Qluster – Tasten

Labels such as 'neo-classical' don’t always assist. It doesn’t do justice to the stark, abstract, and at times ambient beauty a work such as Tasten (German for 'feel,' 'to grope for') exudes. Nine instrumental pieces played on three Steinway grand pianos, with Krautrock veteran Hans-Joachim Roedelius a professorial, slightly unhinged presence, the swirls of melody and motif here coalesce across a number of configurations, the spaces between each piece blurred, pleasantly ill-defined.

That said, the way that tracks such as Brandung ('Surf') and Karussell (which you can probably translate for yourselves) dash themselves against the rocks as dénouement highlights the lack of immediacy or deviation in timbre behind the disc as a whole. Working with Onnen Bock and Armin Metz, this suburb of the Cluster/Kluster/Qluster universe is a reflective, meditative one, which at times can leave the listener craving the occasional curveball. File under 'subtle beauty,' then.