BODY LOVE - VOL. 2

Sometimes it's hard to say why you like one Schulze album and not the other. They all consist of 30-something minute songs that, for pretty much their entire course, either go "dim-dum-dum blip dim-dim-dum-dum" or "dum-dim-dim dum-dim-dim blip dum-dududum-dim-dim" or something similar. I'm sure there's higher intelligence involved to explain why some of it seems dull and at other times it works out so amazingly.

While Moondawn couldn't entirely convince me, here on Body Love, Schulze gets all his dums and dims and blips exactly where they should be to create magic.

Body Love comes in two volumes: "Body Love" and "Body Love Vol 2". Both excellent but with a personal preference for Body Love 2. Mainly because of the superior take on the one track that both releases share: Stardancer

Nowhere Now Where is a half hour long crescendo that evolves from quiet, silent and slightly hesitating melodies into an orgiastic sound fest of churning sequences and twittering moog solos.

The track is a good example of the difference in method between KS and his friends from Tangerine Dream. TD is very much composed and arranged, with one sequence progressing into the other. With Schulze, the change of the themes is more blurry, the music more like one organic flow that sounds spontaneous and improvised, as if the piece evolves all by itself with just a few turns on the knobs by the master. (I don't want to imply I like one approach more then the other. I just thought I'd point out what I perceive as the main difference between both artists.)

Stardancer II is a reprise from the Body Love album and superior to its original. For people that are only familiar with TD, this might be the track to start. Or you could start with Moogetique, an amazing experimental piece reminiscent of Schulze's earlier albums. Very cosmic and minimalist. With sparse orchestration, Schulze creates an enchanting and slightly disconcerting mood. Pure genius.