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Synth Music Direct (UK)
The sequence of tracks on this re-release is the original one:
'Spirit Of Love' is deleted, 'The Garden Of SancSouci' is uncut back to full length
and 'White Tower' is added as first conceived.
Re-issue with superb new artwork plus extra
music.
This is much more than a straight
re-issue as one track has been extended and another replaced. Apparently
this is how the album was originally intended to be. Soft cosmic pads and
tinkling bell like percussion give 'Moogazyn' a very relaxed start. In the
second minute a deep bass rhythm (that will test the speakers) starts up. It
is relatively slow in pace but even so will get those ornaments shaking on
the shelves. I could just hear a sequence starting to build low in the mix.
Lead lines come and go but they are rather subtle, playing a supportive role
to the rhythmic content. Some will find this track simply too repetitive but
I found it, as the album title suggests, rather hypnotic but also powerful
stuff.
Rhythms again feature prominently on 'A Dream, Merely a Dream'. This time
they are of a more shuffling variety with supporting Shulzian type lead
lines and occasional drum flourishes. There is quite a bit going on here if
you take the time to listen carefully as the track slowly evolves. It is a
wonderful piece which was mesmerizing in both rhythm and melodic
departments. I played it three times before moving on to the next track! I
did eventually make it as far as 'The Garden of Sanssouci'. This is the
track, which has been extended. As I don't have the original I am not sure
by how much but I suspect that as we are now pushing the new maximum running
time of eighty minutes it is by quite a bit. It starts off slowly in
atmospheric mode. Gradually a plucked string loop becomes more prominent
then suddenly explodes! A slow melodic sequence / loop emerges from the
aftermath and bounces along quite nicely, a meandering lead line soon
falling into place around it. As with the opener it all becomes rather
hypnotic until we return to swirling atmospherics and gently looping
percussion in the ninth minute. A sequence emerges again a few minutes
later, this time accompanied by the most strident lead so far.
'Niemandsland' uses some really cool processed string sounds as if hearing a
cello playing but on the edge of a fevered dream. A slow sequence starts up
and we continue to the end of this short track in moody brooding fashion.
The twenty-minute title track is next, featuring Harald Grosskopf on drums.
It starts in a similar fashion to its predecessor, that is atmospheric but
with attitude and just the slightest amount of subtle percussion. A nice
thick bass sequence starts to form accompanied by a higher register one.
Harald then starts up quite a groove around the pulsations. Lead lines
nestle perfectly in the middle of the mix. Subtlety is the order of the day.
This isn't bludgeoning stuff, more mind caressing. In the eleventh minute
things take a slight change in direction becoming somewhat more mournful.
This feeling continues over to the last track, 'White Tower'. This is the
new one but it is only three minutes long. Nevertheless it does provide a
good melancholy conclusion. (DL)
Dave Law, Synth Music Direct, 2005
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