Selbstportrait - Vol. II is the fourth solo album by German keyboardist Hans-Joachim Roedelius, best known for his work with Cluster

Cluster (band)

Cluster is a German experimental musical group who influenced the development of contemporary popular electronic and ambient music. They have recorded albums in a wide variety of styles ranging from experimental music to progressive rock, all of which had an avant-garde edge. Cluster has been...

, Harmonia

Harmonia (band)

Harmonia is a Krautrock supergroup from Germany. They formed as a collaboration between Michael Rother of Neu! and Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Möbius of Cluster and later included the British musician Brian Eno.-Musical style:...

 and Aquarello

Aquarello

Aquarello was a musical group which blended ambient music and jazz. The trio included keyboardist Hans-Joachim Roedelius, based in Austria, and two Italian musicians, multi-instrumentalist Fabio Capanni, and saxophonist Nicola Alesini...

. The title is German for "Self Portrait - Vol. II", a title which clearly reflects the gentle, introspective nature of this album of ambient

Ambient music

Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...

 or New Age music

New Age music

New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...

. It is the second of seven albums in Roedelius' Selbsportrait series of recordings. The album is subtitled "Freundliche Musik", German for "Friendly Music".

Recording and Release

Like Selbstportrait

Selbstportrait

Selbstportrait is the third solo album by German keyboardist Hans-Joachim Roedelius, best known for his work with Cluster, Harmonia, and Aquarello. The title is German for "Self Portrait", a title which clearly reflects the gentle, introspective nature of this album of ambient or New Age music...

before it, Selbstportrait – Vol. II was recorded by Roedelius at his home in Forst, in the Weser Uplands of West Germany

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

 and in Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 between various Cluster

Cluster (band)

Cluster is a German experimental musical group who influenced the development of contemporary popular electronic and ambient music. They have recorded albums in a wide variety of styles ranging from experimental music to progressive rock, all of which had an avant-garde edge. Cluster has been...

 sessions from 1973 until 1979, so much of the music actually predates Roedelius' first two solo albums: Durch Die Wüste

Durch Die Wuste

Durch die Wüste is the first full-length solo album by German keyboardist Hans-Joachim Roedelius, best known for his work with Cluster, Harmonia, and Aquarello. The title is German for "Through the Desert."...

and Jardin Au Fou

Jardin Au Fou

Jardin Au Fou is the second solo album by German keyboardist Hans-Joachim Roedelius, best known for his work with Cluster. The title is French for "Garden of Madness"....

. Selbstportrait – Vol. II was released by Sky Records

Sky Records

Sky Records was a Hamburg, Germany based independent record label specializing in Krautrock/Kosmische Musik and electronic music. Some of their releases could be classified as progressive rock or art rock, experimental music, industrial, ambient, or New Age...

 in 1980.

Seven of the 11 tracks on Selbstportrait – Vol. II and the entire previous album, Selbstportrait were released as a single CD titled Selbstportrait I & II by Sky Records in 1996. The tracks omitted from the combined reissue are "Signal", "Schönheitsflecken", "Grundlsee", and "Regunwurm". The entire album was reissued separately on both 180 gram vinyl LP and CD by the Bureau B label on December 3, 2010.

Track listing

1. "Signal" – 0:10
2. "Gewiß" – 4:46
3. "Aufbruch" – 3:45
4. "Schönheitsflecken" – 3:14
5. "Alle Jahre wieder" – 4:43Unrelated to the Christmas carol
   Christmas carol
   A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...
   
    "Alle Jahre wieder
   Alle Jahre wieder
   Alle Jahre wieder is a well known Christmas carol, written in 1837 by Johann Wilhelm Hey and set to music by Friedrich Silcher. The last two verses are omitted from many editions...
   
   "
6. "Übern Fluß" – 3:45
7. "Tee für die Geisha" – 5:25
8. "Kichererbsen" – 2:30
9. "Grundlsee" – 4:27
10. "Regenwurm" – 4:04
11. "Thronfloge" – 3:44
12. "Signal" – 0:10

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.