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Synth Music Direct (UK)
The album is split into six
tracks, all different parts of the CD title. Part One begins with
lovely soft pads over which a bright lead is played, accompanied by piano
detail. Part Two follows on in similar fashion but without the piano
and if anything with even denser dronal backing. It isn't long before a
sequence starts up and as with Syn's other albums before this the whole
thing has a very Berlin School feel to it. The pulsations bounce along
nicely without forcing the issue.
The Third Part has more sequences right from the off, this time combining
with some wonderful mellotron sounds and excellent melodic lead lines.
It's here that for me the album really starts to take off. This is
classic retro styled sequencer music. Subtle rhythms also add another
welcome dimension. It's a track which seemed to be like a cross
between mid seventies Klaus Schulze and 'Epsilon in Malaysian Pale' period
Edgar Froese. During it's duration we get some lovely cosmic wind
effects but it's the way the mellotron sounds are handled which impressed me
most. In the tenth minute things are stripped down to soft pads / a
little haunting tron and the odd bass sequential flourish. The
rhythmic content slowly starts to increase again. Now I am reminded
more of 'Macula Transfer' period Froese. At just before the
fifteen-minute mark a lead line is introduced again, and very nice it is
too. Things continue in a blissful slowly pulsating dreamy fashion
until five minutes from the end when again we return to cosmic winds with
the odd note droplet here and there. It isn't long before Part Four
deploys the sequencer, a playful little melody bouncing over the top.
This time I am reminded of The Nightcrawlers with a little Rolf Trostel
thrown in for good measure.
Part Five features cosmic winds then wonderful twitters. Gorgeous soft
melodic pads play in the background completing a rather spacey image
perfectly. Within a couple of minutes however the inevitable sequence makes
its entrance, again rather Schulzian. Even the lead line has echoes of
the great man. It's a track where again the feel of the mid to late
seventies, the first age of sequencer driven music, is recreated
wonderfully. Lead lines come and go but the sequence rumbles on
relentlessly without letting go for an instant for the next twenty-three
minutes! That is all but until the last few seconds of the track.
The final part starts with half crashing / half breathing effects. I
know I have heard something very similar to this before. Even the
sequence and lead lines are fairly familiar, Again it has something of an
Edgar Froese feel, but then again is it reminding me of something from one
of Peter Bauman's first two solos albums? - Ahhh, I wish I could remember!
Anyway, whatever, it is a superb little number full of nostalgia. The
sequence bounces along almost playfully, the lead line hitting the spot
perfectly. A nice way to finish off the album. (DL)
Dave Law, 2004
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