ETHER

On one hand it's remarkable that a 'symphonic prog expert' is publishing the first review of the progressive electronic formation Redshift. But on the other hand, since I bought the live 2-LP Encore by the pivotal progressive electronic band Tangerine Dream in the late Seventies, I have turned into a huge fan of Seventies bands like Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Neuronium and Synergy (Larry Fast). And since the early Nineties I enjoy an eruption of 'retro-sounding bands' that are inspired by Seventies Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze like Rogue Element, Radio Massacre International, Free System Project, Rudy Adrian, Airsculpture, Gert Emmens & Ruud Heij, Navigator and .... Red Shift, I would like to thank Ricochet for their addition! This CD contains two live tracks (1 and 4) from 1996 and two studio songs (2 and 3) from 1997.

1. A Midnight Clear (23:59) : The start of this long composition in typically mellow electronic music delivering lots of spacey sounds (as if a spaceship is landing on earth), wonderfully blended with awesome choir-Mellotron waves. Then slow but fat Moog synthesizer drops join, followed by tasteful sequencing, a lush violin- Mellotron sound and exciting synthesizer flights in the vein of 74-77 Tangerine Dream, the interplay is great. In the second part the moods shift from mellow with majestic violin-Mellotron waves to catchy accellarations with bombastic sequencers. This is Electronic Prog Heaven!

2. Bombers In The Desert (8:23) : First an ominous atmosphere, then a slow build-up with sequencers and synthesizers and a strong, quite compelling Arabian undertone. We can enjoy lots of changing climates, from mellow and hypnotizing to bombastic featuring howling electric guitar runs and beautiful strings layers.

3. Static (5:13) : This short piece contains lots of synthesizer sounds and pleasant work on the Fender Rhodes piano.

4. Ether (27:29) : Another strongly build-up composition, from spacey to gradually more bombastic with fat synthesizer drops, howling electric guitar and lush keyboards. The final part is very compelling: a dreamy climate with a sensitive Gilmourian guitar solo, accompanied by wonderful strings and choir-Mellotron, goose bumps!

One of the best electronic prog albums I have heard in the last 15 years!

Though this is listed in the Archives as a studio album, tracks 1 and 4 (the bulk of the album) were recorded live at Jodrell Bank observatory. Just thinking about this glorious spacemusic in such an apposite setting gives me goosebumps.

REDSHIFT purvey a TANGERINE DREAM-like mixture of cold ambience and warm bass-heavy pulsing sequencers, and on this, their second album, they are true to form. It's the soundtrack to accompany the exploration of the universe: huge synths and choral sounds reflecting the stardust from whence we all came, chattering sequencers imitating the bright cold stars.

'A Midnight Clear' and 'Ether' are the two long tracks, and they both begin with portentious synth and mellotron before surrendering to the sequencer (at 8:30 and 5:45 respectively), reaching a climax and then fading back into silence. If this sounds like the compositional structure TANGERINE DREAM used with such success, you'd be right. Had I been played this and told it was TD live, I would have no reason to disbelieve it.

The shorter middle tracks are studio efforts, and the sinister, eastern-tinged 'Bombers in the Desert' is perhaps the highlight of the album, along with ROB JENKINS' sublime guitar in the closing section of the title track.

This is nearly as good as REDSHIFT gets, but the album does not exhibit anywhere near the inventiveness required for serious consideration as a masterpiece. There are progressive electronic musicians (many not included here) whose work is redefining popular music. By contrast, REDSHIFT is a pleasant backwater.

Nectarine Fiend

A tale of fan-boys turning into the very image of their adoration pt. 4.

Somewhere in the midst of this album I completely lost myself, time and whatever loose ties I had to the surrounding world. I entered a state of delightful bewilderment, - some bizarre scuba diving scene with myself in the leading role swimming deeper and deeper into the coral blue abyss, where the waters are illuminated in star glistened shimmering surfaces. Diamonds of sound for lack of a better wording - opening up an alien universe of fluid and luscious atmospheres.

Starting with a monster of a live track, this album from British group Redshift is by far the best I've heard from the modern Tangerine Dream heir takers. Sure, like other reviewers here have mentioned, you could be fooled into believing that this is a bootleg concert of Froese and co from around the time Rubycon saw the light of day, but then again, I think Ether shows true and original signs of an album come to life under its own circumstances and settings. Yes, the inspiration is there, the modular synthesizers, towering mellotron sculptures of ice, tweaking sputtering sequencers - all of those familiar trademarks are all featured in full force as well, relegating that oh so seductive and watery vibe to the music..... Yet there is something here hiding underneath the embers of the old TD fire - something futuristic - it shines through in every facet of the music colouring the proceedings in a modern lighting that continues to draw attention to itself, rather than having the insistent stubborn old electronic fans focusing on all the stuff that brings to mind, a band that pioneered almost everything in regards to the genre. I'm not entirely sure, if this is because of the smooth guitar stylings of Rob Jenkins that add a touch of the symphonic and bombastic - especially during the latter part of the final live track, where you could swear you were listening to a distant brother of Shine on you Crazy Diamond, - or if it's the omnipresent crabbing myriad of synth patterns and hypnotic segments of sequencer that together conjures up images of a huge electronic symphony with a hundred different voices coming from all directions at once, whilst never yelping, yelling or screaming on top of each other. Everything seems democratically orchestrated, and this from a band that only counts 4 lads....

The middle studio tracks are also of high quality, and I especially adore Bombers In The Desert for it's menacing throbbing bass thumps that catapult the track forth - into the desert on the wings of warmongering planes. Very easy to imagine this music as the soundtrack for a future desert bloodshed.

Just like the previous review I did, there is no real distinctions between the live tracks and the studio ones. The band very elegantly move and weave within the same swirling hypnotising sound appearances, and apart from the inspiring applauds coming on now and again, you wouldn't know those two epic pieces of music were recorded in front of a live audience. The thing is, that while a huge portion of prog fans currently are digging the feel of the old time classics - hoping to revive the same sort of sound with the artists' on board usage of mellotrons, analogue synths and whatnot, - people seem to forget how colossal these things are. Not to mention how heavy and unhandy they are to carry around. It costs a small fortune catering these wonderful tools of sound, which is why you often get these 'mixed' albums from Redshift. These guys are not millionaires in any way, shape or form. Almost every time this band performs live, they publish an album.

Now one could very easily say this sort of dilemma has everything to do about finance, and while that maybe true in a minuscule and very uninteresting way, - it's still the output here that deserves all of your attention. Trust me. Can you imagine having to be in the moment - instantly - be inspired, imaginative - totally into what you have to do - that ever so rare live concert, freeform improv electronics with no real bearings other than what your fellow astronauts are giving off.... Can you imagine that? - And then time and again delivering music that is so awe inspiring and stunning.... To me personally, it's proof of the human spirit in one of its most beautiful forms. 4.5 stars.