SYNTH MUSIC:
COOL WIND: Sound Exploration CD
This is what I would imagine you'd call an "ambient chill-out album for synth music fans" - in other words, it mixes slowly moving, solid and crunchy electro-percussive rhythms, deep dubby bass with flowing melodies and rich synth textures. The result is a surprisingly enjoyable album, strong and solid at one end, gorgeously celestial the other, with a myriad soundscapes in between. Always moving at various paces, the mood is one of languid atmospheres combined with deep layers of melodies from a variety of synths and keyboards, set to crisply produced and very real sounding percussive rhythmic backdrops. Throughout he album, you'll find yourself wanting to hear every track, as the music becomes highly addictive, toes tapping away while at the same time listening intently to and enjoying all the layers and soundscapes and tunes that the musician conjures. With a huge depth of sound and flowing compositions, this is one for those who want it solid, melodic, fresh sounding, decidedly modern but with real tunes, real electronic music depth and nothing overly fast or in-your-face, while at the same time not forgetting its foundations. In its own way it's like a commercialized early Banco De Gaia only more overtly "synth".
PAZ DEL CASTILLO: Moods For Piano CD
On the same label as the Brenda Warren piano album reviewed elsewhere, this is, oddly enough, less hypnotic. In its way it's more overtly classical or romantic, with more emphasis on the bass end of the instrument and pouring in a lot more notes and melodies, so that the music sounds altogether "busier". I preferred the other as it carried a way more ethereal vibe to it, but if you are more into melody than atmosphere, then this one will do for you.
EDGAR FROESE/JOHANNES SCHMOELLING: Kyoto CD£13.99
I knew this was going to be something special when, within the first two minutes of the first track, I found myself mentally singing Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" over the sequencers and suddenly recalling early Banco De Gaia at the same time. The track concerned, 'Streets Of Kyoto' is a stunner - sequencer rhythms at the heart of the driving machine - but I tell you now, this track carries a hidden secret. You see, on the sleevenotes, it says "composed and performed in '83 - mastered in '05' - now there's no way that the electronic drum rhythm stems from '83 - surely not!! But, that said, it beefs up the sequencers to excellent extent giving that early nineties ambient flavour, and when the top layers of string synths, heavenly synth choirs and synth swoops all stride in, the track becomes seven minutes of absolute bliss - a stunning start to the album. The odd part is that it's also the last you hear on the album of what could be called a "classic sounding sequencer rhythm" upfront to this degree. But, before you all groan, let me tell you that what follows is pure class, the key being the quality of the composing - here we have two musicians whose ideas has fed and sparked each other, and the result is a set of anthems that are like parts of that era Tangerine Dream dissected, stripped down then rebuilt to produce mini epics of enduring musical enjoyment and inspiration. The Asiatic flavour is kept to a subtle level and the symphonic approach so prevalent in a lot of their current works, largely absent until the final track, a sweeping, grand, flowing exit with all targets hit as sequencers, strong electronic drums, acres of string synths, sweeping synth melodies and panoramic backdrops provide a majestic end to what has been a hugely pleasurable musical journey. It doesn't matter how much of this was played then or now - the fact is that it sounds fantastic thanks to the compositional creativity of two of the giants of synth music.
JEFF GREINKE: Weather From Another Planet CD
Ten tracks, fifty six minutes of music and a brand new 2005 studio album. It begins on a four and a half minute track called Sunday Afternoon' which is propelled by some smoothly rolling, chilled-out percussive rhythms above which synth chords flow warmly, notes hang suspended and what sounds like a sustained sea of guitar (or could it be synth?) notes are added, with assorted effects and textures to complete the picture - a track that simply exists for what it is and then goes, leaving us free to enjoy the next one that comes along. The whole album is like this. Each track starts similarly and features a wide array of electronic layers and textures, chilled-out, flowing melodies that stretch out in languid fashion on top, while the percussive and electro-percussive rhythms drive it all onwards and provide what is essentially a downtempo slice of cosmic synth music, the whole feel of the music having a kind of hypnotic quality. Nothing ever stands still, there are no drifts and drones and most of the time it's rhythmic, but also most of the time it's lazy and spacey and highly engaging. What makes this different from most is the extras that he inputs to the musical scenarios - assorted bell-like percussive tinkles here, almost oboe-sounding electronic lines there and a generally expansive yet sparse quality that makes it a truly slowly unfolding affair.
