Electronic pioneer Conrad Schnitzler has passed away from stomach cancer on August 4th.

Scnitzler was an early member of Tangerine Dream. He playedg on the band’s avant rock debut album “Electronic Meditation”, released through Ohr in 1970. However, he is perhaps best known for his work in Kluster. When Roedelius & Moebius departed to work under the name Cluster, Scnitzler concentrated instead on his Eruption project before going solo.

All three of these acts came out of the Zodiak Free Arts Lab in Berlin, which Scnitzler co-founder with Hans-Joachim Roedelius. Scnitzler and Roedelius reunited in 2000 to record the album “Acon 2000/1” for Japanese label Captain Trip. Schnitzler revived the Kluster name in 2007 and released both new music and archive material via such labels as Important and Qbico.

A random fact about Schnitzler is that he contributed the introductory track to “Deathcrush”, the debut release from Norweigan black metal legends Mayhem.