PROGRESSIVE ELECTRONIC

This is the first of a serie of albums entitled "The Dark Side Of The Moog", born by the collaboration between Klaus Schulze and Pete Namlook, a frankfurter musician and producer (real name Peter Kuhlmann) passed away in 2012.

Regardless the paraphrase, the link to Pink Floyd is not very strong. This is mainly an instrumental suite made of melodic moments alternated with electronic noises. Personally I found it very enjoyable for the similarities of some parts with Zeit, that's my favorite Tangerine Dream album. Tracks 2 and 3 in particular have "emotional" minor chords progressions. I personally prefer when there's no solo, so that the soundscape gets closer to space-rock. I think that Saucerful of Secrets has been highly influential for the whole electronic movement.

Going ahead, track 4 is a sequenced loop on with drone drums taking the part of the solo instrument. An interseting rhitmic section that I feel connected to both techno-wave and several species of small furry animals. A Scottish gramelot would have fit well. Very interesting. Track 5 adds a hypnotic ringtone-like sound to the drumloop. I'd say several species of small furry robots... Then back to deep space with track 6 up to track 8.

Track 9 is more rhithmic. Between the main theme of Blade Runner and "Set the controls for the heart of the sun". The melody reminds a bit also to "One Of The Few" in the structure. But similarities apart, I find it very enjoyable even alone, taken out of the suite.

Track 10 and last, enters a different realm more made of major chords, even with some dissonances. Finding similarities with other electronic artists is quite easy: usually the instruments used condition the composition style. In this case I see a link with Vangelis. I must say that the distinction between the tracks is based only on their length. The last three minutes of track 10 don't have anything to do with the first three. They put us back to the Ummagumma cave without a Pict.

...and the suite ends suddenly. Maybe the best way to close it.

not bad, really. Especially if you like the genre. Not a masterpiece but I think I'll dig the following episodes of this collaboration.

As a first-time listener of progressive electronic music (never really cared for synthetic tunage), this was a lot to take in. 'Timewind' is a pretty solid album, regarding the fact that I don't like the genre. There's a lot in this record to love: the album cover art, the ambiance, the subtle strings in the background throughout both songs, and most of all, the minute details; those quivering keyboard fadeouts, the occasional keyboard high note, it is all surprisingly beautiful to me. The wind in slow interludes is subtle but amazing. But this album is not all highlights. I had some prosthetic bones to pick with this album. One of which is the insane length of both songs. Until I listened to this album I had no idea you could smash a whole thirty minutes into Side A. And I am typically unfaltering when it comes to sidelong tracks, but this is insane. And when the song has little to no structure, it's a bit too monotonous. 'Bayreuth Return' felt extremely slow to me, but 'Wahnfried 1883', I found, was really the better song on this album. Anyways, I would recommend this album to any fan of Klaus Schulze or the progressive electronic sub- genre. If you're new to either, I would not. But, I had a fun experience listening to it. You might too.

Water drops and birds, this is how it starts. Followed by an electronic loop it ends into an oriental theme whose first notes remind to the soundtrack of Tomb Raider II. No enemies to kill; this soundscape is meditative and the sensations that it gives me are like those of the Tibet Suite by Lucia Hwong. It's only defect is that's too short. This is KRPA, whatever it means.

"Aurora" is a melodic piece with sliding notes that's quite successful in raising mental images of high hills and woods. If you are in the right mood for dreaming about far east natural landscapes, this is perfect.

New Age? I think yes up to here, but it fades into "Hikari No Mai". My google japanese teacher says it means "ray of light". Minor chords, percussion, drums and a sort of helicopter going left and right through the speakers. No. this is not New Age. If it wasn't for the specific keyboard sounds, it could be mistaken with Vangelis, including the floydian coda of what seems to be a traditional Japanese theathrical performance (Absolutaly Curtain, is what I mean for floydian).

Back to far eastern soundscapes with "Fuji". Can a title be less Japanese than this? I can only say that being in the right mood, this music enters your soul. I can understand how Kitaro ended to make one album with Jon Anderson as guest. There's a bit of a Topographic Ocean inside this track.