JAN HAMMER: The Best Of "Miami Vice" CD
OK - there's gonna be a whole stack of you out there thinking "who?", "what?", "the lad's finally cracked" and "Miami Vice??? - you've gotta be kidding!!!" Well, say what you will, but, in terms of four minute average length running time tracks and synth music with atmosphere, strength, passion, rhythm, hooks, feel and, above all, guitars, this is one phenomenal album. For a start, the guy's a compositional genius - here are 15 tracks that worked well enough within the confines of the TV series (yes, I confess, I was an addict!!) but for them to work THIS WELL as an album in its own right AND be so darned addictive, is something for which you can only take your hat off to the guy for doing.
So, it starts with a re-recorded and all-the-better-for-it version of the main theme before moving on to a superb re-recording of 'Crockett's Theme' opening with a glorious string synth refrain and galloping electronic drums before the main synth melody appears and the whole thing flows with the warmest of emotions and then the guitar comes in as the piece really takes off, the rhythms become chunkier and the composition takes on a mix of symphonic, atmospheric and rock all at the same time as the melodies soar and climb, al just under four minutes but better than many put into entire albums. From there on, every track is just fantastic, whether tune-laden, atmospheric or a mix of the two, with production that you can't fault and melodies that you can play and play without ever tiring of them. Throughout the series, one of the best ever mixes of the action and the music was on an episode called "Evan" and the presence here of a five minute track from that episode is almost worth the asking price alone, as the sound of acoustic guitars (synthesized presumably) opens the track as string synths flow in from behind and the effect is like the track 'Horizons' from Genesis' 'Foxtrot', as the melody swings and flows with gentle but firm rhythmic backing from the electronic drums enters the soundscape to bring added strength to the gorgeous main heart of the piece - superb!! If you know and love the series, then this is essential listening - if you've never seen it but like your electronic music short, sharp and effective, from richly warming string/synth moods to solid attacking waves of synths, strings, percussives and biting electric guitars, then this is one stunning set of music - and that's the truth.
MICHEL HUYGEN: Sensorial DBLCD
The first CD consists of two half hour tracks under the banner of 'Percepcion Terrestre' while the second CD consists of one sixty-seven minute track called 'Percepcion Cosmica'. On the first track on CD1, the first ten minutes consist of this magnificent sounding slice of full-flavour cosmic synth music complete with warm, rich, flowing chords, occasional heavenly choir and magical sounding space synths. Then, at the ten minute point, the synths suddenly start to take off and the mood lightens as a delicate and distinct melody line wafts away on top of the string synth rivers that flow underneath, the whole thing now blossoming out to reveal a most beautiful interior. Around fifteen minutes the heavenly choirs return "en masse" but just as soon disappear, as this time a deep bass synth and a cello-like lead weave strong webs of sound while space synths swoop and twitter in the background. The that mood lightens, the whole thing becomes sparser before clouds and clouds of new synth textures, layers and soundscapes billow up, then they too disappear to reveal a wholly more rhythmic passage of bouncing space synths and subtle melodies that lasts about three minutes then tones back down to an altogether starker setting with percussive synths boinging away in the background. Gathering more melodies together the whole atmosphere then rises up as layers of synths are added only to drop down and end the piece on a slice of cool cosmic space. The second track follows a similar musical path, with plenty of flowing electronics and synths to keep you happy while at the same time letting no mood or passage outstay its welcome as the
composition twists, turns, flows and changes shape almost organically during its thirty-two minute running time, in parts almost like a cross between classic cosmic Neuronium and Tangerine Dream's 'Zeit'.
The second CD is as classic a slice of cosmic space synth music as you're likely to hear, varied in texture, always changing shape, never standing still, melodic and rhythmic qualities implied rather than stated, plenty of layers that shift and drift, while always maintaining a structure at the heart of things, and creating passage that range from celestial to exotic, overall, a track that holds your attention for the full sixty-seven minutes, and works on several mood and atmospheric levels.
BYRON METCALF featuring STEVE ROACH@ The Shaman's Heart CD
The use of percussion as cosmic music instrument - discuss!! Dead easy in this case - it'll either captivate you or drive you completely insane. The drums and percussion provide the meat of the compositions and the effect is one intended to be more hypnotic and mesmerizing rather than the more normal electronic textures that synth music would have, although the percussion and drums are augmented throughout by Roach's cosmic soundscaping. But it's the drums where this album rises or falls - the twenty minute 'The Call For Total Surrender' sets up a central monotone drum rhythm that goes on and on forever, never changing, but with all sorts of effects and electronic textures going on around it - the only problem being that, if you aren't in love with drums, you will have completely lost you mind by the eleven minute point, then just as it starts to fade and you can see light at the end of the tunnel, the rhythm merely drops back to a more subtle form of punishment. Elsewhere things are a lot more sedate and spacey, but overall, it really is a percussively cosmic album that you'll either love or hate - no half measures.
