The incestual issues that obscure any sort of proper kraut rock discography are explicated through the life of a super group dubbed Harmonia. Made up of different combinations of musicians from Neu! as well as Cluster and ever Brian Eno for a brief time, the group, over it's three proper studio discs, set out a blue print as specific as any other ensemble from the period. Not all of it's music is engaging in the way that Can is - there aren't vocals here - but some of the experimental and repetitive sections of Harmonia's work is not only a massive artistic statement, but should be considered as influential in every genre of music. And yes, some producer needs to sample this for a hip hop track, now.

Motoric timing and drumming is something derived as much from Moe Tucker, the drummer in the Velvet Underground, as it is from the post industrial back lash of the '70s. In the time which the musicians that would make up kraut rock's cognoscenti grew up, the rebuilding of Germany subsequent to its loss in World War II did two things. Firstly, the inescapable machinery utilized for updating a nation must have plagued each kid with some bizarre dreams - go rent a Fassbinder movie. But secondly, the use of mechanical devices must have been so pervasive, that their inclusion into music probably seemed not only sensible, but a requisite trapping of the creative process. I mean, there were always songs about cars and the like, but a love song to a freeway seems a bit beyond the pale.

As Harmonia was conceived as an excursion for Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius of Cluster as well as Michael Rother from Neu! and Kraftwerk, the group congregated in a secluded, bucolic studio constructed in the western portion of Germany. There, the two proper albums that saw release during the band's initial run were set to tape (the third disc with Eno was later released in '97).

The setting in which this music was actually recorded might be seen to belie the philosophical and theoretical intent of the music. But in any examination of nature, it's revealed that repetition and symmetry are as pervasive naturally as they are in human constructs. The contrast between the music created by Harmonia and walking through a field, though, should still be noted.

Captured live in 1974, the band seems more concerned with the propulsive qualities of the music than with any melodic concept that could be derived from the scant five tracks here. As each rhythm is expanded upon, though, it becomes clear that there are endless derivations to be explored - thus accounting for the 17 minute "Veteranissimo."

In relationship to the group's first studio disc, Musik Von Harmonia, the live outing from the band works in much the same way. There's less focus on ambient sounds to be sure. But when both of these dates are contrasted with the 1975 offering of Deluxe, the openness of each musical exploration becomes all too clear.

The case has been made for Harmonia's inclusion in the top tier of kraut rock bands and after taking a listen to the band at the height of its powers, it'd be difficult to disagree.