Zero Set

Infobox Album |
Name = Zero Set
Type = Album
Artist = Moebius Plank Neumeier


Released = 1983
Recorded = 1982
Genre = Krautrock Kosmische Musik
Techno
Electronic music
Length = 37:36
Label = Sky Records
Producer = Conny Plank, Dieter Moebius, Mani Neumeier
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|2|5 [http://wc09.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jxfexqe5ldte link]
Chronology = Moebius & Plank
Last album = "Material" (1981)
This album = "Zero Set" (1983)
Next album = "En Route" (1995)

"Zero Set" is the one and only album by German electronic music trio of Dieter Moebius, Conny Plank, and Mani Neumeier. It followed two collaborations by Moebius & Plank as a duo. "Zero Set" was recorded in September, 1982 at Conny's Studio outside of Cologne. It was released by Sky Records in 1983.

The music on "Zero Set" is strongly influenced by African rhythms and music. One track, "Recall", features Sudanese vocals by Deuka. 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." David Ross Smith, writing for Allmusic, describes the album: "...a highly percussive affair with Mani Neumeier. The album is saturated in drum and synth rhythms and polyrhythms, resulting in compositions that are energetic and infectious." Zero Set was a turning point for Moebius and Plank, a fact lamented by Steven and Alan Freeman in their book "The Crack In The Cosmic Egg". They say, in part: "...working with Mani Neumeier on Zero Set strangely took the music too close to techno for comfort..."

"Zero Set" was reissued by the American Gyroscope label on CD on April 16, 1996. This was the first U.S. release for the album. It was also digitally remastered and reissued by Captain Trip Records in Japan on February 25, 2007.

Track listing

#"Speed Display" (5:13)
#"Load" (5:20)
#"Pitch Control" (6:23)
#"All Repro" (3:28)
#"Recall" (8:34)
#"Search Zero" (8:38)

Personnel

*Dieter Moebius - synthesizers, keyboards
*Conny Plank - synthesizers, keyboards
*Mani Neumeier - drums
*Deuka - vocals on "Recall"

References

* Album liner notes
* Smith, David Ross [http://wc09.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jxfexqe5ldte All Music Guide Review] Retrieved September 19, 2007.
* Weiner, Matthew [http://www.soulmind-online.com/2006/01/24/producers-conny-plank/ The Producers] Retrieved September 19, 2007.
* Freeman, Steven and Freeman, Alan [http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/ultimathule/krautrockers.html#m The Crack In The Cosmic Egg] (Audion Publications, 1996) ISBN 0-9529506-0-X Retrieved September 7, 2007.
* Discogs [http://www.discogs.com/release/97517 Moebius Plank Neumeier - Zero Set] Retrieved September 12, 2007.
* Captain Trip Records [http://www.captaintrip.co.jp/kami-cd/index.html Cluster Digital Remasters] Retrieved September 12, 2007.

External links

* Anonymous [http://www2.odn.ne.jp/airstructures/review%20german.html Random Writings on Music and Other Things: German Rock] Retrieved September 7, 2007.