PATRICK O'HEARN: Slow Time CD
It's forty four minutes long and when you see that the opening track is called 'Music For Three Vibraphones' and lasts eight minutes, you do begin to wonder - surely it can't REALLY be what it says? Well, believe it or not, the answer is a resounding "yes" -it may be very pretty and melodic, slowly ascending and descending chords that tinkle away in seriously languid mode - but it really is just the sound of vibraphones. So, that leaves you with thirty six minutes and 7 more tracks. Memories of 'DSOTM X' rear their ugly heads. The five minute 'Slow Time' is just what it says - electronics and synths that kind of meander away, drift and drone, imply rhythm but don't actually state it and provide a sort of eerie yet warm atmosphere, like impending thunder on a sunny day. The five minute 'Let's Move On' is similarly paced only fuller sounding with a lot of warm flowing chords that drift and echo, set a scene then do very little else - soundscaping for the head. The seven and a half minute 'I Could Live Here' is quite different from what has gone before - over a sort of cascading and partly phased electro-percussive beat, this synth line sort of winds itself round but sounding distinctly off kilter for a rather bizarre effect, while above this a very sparse piano melody starts to flow, almost too slow, as distant percussive rattling comes into play and, again, this setting is what it is - variation is subtle, atmosphere is everything - the piano eventually rising to the top of the slowly moving rhythmic lava flow underneath - all very strange on first hearing. The next 2 tracks and ten minutes of music are gorgeously warm examples of full-sounding cosmic synth bliss while the near four minute 'A Welcome Sight' features similar sounding drifts set to a more percussive rhythm base and works a treat. The final four and a half minutes of 'Still Standing' brings things to a close on waves of string-like space synths, deep rumbling synth bass and sparse piano chords, all quite breathtaking in many ways. As an album, it's quite adventurous in many ways, the musician providing a wider variety of soundscaping than you might expect and, if you're open minded enough to let it in, then it will reward your listening time.
ASH PREMA/ROB JENKINS: Matter CD
Along with Peter Beasley, Vietgrove & Mark Jenkins, you always feel that this musician has never achieved the recognition he deserved when you look back at the remarkable consistency of his released music from the mid-eighties onwards, and this new album, performed with Redshift's Rob Jenkins, is no exception. Essentially 14 tracks that run into each other to form a long and substantial "set", this is the sound of UK Synth music at its best, as he takes the predominantly "Berlin School" style as his main template, but injects it with such feeling and passion, that you feel the sequencers, synths and lead guitar runs become way more than the sum of their parts. There's always that sense of musical beauty lurking in the background as the string synths sway in the distance, while the beefy sounding sequencers form the main part of the rhythmic force that unfolds. Over this, a sea of flowing synths and, used effectively rather than constantly, some searing, sky-high electric guitar work, provide the main melodic focus, while the resultant combination of all these factors gives us a set of "UK-meets-Berlin" that is both full of feeling yet highly charged at the same time. It's not T Dream by numbers, it's not even really "T Dream" in the copyist sense, but its mix of Berlin-based roots, melodic structure and flowing passion, gives it something that's a whole lot more satisfying. His best to date!!!
STEVE ROACH: Mystic Chords And Sacred Spaces 4CD Set
Just under five hours (yes - five hours!!!!) of incredibly multi-layered, multi-textured, multi-synths cosmic space music. Each CD lasts around seventy three minutes, and CD 1 is the sound of textural exploration as layers shift and flow throughout. CD2 is the "dark" album with acres of deep bass rivers and eerie landscapes. CD 3 is the "angelic" disc as the mood opens out and vast streams of electronic textures and layers pour into the skies, rising up in front of you like a vision from above, each segment flowing into one another to form an unbroken chain of depth and purity. Finally, CD4 is the epic - a single seventy three minute piece that is a relaxing, quiet voyage through the vast and unfolding dimensions of space and time. You would not think that space music on such a huge scale could possibly remain so consistently enjoyable for such a length of time, but the way this has been approached, produced, played and arranged, makes sure that this is one riveting cosmic trip, both sustaining and justifying its length with ease. As a cosmic music epic, it has no rivals. As a slice of pure listening enjoyment on any level, it's positively timeless, enjoyable from start to finish, your chosen disc reflecting the mood you may be in. Space music simply doesn't come any better than this.
