One of the nice things about having a record label is that once in a while you get to do something that amounts to a public service. In the case of Grönland Records, that means releasing the Complete Works of Harmonia in vinyl box set form. Harmonia was, of course, the ’70s German electronic supergroup that included members of Cluster and Neu!, and at one point, Brian Eno. Their pioneering sound prefigured everything from ambient music to synth pop and techno. As you may recall, Cluster/Harmonia core member Dieter Moebius passed away a couple of days ago. It turns out that even during his recent illness he was at work on preparing the box set.
A statement from the label says, in part, “On Monday, July 20th, we received the tragic news that Dieter Moebius had passed away. We at Grönland have had the pleasure to have worked very closely with Dieter in recent years and we will miss him dearly. We knew about his illness and despite this, he continued working closely on the box set with us. He and Grönland always wanted the box to be a statement of this incredible music and of life itself.”
Besides the two studio albums, outtakes collection, and live album that have already seen the light of day, the set will include an album of previously unreleased material, as well as a 36-page booklet, poster, download code and more. It’s due out October 21, 2015, but you can pre-order it now.