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In 1934 in Berlin.
Sounds like: Depending on which point in his career you find him, or whom he's collaborating with, it can be full-on electro-pop, luscious ambient, New Age music, or daring, rattling noise.
For fans of: Crate-digging; music geeks who like to explore the early days of experimental electronic music are going to love this guy.
Latest releases: Rufen, Fragen and Antworten—or Calling, Asking and Answering—a trilogy of fractious and bedazzled albums of squelching electronics recorded with musician Onnen Bock under the name Qluster.
Why you care: We wouldn't have a modern electronic music scene if it weren't for the work of Hans-Joachim Roedelius and his contemporaries and compatriots. The former child actor combined his loves of modern art, electronics and psychedelics in the '60s to help create mind-blowing experimental recordings with his groups Cluster and Harmonia, as well as his jazz trio Aquarello. You can follow the thread of influence from his work to artists like Brian Eno, Aphex Twin and Oneohtrix Point Never. What keeps him vital to the modern scene is his willingness to play and experiment with like-minded musicians, a quality that has left an enormous and almost always inspiring discography in his wake.
SEE IT: Hans-Joachim Roedelius plays the Mount Tabor Theater on Sunday, Oct. 23. 8 pm. $10. 21+.
WWeek 2015