"Full Moon" is on the sad side, due to the progression of minor chords. Again it's not much different from Vangelis who is the closest artist to compare Kitaro to, even with the far eastern element that's a constant presence. Usually I don't like tracks fading out, but this is an exception.

"Resurrection" starts with electronic sounds, then a subtle high-pitched sound mimic of a wooden flute enters in background bringing with him a set of interesting sounds. Not a specific melody, at least not in foreground as something happens in background. The best album track for prog-eared listeners. I think Kitaro means the resurrection of Nature after the night.

"From Astral" is initially based on percussion and a sitar like sound together with a traditional strings instrument, it seems. After about two minutes of this unusual soundscape, it becomes more regular. Probably it's because I'm a true fan of Vangelis, but Kitaro is quite similar. At least he gives me similar sensations.

"Heavenly Illusions" starts like Shine on You Crazy Diamond, but just for few seconds, but again it's closer to the Vangelis of Albedo 0.39 or China than to Pink Floyd. It also reminds me to the early Tangerine Dream. But when the "Illusion" ends, in the middle of the track, it's like a Maya veil is raisen. Now the percussion change it drastically and the chords below are low-pitched and dark.

Finally, "New Lights" is the closer and also the longest album track. Sea shore, ocean waves, then after about 1 minute a harped sequence of two chords take the lead. Repetitive like Tangerine Dream, slowly growing into something else with a hypnotic sequence of 4 echoed, squared waves, notes. Repetitive but relaxing.

Let your mind travel far.

Dense and beautiful album. Following the titles seems like a journey through the life of an ordinary person. Very ambient and atmospheric. "Everything" is exciting as a sample of the birth of life. The second song "In Transit" contains a small rhythmic base that gives it color and has influences from the more ambient themes of Aphex Twin. "The Descent" is the darkest moment on the album with sounds that seem like a mellotron approaching dark ambient. The final "Resurrection" is absolutely suggestive and epic at times with very curious rhythmic moments and a beautiful final coda. Absolutely recommendable ambient/drone album.

Brian Eno has always been a man to put atmosphere first in all of his works, whether it be his art rock directions with Another Green World and Before And After Science, or his more well known ambient experiments of Music For Airports or Discreet Music. Like most highly innovative electronic musicians, Eno has a key sense of knowing fully well what his music is capable of in terms of space and flow. His subtlety is unwavering in terms of this music, and he manages to create not only some amazing pieces of art through it, but also one of my favorite albums ever recorded in music history, that being Thursday Afternoon.

Many people would probably ask me why I'd consider this album to be Brian Eno's best work, and it is both from a musical standpoint, but also from a technological and personal one as well.

This piece is all about subtlety. The whole sequence of events can be seen as a purely simple excursion, a simple looping of an acoustic piano mixed with an electronic backdrop of synths and nature recordings, but that is what it might seem at first. This hour long venture is all random, and what you may think as a repetitious cycle of calm noise is actually a very technical display of skills, with the chords on the piano changing so subtly with each passing moment, that once it finally hits you, you realize the full potential of Brian Eno's ambient workings. To me, this is the peak of Eno's ambient portfolio.

Whilst musically, it might be good on its own, the technological side of things allows it to shine. This is one of the first albums to take advantage of the then new CD format, and so Eno decided to create a 60 minute deliverance upon this beautiful venture. To some this might be excessive, but to me this showcases the almost beautiful array of technology Eno can master, modern or not. To me, this makes Eno one of the most modern musicians in recent memory, that, no matter the changing times, will always remain ahead of the game, and it is something I have always found endearing. This wouldn't be the last time Eno would take his hand at using new technology for his music as 30+ years later he'd release Reflection, not only as a CD and vinyl; not only a seasonal album that changes its run time, but also an app on IOS that went on for infinity. I'd say the 60 minutes add to the album's whole appeal for me, being this one hour, constantly changing piece that I always find new discoveries with.

