German electronic-music producer Dieter Moebius, who played on many crucial, innovative records, but was largely unknown by the general public, died July 20 at age 71. He is best known for his contributions in Cluster (with Hans-Joachim Rodelius), Harmonia (with Roedelius and Michael Rother), and for his and Roedelius's collaborations with Brian Eno, but Moebius linked up with many more musicians and always found new methods to exploit his genius. Moebius was a master of both infernally dark and strange sounds and almost ludicrously sweet melodies. His range was astounding and his aesthetics as rigorous as any German scientists'. His vast discography is a treasure trove for aspiring musicians to examine and learn from.
In this feature from 2012 in advance of Moebius's final Seattle appearance at Barboza (a show witnessed by fewer than 50 people, shamefully), I wrote:
Moebius—with Kluster/Cluster, Harmonia, solo, and in collabs with Brian Eno, Conny Plank, Mani Neumeier, and many others—has influenced some of your favorite post-rock, IDM, experimental-techno, and ambient artists. The 68-year-old keyboardist has maintained absurdly high quality levels for more than 40 years. Even his new full-length with Asmus Tietchens, Moebius + Tietchens, is essential. It raids the two mavericks' storehouse of bizarre moods and mesmerizing rhythms with vitality and inventiveness.
Moebius was born in Switzerland and then studied art in Brussels and Berlin, but it seems as if he descended upon us from Jupiter or some other alien outpost, intent on obliterating our cozy notions of what constitutes music with otherworldly and underworldly sounds.
Somehow I neglected to mention Moebius's participation in Liliental, whose only excellent album you can hear in its entirety here. Anyway, in that piece, I discuss what I think are the highest highlights of Moebius's long, eventful career. He really did a lot of amazing work almost right up to the end of his life—over 40 years of uncompromising, ingenious music that in its own way has been as influential as Kraftwerk's. He will be missed.
