Live 1974 cover

Live 1974

Recorded
Released

There are no screaming audiences for live albums with this cohort. It is not even immediately clear that this is live (though there is some coughing). Early drum machines had no better friend than Harmonia, who made it part of their credo to let those machines rip, and work with the primitive sequencers and arpeggiators available to them. For “Arabesque,” though, Rother and Moebius get their guitars ripping and we get something very much like what Robert Fripp will bring out soon as Frippertronics. “Holta-Polta” sounds a lot like Cabaret Voltaire. There’s only solid gold in this hour of live Harmonia.

Sasha Frere-Jones

Suggestions
Azabu cover

Azabu

Michael Ranta
Revelation cover

Revelation

Jean Carn, Doug Carn
Cruel Optimism cover

Cruel Optimism

Lawrence English
Wonderland cover

Wonderland

Demdike Stare
Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! cover

Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!

Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Join Inn cover

Join Inn

Ash Ra Tempel
Zero Set cover

Zero Set

Mani Neumeier, Dieter Moebius, Conny Plank
Belladonna cover

Belladonna

Mary Halvorson
Cluster & Eno cover

Cluster & Eno

Cluster, Brian Eno
Noyaux cover

Noyaux

Benoît Pioulard
New York 1982 cover

New York 1982

Charlie Morrow, Derek Bailey