However, this album has a distinct impact on me as a person. I do not like to get personal in my reviews as I am of the mindset to show music first rather than what it did for me in my personal life, but for this review I feel it is needed. I listened to this last year in January, and I consider 2022 to be one of the worst years of my life so far. I faced many challenges during that year, with friendship, emotions, stress, sexuality, and me as a whole. It was the year where I felt truly angry, bitter, and above all else, sad in my life. It was a roller coaster that I wished never happened. But, whenever I felt a cold wavering of emotions through me, I would listen to this album at the middle of the night, fully. It started with January as I was under a ton of pressure within my school work, and it not only calmed me, but also gave me a sense of hope, a sense that everything will be alright in the end, and soon whenever I felt stressed, or under pressure, I would always try and calm myself with this piece of music. Sometimes it didn't work, I admit, not every impactful album in my life can be played every single moment, but, whenever I am in the mood, I will always play this record to give me serenity. This is an album that means so much in the long run, and it helped me get through the past year, and hopefully many more to come.

This hour long masterpiece Eno has made is in a special place in my heart. It is the album that, again, helped me get through the past year, and I think it deserves much recognition. While it may seem simple, this piece has layers to me, and it is an album that I do not think I can live without. Truly, truly amazing.

The first of just two collaborative releases by these two moments-defining icons, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts was released in 1981, released the same year as David Byrne's debut solo album, The Catherine Wheel (featuring Eno, as well as Bernie Worrell and Adrian Belew), and in between Brian Eno's Ambient(s) 3 and 4. This was likewise released a year after Talking Heads' beloved fourth, Remain In Light (1980), which was itself produced by Eno. Naturally considered on the site as 'Progressive Electronic', I'm sure we can all agree, at first glance, Bush of Ghosts is bound to be much more. And indeed, in that alone, it delivered. [The rating for this review will be solely based upon the (nearly) original album tracks.]

From the get-go, with "America Is Waiting", the specific focus of the whole album is revealed: Sampledelia, in this song's case a joyfully maximalist (if not chaotic) mish-mash of seismic Funk and apparent 'World' sonics (I'm pretty ignorant of Worldbeat at large, I'll add). Also owing to the strength of the track is Bill Laswell on bass. Killer opener. "Mea Culpa" is a wild supposed back-and-forth with an undisclosed politician and an on-air radio caller. The percussion is phenomenal. I can imagine Brian Eno in particular being inspired by the many No Wave bands which he encountered and helped showcase from New York's initial Punk movement, and I think what Byrne brings to the table is unsurprising (though not because of predictability; I'm quite happy with this). In a likewise delightfully unsurprising fashion, the sampled vocals have a definite rhythmic quality that drives the song from the start. Some of the sonic choices, in particular little trills and dings heard in the middle, strike me as Industrial, but these elements are diminished by Eno's own Ambient panache [Seriously, am I a huge Muso douche? haha]. Lebanese singer Dunya Younes is sampled on the next, the Funk-forward "Regiment", which adds a legitimately modern sound. I mean, this is still so fresh. Nice synth solo from Brian here toward the end, which itself I might guess was, at one time or another, chopped up.

Finally back to some of the excitement I felt with "America", "Help Me Somebody" has that groovy Funk and super bright guitar which is a perfect match to the sampling of the excited Southern Baptist preaching. I definitely have to put myself in a different mindset when listening to this sort of thing (and, plenty of the time, to Eno specifically). "The Jezebel Spirit" is very much of the same expression (this time sampling audio from an exorcism), but is far more straight. It picks up big time, at least, with the addition of almost phone-dial-like clangs. We initially return to a softer inflection on "Very, Very Hungry" (not "Qu'Ran", as was helpfully noted in the album details). Some guitar work nearing the end is a winning factor. "Moonlight in Glory" keeps us cool, another stronger showcase for percussion, but all in all a little too calm and singular for my tastes. Itchin' for more. "The Carrier" next begins with a chilling thumping bass, met with increasingly more elements: from spacy, haunting tones to softer (more overtly) ambient flourishes. Near the midpoint, we hear a second Younes sample (though from the same source as "Regiment").

