Krautrock completism is not for the faint of heart. Consider Cluster’s Hans-Joachim Roedelius, for example, with upward of 50 full-length releases to his credit, alone or in collaboration—often, with the recently passed Dieter Moebius (whose own solo catalog numbers roughly an additional dozen).
This five-LP vinyl-only boxed set, though, stands poised to shore up a key corner in your kollektion, handily compiling the output (and then some) of the mid-’70s supergroup comprising that aforementioned duo, plus Neu!’s Michael Rother (and, briefly, superfan Brian Eno). It’d actually make a decent introductory overview for newcomers to the genre, surveying a considerable range—from spiraling motorik epics to dreamy synth-ambience; crunchy rhythm-driven workouts to gently wheezy baroque baubles; the relative concision of most of the album tracks to the sprawling excursions of Live 1974.
For more established heads, the previously unaired rarities collected here as Documents 1975—two pleasantly ping-pongy studio outtakes and two highly exploratory live cuts—make for eminently serviceable collector bait.
—K. Ross Hoffman
