakte – 61 LP Archive
Old Time Radio: The Complete Sherlock Holmes Audiobooks (Unabridged 60-Disc Set)
Philip Glass: Glasspieces – 60 LP Discography of Operas, Symphonies, Sonatas and Scores
Cornelius: Out of Phase – 60 Album Discography
Spacemind: Wonderland Syndrome – 60 Psybient DJ sets
Cafe del Mar: Step into the Sunshine – 59-Disc Archive of the Sounds of Ibiza
Throbbing Gristle: 555 Jazz Funk Greats – 56 Album Discography
DJ Food – Solid Steel – 55 LPs of Classic Jazz Breaks
Herbie Hancock: One FInger Snap – 52 Album Discography
Ash Ra Tempel & Manuel Gottsching: Deep Distance – A 40 Year, 50 LP Chronology
Houdini’s Musical Box: Early Experimental Electronic Music (1940-1976) – 50 LP Archive
Porcupine Tree: Synesthesia – 50 Album Discography (1983-2013)

Playlists with 10-24 Albums
From Murmur to Monster: 21 Key Albums of the Jangle Pop Era (1983-1994)
Old Time Radio: Orson Welles Mercury Theater 1938 (20 Program Broadcasts)
Philips Prospective 21e siecle Label 18-LP Archive (1956-1972)
RYM: Round Midnight – 18 of the Highest-Rated Cool Jazz Records
Deutsche Grammophon Avant Garde: 17-LP Complete Recordings (1967-1971)
Braindance: A 15-LP IDM Chronology of Warp Records
The Plastikman Arkives: 1993-2010 (14-Disc Box Set)
Jellyroll Radio – Ragtime, Dixieland & Bluegrass Standards (13-Disc Catalog)
Claude Debussy – 12-Disc Complete Piano and Orchestral Works
Kompakt Records: Cirrus Minor – 12 Years of Ambient Music (2001-2013)

The Last.fm Project

My server is down for maintenance for the next 16 hours.  It was a perfect opportunity to begin my next long term music project.

When Innerspace Labs first switched to the cloud, I used the web-based RacksandTags service through my OrangeCD DB to create an index of all track information from my library.  Collections on the service can be searched by artist, album, or track, but lacks support for 2nd level organization like genre clustering, playlists, and other more valuable data points.

RacksandTags Interface

I later switched to Discogs.com.  Discogs offers real time market value assessment of your collection, but only supports physical media.  I was also disappointed to find that user-generated category foldersare not presently shareable with other users.  
Discogs Interface As I prepared for the downtime last night, I realized that I hadn’t given Last.fm a shot since I wiped my account clean in 2014.  That year I scrobbled 30,000 tracks, but was frustrated that there was no way to submit all my library’s data without playing every track in real time.

My goal was to explore the service’s recommendation engine, and my library data would likely produce some valuable results.

So last night, I went to work.  I quickly realized that the best approach would be to queue all 100,000+ tracks and to scrobble them in order of ascending track duration.  I organized the songs into four pools of nearly equal size.  Below is a map of my library based upon these four classes – less than five minutes, less than ten minutes, less than thirty minutes, and up to 24 hours.

Tracks by Duration

As the largest batch was that of the shortest tracks, there would be the greatest (and fastest) return from scrobbling these first.

I charted the play duration of each of these groupings to see what sort of timetable I’d be looking at for project completion.

Project Duration

Graphing the duration of each grouping clearly demonstrates that this was in fact the best course of action.

Projected Sync Progress

I began scrobbling immediately for the first time in a year.  Once the project is complete I’ll share some of the resulting recommendation data Last.fm provides.  I’m looking forward to it!

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!

The Innerspace Cloud Project a SUCCESS!

Wonderful news dear readers!  We’ve reached a new milestone at Innerspace.   We’ve come so far!

Our Humble Beginnings…

Back in the summer of 2011, I decided that I could do more than I was accomplishing with my text-based Audio Library Excel spreadsheet.  I spent the summer researching and testing all major music cataloging softwares.  By that August, I’d built my first OrangeCD database which was leaps and bounds ahead of the spreadsheet.

The catalog continued and grew for a few years and in May of 2014 we took the next step and moved from a static local DB to the cloud.  Discogs.com became the new home of Innerspace, but was limited to our vinyl-format collections.

I still wanted to do more.  There are many complete discographic archives in our library which I’d love users to be able to access.  Current copyright law unfortunately does not support such a model so, for now, my media server remains strictly for my personal access.

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But last night we succeeded in unifying our digital collections with our vinyl catalog.  Now our entire library is viewable, searchable, and sortable by any user-specified criteria – all in one place, and free on the web where anyone can browse it.

Better still, there is a shared reference table of our top label and artist archives consisting of 50-375 albums per collection.  These collections comprise 37% of the albums in our library, so it’s an excellent summary point-of-reference.

The searchable catalog can also be mapped visually, with larger point sizes for artists with the largest collections.

Check out our new About page – the new launch screen for our complete library!

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Moving to the Cloud

The time has come my friends.  On Jan 13th, 2011 I replaced my text-based Excel record  database with an OrangeCD visual db.  After 3.5 years of extracting data from web-based services, publishing quarterly reports and backing up to an external disk every month, I’ve finally smartened-up and made the move to the cloud.