We stay haunted [haha] on "A Secret Life", in great part thanks to its selected sample, from yet another Lebanese vocalist, Samira Tewfik. Eerie... And for that alone, one of the best on the album. To my ears, we have another No Wave-esque salute on "Come with Us". I hope the album continues to scare me till the end. That would be nice haha. [SPOILER WARNING FOR FOUR SENTENCES FROM NOW: It did.] In a broad sense (which is the position I try to take), this is assuredly Prog. Wonderful. For the original track listing, we then have our original album closer, the ethereally understated "Mountain of Needles". Effective closer. Methinks very Eno. Onto the bonus material!

With the exclusion of "Qu'Ran" as mentioned above, the bonus tracks were made available on a 2006 edition. "Pitch to Voltage" is first, with a distinctly Eastern feeling. "Two Against Three" happened; the apparently chopped up keyboards(?) is purty noice. Happy to receive up next some "Vocal Outtakes", a very quick 36 seconds of dog-like vocalization. Naturally following is "New Feet", another relatively maximal track with whooping and wailing vocals and over-the-top snare-like percussion. "Defiant" was another with less to offer, in my opinion; no crescendo, and with less-than-exciting additions as it progressed. I had no feelings for "Number 8 Mix" until the bright chiming of strings in its second half. Finally finally we have "Solo Guitar with Tin Foil". And if there was a title that made me go 'Hmmm...,' it's this'n. What does it mean? It's certainly beautiful. The warm, melodic attacks from our titular "Solo Guitar" are accompanied solely with its soft reverb. No regrets there. Another interesting selection as 'closer'.

True Rate: 3.5/5.0

One of the true pioneers of Berlin School progressive electronica and kosmische Krautrock with bands such as Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel and the jam session turned real recordings band The Cosmic Jokers, KLAUS SCHULZE's 70s works remain unparalleled in creative expressionism, in the realms of electronically produced ambiance and atmospheric alienation. If you count collaborative efforts, the man has released well over 60 albums and has gone down in history as one of Germany's most creative musical minds not to mention the #1 hero of atmospheric keyboard and synthesizer worshippers worldwide. It saddens us when our great heroes leave this Earthly plane and moves on to the next chapter of their consciousness journey but at the way too young of age of 74, SCHULZE passed in April 2022 just before this album DEUS ARRAKIS hit the scene in July 2022.

It was a long ride from early drummer turned synth-wizard to the end of his days but as legendary as his 70s output may remain, SCHULZE never rested on his laurels and continued to crank out and unthinkable number of albums during his career not only as KLAUS SCHULZE but under the assumed alias of Richard Wahnfried. SCHULZE teamed up with Pete Namlook for a number of ambient recordings in the 90s as well as Dead Can Dance siren Lisa Gerrard. After 50 years on the music scene his latest DEUS ARRAKIS proves that the man never lost his touch and could still magically conjure up some of the craziest surreal sounds right up to the end. This album's sixteen tracks is better thought of as three very long tracks. SCHULZE always loved ridiculously long album lengths and this one is no different. At over 77 minutes long, "Osiris" is a mere 18 1/2 minutes compared to the near 32 of "Seth" and the 27 of "Der Hauch des Lebens.

Nothing new under the sun here really. This is the same kind of ethereal escapism SCHULZE has been cranking out since his debut album "Irrlicht" which was released in 1972, a whopping half century before this final chapter (although i'm sure we'll be experiencing archival releases for years to come). Beyond words really in describing SCHULZE's work as his music seems divinely downloaded to eke out every possible emotional response at the exact right moment. DEUS ARRAKIS is no exception. Granted i haven't heard even close to every SCHULZE release but out of the 15 or so releases i have relished, i find his musical expressions to remain not only timeless but utterly unlike any other artist past or present. Hypnotizing, eerie and elegant, SCHULZE took his gifts to the grave but pumped out one last feast for his frothing fans before his untimely passing.