BRUNO SANFILIPPO: Visualia CD
Well, in the main, it's cosmic synth music, but it's no so much soft or dark, more funereal and spiritual. A bit like a cross between Peter Mergener's 'Nox Mystica', Constance Demby's 'Faces of The Christ' and any one of Michel Huygen's epic space synth works, this starts off quite dark and dense, but then the rivers of textures start to flow as, over the 9-part title track that takes up the entire album, the mood lightens a little a more layers, textures and delicate rhythmic backdrops are added and the whole scenario begins to take on a more structured shape. With choirs and choral backdrops appearing from time to time, to add a more celestial dimension to the endless deep synth music layers, the overall effect is both mesmerizing and spiritual but always anchored to earth as the darkness in the music is never very far away. Mostly space/cosmic music with rhythmic undercurrents and slow-motion melodic overtones, this is one of the more listenable varieties of "dark cosmic electronic music' around and, if you like this sort of thing, is varied enough in its composition and delivery, to hold your attention throughout.
KLAUS SCHULZE: In Blue Triple CD
The original CD album reissued complete with a bonus cD of previously unreleased live tracks recorded with Ash Ra's Manuel Gottsching (who also plays on the forty-eight minute studio track on this album) and Jorg Schaaf. So, we'll start with those. The seven minute opener is just Schulze's synth set to this rampaging drums rhythm that sounds ten years ahead of its time, almost predating the more solid ambient-trance style rhythms that would become way more prevalent. Either way, a solid and strong opener. After this, 'Return Of The Temple 2' at fourteen minutes starts in silent space synths mode with Schulze beginning the musical cosmic voyage, and as the synths drift, so the strains of Gottsching's equally cosmic electric guitar, drift in too. As the sound rises, so, soon after, a stuttering electro-percussive beat begins with the rhythms almost higher up in the mix than the synths , now relegated to backdrop mode as the chiming guitar chords, deep space and string synths all revolve around this wickedly addictive, core rhythm. Around ten minutes in, a solid, booming, sequencer rhythm begins as melodic lead synths now rise to the top and the whole pattern changes to bring the track to its end in a stunning hail of choppy rhythms, space and melodic synths and the chiming electric guitar - just superb stuff. Finally, on this bonus CD, you get the thirty-two minute 'Out Of The Blue 2', a thirty-two minute track that, once again, starts with all manner of shifting, drifting cosmic synth flows, all deep and dark, as the passage rises to a climax only to have the entire mood and structure changed with the arrival of a cascading, full-sounding Schulzian synth rhythm that leads into more rhythmic bliss from sequencers and electronic drum-style beats, around which the ever building synth drones begin to weave their web. As the track continues, the lead work revolves around the trademark mix of melody and rhythm as the track builds, twists and turns to exquisite effect, bass sequencers abounding and string synths flying as it all builds and flows superbly. The fact that this extra disc is worth the asking price on its own, should not detract you from what remains as one of Schulze's most underrated albums of the '90's., with a seventy-eight minute first CD, the forty-four minute Gottsching collaboration and the thirty-four minute 'Serenade In Blue' on CD2. One of his best just got better.
MARK SHREEVE: Embryo CD
A look back at his first foray onto recorded medium, sees the CD issue of his original debut cassette album, now significantly cleaned up and remastered. The opening track, 'The Keeper', revolves around a central cascading, revolving synth refrain as, all around, icy space synths and deep dark drones fill in the landscape, the presence of a barely heard electronic drum rhythm deep in the mix. Around seven minutes, it all becomes a lot more cosmic and eerily spacey as huge-sounding waves of eerily deep and dense synths move in to become as cyclical as what went before, only this time with added organ chords and the whole thing sounding a lot like early seventies Schulze, only more ice cold, to take you to fifteen minutes whereupon it all simmers down to reveal a passage similar in sound and construction to the organ part of Pink Floyd's 'A Saucerful Of Secrets' that gradually mutates into 'Moondawn'-like Schulze as it progresses. At twenty-one minutes that fades and a new slower cyclical refrain is introduced along with buzzing and droning synths welling up from below while above this a solid wall of organ and synth delivers this immense drone-like lead line as the whole panorama builds towards a fading climax at just over twenty-seven minutes. 'Alive' is a three minute, shifting, out-of-phase slice of melodic swaying that serves as a solid breather before the twenty-one minute title track begins. Very much influenced by the giants of early seventies Krautrock electronics, there are glimpses of things such as Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze & Cluster as the sounds of organ, phased synths, synth melodies, string synths, buzzing electronics and more, all combines to take you right back to the days of 'Cluster II', 'Cyborg' and 'Moondawn' but with Shreeve piling on layer upon layer to create something way more solid and intense than any of the German pioneers ever intended. The track shifts patterns and pathways as it travels so that no idea is outplayed while the mood and atmosphere remain consistent. The final track, 'Iceflakes', is more languid and less intense a brew of early seventies influenced space synth music and a more relaxing seven minutes to end the album.
