Eruption (German band)
| Company type | Supergroup |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1970 |
| Founder | Conrad Schnitzler |
| Defunct | 1972 |
| Headquarters | Berlin , West Germany |
| Products | Music albums |
Eruption was a brief-lived German krautrock and experimental music supergroup initiated by Conrad Schnitzler, a former member of Tangerine Dream and then active with Kluster.
History
The ensemble Eruption consisted of a fluid roster of artists whom Schnitzler encountered at the Zodiak Free Arts Lab during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Its lineup included Klaus Schulze, Manuel Göttsching, and Hartmut Enke—all later founding the trio Ash Ra Tempel—as well as Dieter Serfas from the jazz group Embryo, Michael Gunther and Lutz Ulbrich of Agitation Free, along with Christa Runge and members affiliated with Amon Düül. Prior to Eruption, Schnitzler and Schulze had collaborated in Tangerine Dream on their initial album, Electronic Meditation. Schnitzler characterized Eruption as a collective comprising "10 musicians; rock, freejazz, and electronic musicians—all together," creating "really interesting things."
In a 2005 article for The Wire, David Keenan depicted Eruption as a multidisciplinary freeform group assembled by Schnitzler in 1970 alongside his commitments with Tangerine Dream and Kluster. Rather than operating as a traditional touring band, they acted as an experimental think tank within the evolving Krautrock movement, featuring a rotating membership.
Studio sessions featured Schnitzler alongside Wolfgang Seidel and Klaus Freudigmann. Freudigmann was responsible for recording the final Kluster concert, which was incorrectly issued under the title Kluster und Eruption. Schnitzler clarified that Eruption did not perform on that recording, which should have been released simply as Eruption—a correction later implemented in the 1997 CD reissue by Marginal Talent. The live Kluster album titled Eruption is distinct from Eruption’s self-titled studio album.
Eruption’s importance is largely attributed to its function as a creative hub fostering influential Krautrock projects and cross-pollination among its contributors rather than its recorded output. The recordings from 1970 remained unreleased until Qbico Records issued the album Eruption in 2005. Keenan described this material as "much more punk than their kosmische associations suggest," featuring disjointed violin drones, sporadic percussion, pauses, and sound effects.
Three previously unreleased tracks from 1971 were included as bonus content in the 2007 Japanese reissues of early Kluster albums by Captain Trip Records:
- "Black Spring" appended to Klopfzeichen,
- "Cold Winter" added to Zwei-Osterei,
- "Eruption Soundcheck," a brief 1971 rehearsal recording included on the 2006 reissue of Kluster’s live album Eruption, retitled Schwarz and credited to Conrad Schnitzler.
In 2008, Qbico released Live Action 1972 - Wuppertal, representing the first available live concert recording of Eruption. Additionally, a 1972 video named Elevator by Kluster can be found on former member Wolfgang Seidel’s MySpace page. The extensive 6LP set 1969-1972, issued by Qbico under the Kluster name, consists entirely of Eruption sessions from 1970–1971. In contrast, the 8LP collection Klusterstrasse 69-72 released by Vinyl-On-Demand covers only the years 1969–1970 and features authentic Kluster recordings.
Musical style
Eruption's music was characterized by an improvisational, experimental approach, often free-form in nature, with occasional elements reminiscent of industrial sounds. Certain compositions include identifiable melodies or prominent rhythmic patterns, evoking the style found in Conrad Schnitzler's earlier contributions to Tangerine Dream's Electronic Meditation album.
Principal members
- Conrad Schnitzler (1970–1972)
- Wolfgang Seidel (1970–1972)
- Klaus Freudigmann (1970–1972)
Contributors
- Manuel Göttsching
- Klaus Schulze
- Hartmut Enke
- Lutz Ulbrich
- Michael Gunther
- Dieter Serfas
- Christa Runge
Discography
- Albums
- 2005: Eruption (studio recording featuring six untitled tracks totaling 40:52, laid down in 1970 at Studio Freudigmann (The Loft), Berlin. Issued by the Italian label Qbico Records (QBICO 32) and subsequently re-released by Important Records under the Kluster name, including additional solo live recordings by Conrad Schnitzler)
- 2008: Live Action 1972 - Wuppertal (live album later mistakenly reissued by Important Records as Kluster)
- 2009: Kluster 1969-1972 (box set compiling Eruption's 1970-1971 sessions, released by Qbico Records under the Kluster designation)
- Bonus tracks featured on limited edition CD reissues of Kluster, sourced from Eruption's 1971 sessions
- 2007: Klopfzeichen (track titled "Black Spring")
- 2007: Zwei-Osterei (track titled "Cold Winter")
External links
- Schnitzler, Conrad 1980 interview. Accessed August 31, 2007.
- Captain Trip Records [1]. Accessed August 31, 2007.
- Mutant Sounds [2]. Accessed August 31, 2007.