When I first made the transition from text to a visual db, I thoroughly tested and evaluated each of the prominent softwares of the time.  True to form, I went through the same process with the three biggest online systems this week before setting my catalog free.

FIRST UP – RateYourMusic.com.

Your RYM profile consists of an avatar, a brief profile description, and your top 5-10 favorite composers/artists.  Supported formats are limited to CD, LP, and cassette.  The service does not appear to support official releases of electronic files.

RYM - Collection

RYM – Collection View

RYM permits users to add pressings missing from the db, with a simple preset interface for labels, artists, etc.  The site has a strict upload policy stating that album art images must be from your personal copies, (understandable for reasons of copyright but a frustrating complication just the same.)  Artist pages are accompanied by a profile and a sidebar of related user-generated lists.

RYM - List Browse

RYM – List Browse

RYM - Chart Browse

RYM – Chart Browse

The real power of the site is not collection management, but user-constructed lists and user-sourced album rankings for any search term, artist or genre you enter.  And surprisingly, RYM is not just for music.  The list tools have categories for books, films, games, and more.

User lists are a breeze and are fun to build.  To try this feature out I created a list of films inspired by the writings of Philip K Dick.

https://rateyourmusic.com/list/innerspaceboy/philip_k_dick_inspired_filmography/

At present, RYM includes just under 1 million artists and 2.8 million releases.  Building an RYM collection of my top 300 LPs took 3 evenings (roughly 100 titles per night) plus a handful of manual submissions for rare albums not already in the RYM database.

THE NEXT CONTENDER – MyRecordList.com

MyRecordList recently premiered on the scene boasting that it could provide analytics that discogs.com could not.  I was intrigued so I gave it a try.

After signing up on the site I clicked the link to import a CSV.  I tried exporting raw text from rateyourmusic.com and with a little tweaking (artist columns needed to be merged from FIRSTNAME LASTNAME to a single column), and some quick column re-assignment I successfully constructed  an importable CSV.  The resulting set only contained artist, title, format and year values, so I clicked the big red “DELETE ALL” button and started again – this time from MyRecordList’s preferred import method – Discogs.com.

MyRecordList Collection

MyRecordList Collection

While Discogs lacks support for importing CSVs, its export feature is solid.  MyRecordList wisely incorporated a direct “Import from Discogs” feature so the upload was seamless.  However the result was a clunkily-constructed and sluggish visual interface with a few display variables and absolutely no support for album cover syncing. There is an “automated” lookup tool to find album art, but the process is manual and handles only one album at a time, each prompting the user for input.

But on to the analytics that the site so boldly advertised.  Clicking the large “Your Stats” button I was presented with an over-simplified summary of my test-library, again consisting of my top 300 LPs.

MyRecordList Stats

MyRecordList Stats

None of the tables could be viewed as charts or graphs, and the only infographic the site offered was a pie chart of my library’s formats.

This was thoroughly disappointing, though hardly unexpected.  Any of these metrics are easily determinable from within the discogs.com site, simply by exporting a CSV into Excel or a similar application.

Discogs offers far more information, sorting functions, a community forum, up-to-the-minute sales history, archival organizational standards, and has already established itself as the premier marketplace for used and new vinyl, so there is little reason to look to another site for more, (excepting, of course, contacting labels directly for upcoming releases.)

Simply put, myrecordlist.com is clunky, slow and offers nothing that can’t be achived quicker and more easily on already-established mainstays like discogs.  And I quickly grew tired of seeing their loading screen every time I navigated to another page or view.

MyRecordList Constant Loading Screen

You’ll be seeing a lot of this.

But there was a clear upside to the experiment – rebuilding my database on discogs.com – something I’d been meaning to do for several years.  And building the test library of 300 LPs was easier on Discogs than on the two previous sites.  I completed the task in just 3 hours (three times faster than with the RYM interface.)

 The clear winner – Discogs.com

Discogs contains data for 3.3 million artists – more than three times that of RYM, and has approximately 5 million releases. And unlike the other two sites, Discogs supports 23 languages for worldwide accessibility.

Discogs - Collection - Text w Statistics

Discogs – Collection – Text View w Statistics

For those still clinging to their locally-hosted databases – consider the following advantages of Discogs:

– Eliminates the hassle of local backups to external drives and the paranoia of data loss.

– Offers the same album information you would otherwise have retrieved online for your locally-stored catalog

– Exports easily to a CSV should you require it

– Share your collection with users on the largest and most popular music cataloging site on the web

– Features an active discussion forum

– Discussion groups based on any topic you can imagine (or start your own.)

– High regulatory standards of organization

Discogs - Groups

Discogs – Groups

And lastly, Discogs supports more audio formats that you can dream of.  Sure, they have over 3 million standard 33 1/3 LPs, 1.6 million CDs, and about a million 7” singles, but they also have shellac, flexi-disc, acetate, FLAC, floppy disk, memory stick, Betamax, Edison disc, Ambisonic, Selectavision and one – (count ‘em… ONE) entry for a Bulgarian limited edition 2-track stereo 30 ips RMG Studio Master reel-to-reel.

After 3.5 years of creating extra work for myself, I’ve now embraced the future of music database management.