LICHTPYRAMIDE II

English sound artist Jack Ellister has created a wonderous electronic landscape on this release, running the gamut from the serene ambience of the opener to bonafide Vangelis-esque prog-electronic rock on the final track "Stadt Land Fluss", an epic synth piece in 6/4 that exudes determination and represents the only appearance of percussion on the album. The preceding tracks are all more modest but no less beautiful. "Sahne" is a gorgeous piece of ambient music that feels distinctly extraterrestrial in its timbre, but warm and cute at the same time, as if to express the bliss of floating freely in space. "Memory Scan" feels more grounded due to the presence of guitar, but similarly maintains the feeling that this is how a mysterious, yet oddly inviting infinite space might be depicted in music.

Most other tracks are of the typical loop-based progressive electronic variety. Of these, the 7-minute "Polonium" is the only one that kind of overstays its welcome in my opinion, being a bit too derivative of Klaus Schulze and just a bit too uninventive for my taste. I prefer Ellister's loops when they're more abstract and alien, when they're built out of distorted guitar sequences ("Photosynthese") or unaccompanied synth lines ("Noorderlicht", on which the synthesizer is played by Sula Bassana, who also contributes keyboards to the psychedelic "Rotierende Reisenbahn", which sounds like something Boards Of Canada might have created if they were in an ambient mood). Overall, a very rewarding experience, recommended for fans of Heldon, Tangerine Dream and Nodens Ictus, and for any appreciator of cosmic music in general.