NADA

I found a copy of this for cheap, the 1980 American pressing of this on Celestial Harmonies. This album was first released in 1977 in Germany on Wergo, and when it was released in America, the artwork and packaging made this album look more like what you'll be expecting is insipid New Age. Had I known nothing about this album prior to purchasing, I'd probably pass this by and end up regretting it. By this point he moved away from the Terry Riley-type minimalist music of his 1972 double album Hamel (I am not familiar with Between, but I should remedy that if I can find a copy) and in Nada went right in the world of Schulze style electronic music. The title track features minimalist synth patterns utilizing the Elka Rhapsody (amusingly the album states it was an organ responsible for this, and there's not a single jot of organ in this album). It has that nice '70s feel to it which I really like. "Silence" sounds more like abstract avant garde to my ears. "Slow Motion" sounds like a piano variation of the title track. It's all played on piano, and I usually find the piano boring and overrated, but this was surprisingly effective piece of minimalist piano music. "Beyond the Wall of Sleep" takes all of side two, and it really isn't too different from the title track, except longer, and it starts off slower and then picks up speed as it progresses and then slows down towards the end. There doesn't appear to be much in the way of world music influences here, the Berlin school and minimalist music is most dominant, and it actually works well. Nice album well worth having.