Krautrock protagonist Dieter Moebius gets posthumous album released via Curious Music: ‘Aspirin’
Dieter Moebius (16 January 1944 – 20 July 2015) was a pivotal figure in Germany’s avant-garde electronic music scene. He gained prominence as a member of the seminal krautrock bands Kluster/Cluster (alongside Hans-Joachim Roedelius) and Harmonia (with Roedelius and Michael Rother from NEU!). Throughout his career, he collaborated with notable artists like Brian Eno, Conny Plank, and Mani Neumeier of Guru Guru. On October 6th, Curious Music is set to debut his posthumous album “Aspirin”, which was finalized in 2005 but is being released for the first time.
Tim Story, a close friend and fellow composer, recounts the origins of “Aspirin”: “In December 2005, Dieter Moebius visited the US to perform with Guru Guru’s drummer, Mani Neumeier, at the Detroit Institute of Arts. After the performance, he extended his stay to spend time with my family and me in Ohio. These were memorable days filled with friend visits, laughter, and delightful meals. On our last evening, over some Scotch, Moebius introduced me to new tracks he’d been crafting. I was instantly captivated and got his permission to copy them.”
Story continues, “Moebius had just wrapped up his ‘Nurton’ album earlier in 2005. Like ‘Nurton’, these tracks were produced in his Berlin and Mallorca home studios. Some might have been ‘Nurton’ out-takes, but I feel most were created post-‘Nurton’. Regardless of when they were made, Moebius chose to set these aside to focus on his next solo venture, ‘Kram’ (2009).”
Years later, during a trip to Berlin, Story played a CDr of these tracks for Moebius, who was thrilled to revisit them. Story believes, “Even though we never discussed this music again, I sense Moebius would be delighted to know that this previously overlooked chapter from an enjoyable, productive phase of his life is finally seeing the light of day.”
Following “Moebius Strips”, which Curious Music released in 2021, “Aspirin” is the next project. Tim Story closely collaborated with Moebius’s widow, Irene, and the audio installation featured contributions from various artists, including Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo, Michael Rother from Harmonia and NEU!, and many others.
Notably, the album cover for “Aspirin” was designed by Mark Mothersbaugh, known as DEVO’s lead vocalist.
Support Side-Line
More people read Side-Line than ever, and there is still no paywall and no advertising. Readers pay for it instead - from $5 a month.
Why we ask
Advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations we have not put up a paywall, and we refuse to add annoying advertising, so we need to ask for your help. Side-Line’s independent journalism takes time, money and hard work to produce, and we do it to push the artists we like, who are equally fighting to survive.
Handled by PayPal.
Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!
