EBERHARD SCHOENER

It's been too many years since listening to this album (which I should borrow again from library), but I have some positive memories of it. Ehm... did I really once confuse this musician with Eberhard Weber, a famous jazz bassist? *Blushes* But hey, this album has also terrific bass playing (by Hansi Ströer) and at the time of my mistake I probably knew Weber only from Kate Bush's album The Dreaming. Mistake forgiven-?

This album was released on the -IC- label which has introduced me to countless Electronic/New Instrumental Music artists during a couple of decades. I recommend that label to all friends of the genre: their output is never lame New Age but (mostly German), more or less "Kosmische", electro-acoustic music, sometimes with suitable pop elements. Schoener is rather eclectic within the genre: he uses on this album a chamber orchestra and two different choirs (boys' and monks', the latter bringing a strong Gregorian flavour), and the player list includes e.g. Andy Summers on guitar. The composer-keyboardist himself has a background in classical music.

This music is trance-like, hypnotic, deep and exciting. Sound is excellent and crisp, all the details embracing the listener's ears. Two tracks out of five last over 12 minutes. Recommended if you like artists like Klaus Schulze or Dead Can Dance.

Eberhard Schoener made a name in classical music as a sound arranger and director. Early in his career he distinguished himself through a handful of challenging electronic-experimental albums devoted to long "evanescent" driven synthscapes, contemporary ethno-ritual-theatrical performances. His most notorious effort is the mesmeric Bali-Agung recorded one year before. Signed on the legendary Innovative Communication, Trance-Formation follows the path defined by Bali-Agung but put the emphasise on religious motives, providing abundant human-liturgical-epiphanic choirs sustained by unusual hypno-pulsating arpeggios (1. Falling in trance), subtle synth moves and harsh psych guitars. Shape Of Things To Come provides eerie sound textures closed to the kosmische peacefulness of Schulze, The Cosmic Jokers but always with a heavy religious inflected accent. Sign of emotions is a more conventional-standardised space rockin track but according to me this it is the most powerful piece on this album, utterly meditative and fragile beauty. The self title track features atonal-weird experiments based on organ chords. Trance-Formation remains a multidirectional-versatile kosmische rock album, a bit fashionable but a nice listening experience.