Review
Klopfzeichen was recorded on December 21, 1969 at Rhenus-Studio, Gordorf, Germany. Liner notes on the CD reissue on the Hypnotic label as well as some websites place the recording date precisely one year later in 1970. This is incorrect as it would place the recording after the initial release date. In addition Kluster founder Conrad Schnitzler states in interviews that the recordings took place during the same period as the first Tangerine Dream album, Electronic Meditation, which occurred in late 1969. Klopfzeichen was released in November, 1970 on the Schwann label. Only 300 copies of the original LP were pressed and sold.
The trio played piano, guitar, cello, flute, percussion, and organ, all of which were electronically treated by engineer Konrad (Conny) Plank. According to Conrad Schnitzler in a 1980 interview he gave to David Elliott an advertisement by an organist interested in new music led to the recording session being sponsored by a church. Kluster was required to add religious text to the first side of the album to obtain this sponsorship. The text was read by Christa Runge who later performed in another band formed by Schnitzler, Eruption. The text was written by Liselotte Rauner, Rudolf Otto Wiemer, Dorothee Solle, Wilhelm Wills, Eva Zeller and Uwe Seidel. Schnitzler describes the text: "If you don't understand the German words, it sounds better. [...] If you know what it means, you'll find it terrible."
The album was first reissued by Schwann in 1980, and then on the U.S. based Hypnotic label in 1996 with new cover art and a sticker touting Cluster and Conrad Schnitzler's previous membership in Tangerine Dream. This CD reissue also contains a nearly 16 minute long bonus track from the 1980 Cluster & Farnbauer release Live In Vienna. The album was also reissued on the Japanese Captain Trip label on April 20, 2007 as a 450 copy limited edition with the original cover art and a bonus track by Eruption, Black Spring, from their 1971 sessions.
Track listing
"Kluster 1" - 24:00
"Kluster 2" - 21:51
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