Moebius & Plank

Dieter Moebius, one half of renowned German duo Cluster, relaxing in light-hearted and more rhythmic studio adventures with the legendary producer Conny Plank. 1980-1986 Moebius & Plank Recordings Rastakraut Pasta was released in 1980 on the Hamburg-based Sky Records label. It featured offbeat and experimental electronic music, at times influenced by reggae as the album title suggests. All instruments and vocals are credited to Moebius & Plank except for bass on three tracks which was played by Can alumnus Holger Czukay.

1980-1986 Moebius & Plank Recordings

Rastakraut Pasta was released in 1980 on the Hamburg-based Sky Records label. It featured offbeat and experimental electronic music, at times influenced by reggae as the album title suggests. All instruments and vocals are credited to Moebius & Plank except for bass on three tracks which was played by Can alumnus Holger Czukay. The second album, Material, was released by Sky in 1981 and featured driving electronic rhythms on most of the tracks. Steven and Alan Freeman, writing in The Crack In The Cosmic Egg describe the first two albums, in part, this way: "Their early albums as a duo were revelations of innovation, bringing unlikely combinations of industrial rock, cosmic and even dub music (on Rastakraut Pasta) together in a hybrid of genres. A reborn spirit of Krautrock that played recklessly with offbeat forms..." The incessant, forceful beat on "Conditionierer", the opening track of Material, could easily have been suitable for club dance music if not for all the odd electronic sounds added on top.

In September, 1982, Moebius & Plank went back into the studio, this time joined by Guru Guru drummer Mani Neumeier. Plank had played guitar and keyboards on three Guru Guru albums and Neumeier had previously worked with Moebius on the Harmonia album Deluxe. The resulting album Zero Set was released on Sky in 1983 and was strongly influenced by African rhythms. Matthew Weiner describes it for Soulmind Online: "Though not a dance record per se, Zero Set is one of the earliest extensions of Krautrock's possibilities on the dance floor, pitting the profoundly electronic sequence patterns of Plank and Moebius against the hyperactive percussives of Guru Guru drummer Mani Neumeier. On tracks such as the prophetically titled 'Speed Display' and 'Pitch Control', the phasing, chattering and decidedly Germanic grooves found on Zero Set constitute vibrant proto-techno at its earliest and finest." Zero Set was a turning point for Moebius and Plank, a fact lamented by Steven and Alan Freeman. They say, in part: "...working with Mani Neumeier on Zero Set strangely took the music too close to techno for comfort, as does the more recently issued En Route.

Moebius & Plank would return to the studio twice more in the mid 1980s but their efforts would not be released until well after Conny Plank succumbed to cancer in 1987. In 1983 Moebius & Plank recorded a series of electronic tracks using an Emulator, an early form of sampling keyboard that enabled them to duplicate other instruments without having to deal with the musicians who played them. Mayo Thompson of Red Krayola recorded a series of monologues and vocal tracks which were added to the music Moebius & Plank had recorded. Sky Records rejected the master and Ludwig's Law was regulated to the vault. It was finally released on November 16, 1998 on the Drag City label.

Despite the rejection of Ludwig's Law by Sky, Moebius & Plank did decide to tour and perform the music, albeit without Mayo Thompson. Conny Plank fell ill while touring in South America. He died in 1987.