SMOKE & MIRRORS: Deities DBLCD
Now if ever an electronic music CD could be said to be "something different" but immensely gripping on an epic listening scale, then this is it. If you had to liken their music to anyone, then imagine a cross between In The Nursery, early Orb, Makyo, Roach & Metcalf, Banco De Gaia and Clear Light and you're pretty close to this massive slice of exotic audio feasting. Across two CD's, nearly two and a half hours of music and 22 tracks, you'll witness mile-wide electronic music layers, soundscapes, melodies and tunes that stretch out in all directions, the aural equivalent of looking out onto a gorgeous blue sea surrounded by beautiful scenery. The percussive and electro-percussive rhythms are unashamedly rooted in the chilled-out glory days of mid-nineties ambience, while the deep, dubby and throbbing bass lines are kept strong but unobtrusive, so that they add to the overall soundscape while still propelling the sound to even greater heights. The extra presence of early seventies Pink Floyd-esque chiming laid-back electric guitar leads merely serves as icing on an already substantial cake. There is no way in the world that you can pin this thing down in terms of its style or content - it simply does not conform to any "pigeon-hole" and - like the Glimmer Room 'Grey Mirrors' album before it - simply transcends all that to become this immense example of filmic, flowing, huge-sounding, melodic, deep, multi-layered and strong-sounding musical opus from keys, synths, electronics, guitars and electronically-derived acoustic-sounding drums/percussion. Instrumental, themed around Hindu deities and with tracks from just under three minutes to over twelve, this is a truly mind-expanding sea of music of great vision and execution, one that you should waste no time in hearing.
V/A: Casa Alexio - Ibiza Dreams Vol 1 CD
On the Neuronium label, this is a sort of partner to the gorgeous 'Pasion Tropical' only here, the tracks are more varied so that, while the mood and atmospheres are largely ambient, serene and blissful, the music is altogether stronger, more rhythmic, chunkier and funkier, the emphasis seeming to be more on the night after the day spent chilling on the beach - almost the "post-beach, pre-club" album when you're waking up after a day of blissful music and it's too early for a night of banging trance. That's this album - with tracks from most of the roster of the label's artists that include the likes of Constance Demby, Smoo, Cool Wind, La Crem and more, this is an altogether more driving, if no less melodic, not as warmly atmospheric partner to the chilled-out heaven that is the 'Pasion Tropical2 album.
V/A: Pasion Tropical - The Album CD
From the Neuronium label, this is a sampler from an extensive range of the label's catalogue to date, and one which focuses to a large degree on the more chilled-out, modern sounding, downtempo, ambient tracks, a world where even the Neuronium tracks sounds like a chill-out anthem. Several of the tracks are either songs or feature vocals (mostly female) while the whole album has that chilled-out, sun-kissed, blissful Balearic vibe running through its veins. On the level of what it is trying to convey both in terms of mood and music, I have to say that it fulfills every bit of its function and you can't argue with the fact that, in its own musical framework, there isn't anything here that doesn't fit in with or convey the atmosphere that is being presented over seventy-one minutes of quite gorgeous music. You might not believe me, but it's true - if you're into the mood that this music conveys and creates - and it truly is a blissful chill-out experience fuelled by melody and tunes - then you'll find that this will, surprisingly, become one of your most played albums of the summer.
BRENDA WARREN: As Years Go By CD
Bar string accompaniment on two tracks and synth on one track, this is a solo piano album. The emphasis is on relaxed - languid - calm. For a piano album, it's remarkably hypnotic, quite gorgeous even, and you can't help falling under its spell. Not something I think I'd listen to a great deal, but when the mood is right, then this beats many in achieving its almost nirvana-like aims. Peaceful, spiritual and yet melodic to the core -way better than you could imagine. A beautiful album of original compositions, brilliantly and sensitively played and composed.
