In our world, where the word “pioneer” is being flaunted all to often, its real value becomes obvious only when we try and scope the oeuvre of people like Klaus Schulze who passed away on April 26th at the age of 74 – a little more than a month before his latest opus “Deus Arrakis” sees the light of day. It will be the veteran’s 60-odd-th album, because Schulze’s career has spanned more than five decades, having started in earnest when Klaus laid down his drum parts for "Electronic Meditation" by TANGERINE DREAM before moving on to form ASH RA TEMPEL – also for a single album – and then on to a solo, multi-instrumentalist path, heralded by “Irrlicht” in 1972, almost 50 years ago. Sadly, the record’s creator didn’t live to see his debut’s anniversary.
However, the electronica legend has left a plethora of classics, including such gems as “Timewind” and the forthcoming record’s predecessor, 1979’s “Dune” which featured Arthur Brown, alongside two volumes of “Body Love” which were soundtracks to porn movies, as well as a string of records after the Richard Wahnfried pseudonym. Switching from Krautrock to Berlin School to new-age, Klaus increased his use of digital instruments as opposed to analogue synthesizers like the Moog that he loved so dearly, and later on experimented with samples a lot. He would return to collaboration with Manuel Göttsching for a spell of studio and on-stage yet never got back with Edgar Froese as many fans wanted him to.
The veteran retired from live performances in 2013 and has been ill for some time, but still his demise was unexpected. Rest in Peace, herr pioneer.
