Bureau B to Reissue Two Classic Albums from Cluster, Which Helped Shape German Experimental Electronic Music Scene

Zuckerzeit and Sowiesoso see Cluster exploring innovative, minimalist forms while building on their creative freedom

April 23, 2026

Hamburg, Germany, April 23, 2026 — Bureau B announces two forthcoming re-issues by the classic German ensemble Cluster. On June 12, the label will issue the band's first recording Zuckerzeit as special Anniversary Edition on 180g vinyl, hand numbered and limited to 1,000 copies. Meanwhile, the band's second album, Sowiesoso, will also see a vinyl-only Anniversary reissue in parallel. The albums were originally released in 1974 and 1976 respectively.

Zuckerzeit: creating music in a calm, rural village away from the metropolis
In 1974, when Zuckerzeit was originally released, Cluster had moved from Berlin to the country to a small place called Forst on the river Weser. In contrast to metro Berlin, Forst was a calm rural village and the band set up their own studio and bought new equipment. As a result of this move and many other things, the release of Zuckerzeit was effectively a revolution for Cluster.

Strictly speaking, Zuckerzeit is two mini solo albums by Moebius and Roedelius. Those who were familiar with the stylistic peculiarities of the two musicians who made up Cluster could easily relate the solo pieces to either one of them, since there were clearly two different musical attitudes to be found on the album. One thing they had in common was the consistent use of the analogue rhythm machine. This was something new for Cluster since the album was designed in a rhythmical way: a rhythm machine, triggered synths and harmonic patterns played by hand inspired life and imagination on the melody lines. Roedelius and Moebius took on the work in a remarkably light-hearted and down-to-earth manner, and Zuckerzeit is a light and cheerful piece free from the Germanic gravity and the mystic incense fumes that were fashionable at the time.

By 1974, Cluster's recording equipment consisting of a multi-track recording machine, a mixer and peripherals. This gave them the possibility to develop and conceive Zuckerzeit material without precipitating things or having to depend on other people. Everrything was done on their own except for the finishing, which took place in Conny Plank's studio, who was the sonic magician of their early days. Many years were to go by until Cluster would ever set foot in a studio other than their own again.

For Zuckerzeit, Cluster worked in a a calm and collected way, concentrating on their musical ideas rather than losing themselves in long-windedness. They took their time and could rely on the ideas of their co-producer Michael Rother who was already very experienced in his own right. This gave way to the creation of electronic miniatures that sounded as extraordinary in the 1970s as they do today. Even fifty years after its initial release, Zuckerzeit still features as a reverberating chapter in the latest edition of the imaginary handbook “The Golden Rules of Electronic Music”.

Sowiesoso: a minimalist masterpiece created with modest equipment
Sowiesoso, originally released in 1976, sees Cluster at their purest form in a relaxed, minimalist electronic/acoustic context. The album was recorded entirely at their home studio in Forst. Michael Rother’s influence was clearly audible on Sowiesoso. By 1976, the duo had been looking for new musical forms. More than any other Cluster album, Sowiesoso represents the utopian vision of Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius - its mellow transparency evoking the landscape of the Weser Uplands where the two musicians lived at the time. This is not the work of fanatic dreamers who have fled the metropolis, but the reward for their tenacious search for a new musical language.

The LP’s seven cuts were recorded using modest equipment: a four-track tape machine, two Revox A77 stereo tape decks and a simple 8-channel mixer. Using this equipment in their own space, Cluster were thus completely independent, able to work where and when they wanted and at their own pace. Having no guest musicians, sound engineers or producers to accommodate, they thrived on their newly found autonomous freedom. Sowiesoso captures Cluster at the peak of their creative development, with the limitations of their recording equipment enhancing the clarity of their vision. Minimalist, yet neither formulaic nor automated, the album is a rhythmic tapestry of visionary electronic and acoustic elements.

For more information on this and other Bureau B releases, please visit https://www.bureau-b.com/releases.

About Bureau B
Bureau B is platform for exciting varieties of electronic, free-spirited music. The spectrum ranges from pop to avant-garde, and the label has amassed an impressive catalogue of reissues and new productions in recent years, including classics from the genre of electronic music in the 1970s and early 1980s popularly classified as Krautrock (Cluster, Roedelius, Moebius, Plank, Schnitzler), alongside new recordings by such formative artists as Faust, Kreidler, Roedelius, Tietchens, Moebius, to name just a few. Bureau B is based in Hamburg, Germany.