LP version. In 1984, two years after their first album collaboration, Strange Music, Dieter Moebius and Gerd Beerbohm issued their second LP, Double Cut. It bore the same distinctive hallmarks as its predecessor, but this time around, the two musicians had simplified matters significantly. This was not simplification due to a lack of inspiration, however, but a masterful concentration on what really counts in pop music: rhythm. Today, any discussion of German electronic pop music of the 1970s and 1980s takes for granted that the origins of a whole range of future music movements can be traced back to this period. German groups anticipated punk and were producing proto-techno and ambient music long before these had entered the genre pool as recognized categories. A number of the protagonists from that era would become enduring worldwide legends. Others, such as Moebius and Beerbohm, have thus far been limited to the shelves of certain enthusiasts. Yet, as a precursor of prescient future music, Double Cut is a perfect specimen. The centerpiece of the album, the 22-minute "Doppelschnitt," can be tagged as proto-techno. Moebius and Beerbohm have grafted an endless stream of rhythmical electronic particles onto an ostinato bass and drum figure, fluttering to and fro like the lightest of shimmering veils. The utter and deliberate absence of any kind of melody makes it even easier to be carried away by rhythm to distant places. Double Cut is musical askesis of a formidably persuasive nature, avoiding energy-sapping meditative ballast and the anaemic contemplation of new sound academia. Double Cut is powerful, sensual pop music. Moebius never set foot in the studio with the aim of recording structured, premeditated compositions -- he rather more resembled a child in a sandpit. Beerbohm was a congenial partner in this respect, as he and Moebius bounced artistic ideas back and forth, surprising each other time and again with their musical caprioles. Beerbohm's contribution to the pair of albums cannot be regarded too highly. And Moebius, the brilliant spark, had once again proved shrewd in the extreme by enlisting Beerbohm to record two albums with him. Liner notes by Asmus Tietchens.
