GRUN

Notorious figure in psych-acoustic-electronica and in kosmische music, Conrad Schnitzler is certainly less known than his old partners from Tangerine Dream (Edgard Froese and Klaus Schulze during the recording sessions of electronic meditation). His work is underestimated if we compare it with the fruitful career of Klaus Schulze. Nevertheless when Schulze didn't success to renew his own genre, Conrad Schnitzler always published albums with new compostional ideas, new sounds and with a strong respect for Art as a freedom of creation and a way to transcend the human soul. Grun is among my favourite Schnitzler's albums from the 70's / 80's era (next to Rot, Blaud, Gelb and Swharz). It contains two intriguing spaced out minimal epics with catchy electro-hypno rhythms and circular, droning melodical fragments. Der Reise Und Seine Frau is a neurotic soundscape featuring ghostly, oppressively dark atmospheres and a nice orchestration of electronic, almost groovy pulsations. Bis Die Blaue Blume Bluht is a micro-tonal, minimal electronic epic that sounds like a semi-ambient version of Kraftwerk's urbanistic-electro pop. It also admits a comparison with late 70's gentle, melodic electronic essays from Cluster. This is almost a classic. It represents a great facet of Schnitzler's musical personality.

Grun seems much more polished that Schnitzler's previous color-related albums, and maybe more accessible too. Grun starts where Gelb left off - experimental electronic music only slightly influenced by the '80s in finer production quality. The tracks on this album are a bit more accessible in that they each follow a clearly established percussive beat steadily throughout, but still remain experimental at their core, thus being much more interesting than nearly all of the electronic artists active during the '80s.

"Der Riese Und Seine Frau" utilized the techno-tribal percussive elements from earlier albums, but is coupled with glistening, shiny cascades of beautifully polished sounding synth melodies. Very spacey and celebratory.

"Bis Die Blaue Blume Blüht" is the more experimental of the two tracks. The percussive elements are kept to a minimum, using mostly subdued bassy thumps instead of full on percussive assault. Abstract space sounds and zapping frequencies in a kind of Jamaican dub rhythm are the main focus of this track. It's very relaxed, but also optimistic and fun.

Compared to nearly anything else from the '80s, Conrad Schnitzler reigns supreme. His work is much more consistent than many similar artists, and he seems to show much more integrity in his work. Grun is a great album, but not quite as wonderful as Blau or Rot.

Welcome to the roots of dreamy industrial electronic prog.

Prog/electronic pioneer, Conrad Schnitzler, always had the knack of taking the less traveled routes to develop his personal musical language. That alone has led to a quiet vast experimentation within the borderlines of the prog/electronic sub-genre. But at the same time his "productions" rarely by themselves, are over produced or over worked. This up front way of performing and recording has its benefits and drawbacks.

GRUN a 1981 album (remastered in 2006), is inclined to the benefits and less to the wrongs. The first 32 minute long piece "Der Riese Und Seine Frau" is full of pre-noise/industrial, "african-like" drumming, that conjures up for a very ritualistic electronic journey. There is no subtle intention in the use of intense non-stop rhythmical progressions to either set you off or in. On the other hand the synth's flowing melody lines and atmospheres are truly inviting and a relief from the intense hypnotic trance, one eventually is trapped into.

"Bis Die Blaue Blume Blüht" the second composition, lowers the intensity of the drumming, in favour of a more joyful hypnotic trip. Its beauty resides mainly in its apparent melodic simplicity and the myriad of synth "effects" that detail the whole atmosphere of the song.

"Bonus" third track, "Bis Die Blaue Blume Blüht / 45", as its title implies, is a faster version of the preceding composition. Works as "bonus" nothing else beyond that.

Intense, minimalistic, intriguing and daring. Yet, its informal approach saves it from becoming something else but a straight forward step into the electronic-world of this musician's quest.

****4 "daring and unpretentious" PA stars. (Not really for everybody, but essential for those who dig this sub-genre).