"Osiris" is basically a four part nearly 19 minute space ambient trip. Mellow and new agey, this albums starts out making you think SCHULZE has lost some of his mojo. After all he has cranked out dozens of albums. Perhaps he's all dried up. It takes a close listen to this sort of music to really appreciate the nuances. It helps to realize that DEUS ARRAKIS is the continuation of the 1979 "Dune" album in theme and the three multi-part themes evoke the emotive content. The simplicity of this first offering presumably reflects the sparse sandscapes that the Frank Herbert sci-fi film of the same name presented. ARRAKIS was the name of the planet in the novel and film. This "track" also expresses the calmness before the storm on a planet where there are many.

The real gem comes with "Seth," a seven part Berlin School instant classic which showcases not only SCHULZE's propensity as a composer, keyboardist, arranger, mixer and producer extraordinaire but also features a lugubrious yet magnificent cello performance from Wolfgang Tiepold. The "track" also features some excellent spaced out electronic whizzing, oscillating as well as other transistor circuity weirdness. Something of a mix of Berlin School and chamber hall modern classical, the track exudes the fingerprint of a master. Something of a slow oozing flow where the cello slinks across the vastness of sound, the "track" is vibrant and dynamic beyond words.

"Der Hauch des Lebens" is a five part "track" that employs a droning effect that sustains the beginning of this sprawling 27-minute opus. As part one feels like a gentle glide through vacuous space, part two finds ethereal wordless vocal utterances from Eva-Maria Kagermann hauntingly undulating through the sinuating sonicsphere like a cosmic mermaid navigating the astral plane. Slowly but surely the abstract ambience increases Berlin School key stabs introducing a more tangible melodic underpinning until in the middle of part three is the dominate aspect relegating the eerie ambience to the role of backdrop. Schools out (Berlin style) for part four where ambience rules once again with swirling synth loops pulsating about like jellyfish in the deepest recesses of the sea.

Although i have not heard much of SCHULZE's music of the last 30 years (i much prefer his earliest freakery), i'm still never disappointed when i dabble into any given era. One thing KLAUS SCHULZE proved was that you could retain quality despite a rather large quantity. To be honest, the fact that DEUS ARRAKIS is as good as it is a half century into this man's career is nothing more than outstanding. A true gift to the world has been taken but one thing is for sure and that is that KLAUS SCHULZE left in his wake more music than the average soul can endure. As far as a last call on this physical plane, KLAUS SCHULZE couldn't have hoped for much better as a farewell offering to the world. On DEUS ARRAKIS he effortlessly displays his electronica wizardry in perfect form with only death keeping him from continuing on. While not quite as engaging as some of his earliest releases, this final statement is something to be quite proud of for sure.

This is my first rendez-vous with the music of MORT GARSON (1924-2008), a classically trained musician and electronic researcher who was among the first persons to make music with the Moog synthesizer. Several of his albums have been reviewed here, even one album from the 12-part series "Signs of the Zodiac" that was entirely released in 1969. Just for the heck of it, I too choose my own sign, without being interested in astrology per se.

Like seemingly each album in the Zodiac series, Pisces features three actors (Nancy Priddy, John Erwin and Michael Bell) reading in brief turns some astrological text about the sign in question, backed by Garson's cosmic Moog music. The album is about 28 minutes long, containing six tracks of varied length. It's rather pointless trying to follow or analyse the album track by track instead of just taking it as one continuity, as it certainly feels like. In other words, the textual level seems to be the primary thing, not the background music, so it wouldn't make much sense to talk of musical compositions or "songs" that one could tell from one another. But occasionally, for example in 'Pisces - Numbers, Gems and Colors', the synthesizer is a bit more up front, making me think of early VANGELIS -- who also used narration on tracks such as 'Albedo 0.39' and on some tracks of Aphrodite Child's classic album 666.

