ZWEI OSTEREI

'Zwei Osterei' or 'Two Easter egg' is very similar to 'Klopfzeichen for the simple reason that it was recorded on the same day.

I recently discovered the rather disturbing fact that in 1968 Kluster journeyed to Corsica where they set up a nudist camp in the mountains! At night they played music until dawn, with Roedelius stating that he found real spiritual music during a full moon. Hmmm... Three naked men battering oil drums in the middle of the night doesn't appeal to me at all. In fact it sounds downright gross. Germans seem very keen on removing their clothes. I've seen enough of that on beaches abroad whilst on holiday, thank you very much.

In 1969 the church, of all establishments, decided to finance these first albums by Kluster, on the condition that religious texts be added on one side. Thankfully my German isn't too good and I'm led to believe that the translation into English sounds incredibly corny.

Record label 'Schwann's tag line was "The workshop of new church music". Well, if I heard music like this in a church I'd be down there every Sunday morning paying my respect to God. This is damn creepy stuff... Their playing technique resembles that of Stockhausen. There are no beats. It's floating, unearthly and atonal with lots of sound generators and electronic filters used throughout. Fans of 'Zoviet France' and early 'Throbbing Gristle' will love this.

Turned up loud, 'Zwei Osterei' is superb for terrifying the neighbours in the middle of the night resembling sounds from the Pittsburgh steelworks replete with sparks flying everywhere.