Of the 14 tracks on Aquarello, 12 are live recordings. Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Nicola Alesini, and Fabio Capanni performed together at the VI Musica Visual in Lanzarote. The liner notes are in German, so listeners are left with no "graphic interference" as they interpret these atmospheres, textures, and timbres. Roedelius is a sound design genius and has crafted some very different music on this CD. It is definitely e-music, but there are extras. Alesini's saxophones offset the atmospheres. The atmospheres approach listeners from two or three different levels. It is almost like harmonic overtones. The deep electronics have minimalist qualities. There are mechanical repetitions with organic overtones. This is a relatively unique effort. It will appeal to fans of Brian Eno, Robert Rich, Matt Harris, and Cyber Zen Sound Engine.

At 73, it's tempting to call Roedelius the 'grand old man of ambient' or some such nonsense. To be sure, as a member of both Cluster and Harmonia his keyboard skills have been central in shaping the more 'new age' (for want of a better term) end of krautrock's sonic dna. Yet, despite his age Inlandish, finds Roedelius still supremely able to fire off beguilingly simple melodic piano lines, seemingly at will. His work on the album was completed in days, leaving electronica artist Tim Story to tinker and tweak them for several months afterwards. The results are stunning. In the same way that HJR's work with Eno remains strangely timeless, this album exists in a parallel universe where it's still possible to spend an hour in quiet contemplation. To call it 'ambient' is to do it a disservice. For these are tunes that wiggle and shimmer into the ears, gently refusing to melt into background noise.

After a scission of the avant-garde group "Kluster" due to the departure of Conrad Schnitzler, the two musicians Dieter Moebius and Hans Joachim Roedelius go to work in duet as "Cluster". The band's first years were clearly orientated to Krautrock and to experimental electronic music. Consequently, the production of the band started with massive, radical improvisations, constructed around electric organ works, electronic collages, guitar sound manipulations, feed back. The result is rather similar to Kluster's underground, conceptual music, very chaotic with lot of distortion and reverb. With its repetitive, hypnotic guitar patterns and embryonic electronic collages, the second album "II" can be seen as a classic in 70's German electronic underground…

More offerings from Eno, Moebius, Roedelius, Plank, and Neumeier, Begegnungen II is the equivalent of its predecessor. The tracks on the compilation (recorded in 1976-1983) are an appealing mix of artsy electronic ambiance and progressive Krautrock. Eno's mechanical "Broken Head" stands out as the only vocal track - a dark, almost oppressive industrial tune not unlike early Gary Numan, but warmer. "Speed Display," originally recorded for Moebius, Plank, and Neumeier's Zero Set, is a fantastic showcase for Mani Neumeier's speed and endurance as a percussionist. He generates an incredible rhythmic groove, supplemented by sparkling synthesizer flourishes…

Brian Eno's second album collaboration with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius of Cluster consists of slow-moving instrumentals full of repeated synthesizer sound patterns and sustained guitar notes in the ambient style familiar from Eno's collaborations with Robert Fripp and albums of his own, such as Discreet Music. (One song, "Broken Head," features recited vocals by Eno, and on another, "The Belldog," he sings. On "Tzima N'Arki," he sings backwards.)

Triptych in Blue is the latest installment from a music partnership that began in 1997 when Andrew Heath and Felix Jay, under the name Aqueuous, recorded the wonderful ambient album ‘Meeting the Magus’ with one of the founding fathers of ambient, Hans-Joachim Roedelius. Nearly 20 years later, Andrew Heath curated an exciting concert at ‘The Brunel Goods Shed’ in Stroud on September 2016 which bought together Roedelius and Andrew with fellow experimental musician, Christopher Chaplin. This rare opportunity to collaborate offered up three stunning live recordings.
Triptych in Blue captures that unique concert and is ambient music of the highest order: constantly changing and shifting, it presents the listener with three musicians in perfect balance with each other.