Sowiesoso

Sowiesoso (from German: sowieso, lit. 'anyway') is the fourth studio album by German electronic music band Cluster, released in 1976. It was Cluster's first release for Sky Records. Sowiesoso was recorded in just two days in Forst, Germany in 1976 and mixed at Conny's Studio in Wolperath.

Sowiesoso
Studio album by Cluster
Released	1976
Recorded	1976
Studio	Harmonia Studio, Forst, Germany
Genre	Electronic ambient krautrock
Length	37:18
Label	Sky
Producer	Cluster Conny Plank
Cluster chronology
Zuckerzeit (1974) Sowiesoso (1976) Cluster & Eno (1977)
Alternative cover
When Sky Records first released the album on CD in the early 1990s, this artwork from the back cover of the LP was used as the front cover. Later CD reissues have restored the original artwork.

Background

Brian Eno had worked with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius with Harmonia prior to the recording of Sowiesoso and worked with Cluster again on two albums in 1977 and 1978. The influence of the British ambient musician is clearly heard on the softer and more controlled sound of Sowiesoso.[1] Reviewer Russ Curry describes the album as "a fully realized marriage of electronic sounds with a pastoral warmth."[1] Kevin Warwick of the Chicago Reader noted that the album's focus on "ambient electronic soundscapes" represented a divergence from the "motorik grooves" explored by Cluster's krautrock contemporaries.[2]

Release

Sowiesoso was Cluster's first release for the label Sky Records. Sky would serve as Cluster's label until 1986, by which time the label had released albums recorded by the band with Brian Eno, solo recordings, and three albums by the duo of Moebius and former Cluster member and frequent engineer and producer Conny Plank.

The album was first reissued on CD by Sky Records in 1992. It has also been reissued by the American label Gyroscope in 1996, the San Francisco-based Water label in 2006 and the Japanese label Captain Trip in 2007.[3]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Classic Rock	8/10[5]
Mojo	[6]
Pitchfork	9.2/10[7]
Record Collector	[8]

Julian Cope included Sowiesoso in his "Krautrock Top 50" list.[9]

Track listing

All songs written by Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius.

Side one

1. "Sowiesoso" – 8:10 (on most CD reissues this track is shortened with a running time of 7:17)
2. "Halwa" – 2:47
3. "Dem Wanderer" – 3:47
4. "Umleitung" – 3:25

Side two

1. "Zum Wohl" – 6:50
2. "Es War Einmal" – 5:25
3. "In Ewigkeit" – 7:10

Personnel

• Dieter Moebius – keyboards, percussion, vocals
• Hans-Joachim Roedelius – keyboards, percussion, vocals

References

1. Curry, Russ (May 1996). "A Curious History of Cluster". D>Elektro. Thing.de. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
2. Warwick, Kevin (2 May 2012). "12 O'Clock Track: Cluster, 'Sowiesoso'". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
3. "クラスター／ゾヴィゾーゾー [CTCD-598]" [Cluster/Sowiesoso [CTCD-598]] (in Japanese). Captain Trip Records. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
4. Bush, John. "Sowiesoso – Cluster". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
5. Doran, John (February 2010). "Cluster: Sowiesoso / Curiosum". Classic Rock. No. 141. pp. 90–91.
6. Male, Andrew (May 2016). "Two's company". Mojo. No. 270. p. 103.
7. Beta, Andy (7 May 2016). "Cluster / Brian Eno / Dieter Moebius / Roedelius: Cluster: 1971–1981". Pitchfork. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
8. Prendergast, Mark (February 2007). "Cluster – Sowiesoso". Record Collector. No. 333. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
9. Cope, Julian. "A Krautrock Top 50". Krautrock.org.uk. Archived from the original on 6 October 2003. Retrieved 13 September 2016.

Further reading

• Freeman, Steven; Freeman, Alan (1996). "Cluster". The Crack in the Cosmic Egg. Audion Publications. ISBN 0-9529506-0-X. Archived from the original on 4 April 2004. Retrieved 4 September 2007.