For non-native English speakers, these albums could be used as a listening practice. Of course it would help if the listener was sincerely interested in astrology. I'm an avid reader of fiction mainly, but not at all into audio books that have nowadays become more and more popular. If I was to choose whether to listen to an audio novel, ie. some brief book I'd like to read, or to this album, I would certainly choose this (well, I just did), merely for sonic reasons. Because this actually sounds quite fascinating, and I don't even need to fully concentrate on the text. The actors are very good in their task, they are not merely reading the text, and I simply like their voices, especially the female one. Those slightly echoed voices combined with Mort Garson's elegant and spacey use of Moog gives the whole a charming feel of an old (late 50's, 60's or 70's) science fiction movie.

Warmly recommended for a) Moog enthusiasts, b) people keen on astrology, and c) people enjoying hearplays and audio books. If you fill out each of these, just make the Youtube search and enjoy.

To me, this is almost 5-star Krautrock album.... If you look at the players, and listen to the sound, it is well earlier in terms of its sound than later electronic music - it has all the hallmarks of classic Krautrock. It does have a melodic and ambient vibe, but the production is very acoustic and organic sounding, with even a bit of Motorrik. Way more so than what would be classified as Progressive Electronic a 'la later Ashra (post Tempel), TD, Klaus Schulze, or even Kraftwerk. Regardless of classification, I find Harmonia to me quintessential Krautrock. I am guessing it is classified otherwise due to date of release. (1975)

It hums along in the best droning and melodic sense as in Popol Vuh, Neu!, Cluster, GILA, and others.

I think both Harmonia albums are just some of the best sounding Krautrock ever. Give this album a spin, it has an unmistakable sound, and is far from PE. But what do I know?! 4.4 stars from me.

-- First review for this artist --

AMBER ROUTE were a two-man act from California, founded in 1973, and this is the first one of their two albums. A pity that the cover design's visualization of the hilarious Dada-like title is rather poor. The music is an interesting curiosity, to say the least. The strong psychedelic flavour is very reminiscent of the late 60's PINK FLOYD. Despite that, the Progressive Electronic subgenre is more adequate than Psychedelic/Space Rock, especially for the compositional structures that don't have much to do with rock. There is also an equally recognizable TANGERINE DREAM influence. In the core of the sound are thick layers of synthesizers, accompanied by guitar, piano, clarinet -- and vocals.

The title track that starts the 34½-minute, four-piece album could have been written by Roger Waters or Rick Wright, with lingering echoes from Syd Barrett, around The Saucerful of Secrets and Ummagumma. The tempo is slow, the Rick Wright reminding monotonous voice keeps repeating the title, and a bit deeper voice joins when the very obscure lyrics progress. The atmosphere is hypnotic and hallucinatory.

The Dada/Surrealistic approach continues with 'When Cries Are Photographed Finally as Ravens'. The vocals are again present in the equally slow tempo, but partly because they're half buried under the thick synth carpets it's not easy to make any sense of them. Hopefully the vinyl contained lyrics printed on the back cover or sleeve (I'm using YouTube). This song is all too similar with the first one. The mentioned Tangerine Dream resemblance is a mixture of the esoteric and abstract soundscapes of the early era, and the mid/late 70's albums Phaedra, Stratosfear and the vocal-containing Cyclone (1978). The use of guitars is rather similar to Edgar Froese's style.

The final piece on the A side, 'Martyrs', tries only lazily to step out of the knee-deep psychedelic swamp. Still in a slow tempo, at least occasionally it contains a bit more airy use of synths and clarinet. When the vocals arrive, we're again pretty close to the preceding tracks. Sigh.

The B side contains a long instrumental piece, 'Asteroid Joroid' (16:25). It's basically a Tangerine Dream clone with the familiar bubbling sequencers and all. Due to the clarinet the best reference is Cyclone and its longest piece 'Madrigal Meridian'. A well done pastiche, and fairly enjoyable if you're into the late 70's Tangerine Dream, but in the end not as many-sided and nuanced as the role model.

The verdict unfortunately leans to the negative side. The level of production? So and so. Originality? Hardly any. The combination of the Saucerful era Pink Floyd and the 70's Tangerine Dream actually says it all. I believe that if I had this LP, I would eventually sell it away, having become extremely tired of its music. Even when I'd still appreciate the albums of their two influencers.