MIRAGE

Welcome to the world of the few who came to believe that a side of vinyl could fit more than 18-20 minutes of music! With this 1975 release we see Klaus Schulze recreate himself and his vision as an artist with his first concept album. The results are mature and masterful--we've entered a new phase of Klaus' work: that of a master of craft--a craft that he and a few others were pioneering.

Side One: "Velvet Voyage" (28:28) is offers a sonic landscape that is stark, bleak, yet the music is constructed, to my ears, very similarly to a classical piece of music. The fact that there are no sequences or percussive sounds used to drive the music forward, that it's mostly done with a weave of individual, single note-playing keyboard instruments is what gives me that impression. Strings, winds, horns, and, yes, percussion instruments are magically replaced by electronically synthesized sounds. Remarkable. The second half of the song, in which the multi-instrumental fabric is full and at play, is my favorite part. I always find it weird that this weave begins to slowly fade into the background with over seven minutes yet remaining as gurgles, burbles, harpsichord, and Mellotron move out front with the soloing "cor anglais." The almost-cacophonous Mellotron dominance over the final two minutes is unsettling. I think I understand Klaus despondent mood while composing/recording this. (9/10)

Side Two: "Crystal Lake" (29:16) opens with a slowly emerging and developing sequence of "bell" arpeggi into which Klaus feeds other sounds and sequences. The bass-heralded shift at 4:40 is awesome! Such a surprise. The sequences awesomely alternate and shift into other chords over the next three minutes as Klaus keeps us in suspense with each and every new shift. At the end of the eighth minute a new horn-like synth brings in a spritely new "lead" instrument to distract us. More and increasingly quicker shifts, now supported by an accompanying bass line, exert some new tension into the song during the twelfth through fifteenth minutes. Thereafter the mid- and upper-range sounds fade out leaving low end sounds to dominate until a synth wash and Arp-like synth leads in the high end upper registers. In the nineteenth minute a high-end "tingling" sequence and Mellotron male (and later female) voices join in giving the song an interrupted, floundering feel, like an interlude. Soon a new tapestry of sound is constructed with a different set of sequences woven into the foundation while Arp does the soloing over the top. A perfect display of the power and breadth of the Berlin School apparatus. (10/10)

While I like Berlin School music that uses sequences as Klaus does on Side Two more than I do the airy, feathery effect of the first half of "Velvet Voyage," I understand the value others place on this album as a whole. Klaus took a step--a big step--out of his previous patterns with this one and the world is a much better place for it (for the reason of all of his output after this).

A five star masterpiece; a shining example of the potential realized for this new musical form.