Christian Wolfarth percussion

Hans Joachim Irmler - organ, electronics
Christian Wolfarth - percussion

"There are records in the world on which we hear newly composed music, and yet simultaneously have the impression of travelling through time, space and sound. With "ILLUMINATION", Hans Joachim Irmler and Christian Wolfarth have presented us just such a jewel on vinyl. There are electronic thunderstorms and digital Big Ben gongs, clicks'n'cuts electronica like that of minimal techno music from the mid-nineties, dark sound collages and atmospheric soundscapes; as if Pink Floyd and Popol Vuh were greeting us from afar. Seldom, when listening to a record for the first time, have I gotten such a strong impression of hearing new tracks while simultaneously making a trip through the history of experimental pop music since 1966. Listen and let your imagination flow!"

Manfred Heinfeldner (Popculture Jockey, 2012)
 

llumination is quite different in tone, although hardly the ‘jazz’ that Swiss drummer Christian Wolfarth’s involvement might hint at. This collaboration could easily be passed off as a lost Krautrock classic from the ‘golden age’, side one’s twenty minute title track bringing to mind Tangerine Dream circa Atem, Klaus Schultze’s Cyborg or just about any early Popol Vuh, and the four more concise pieces on the flipside hinting at Cluster’s less melodic work. Throughout the album the duo manage to pull off a strangely unsettling and ever changing calm that seems to un-nerve even as it soothes.
Both records are quite essential.

Alan Holmes (Freq, 2012)