PROGRESSIVE ELECTRONIC

— First review of this album —

Scott Heller aka Dr Space takes a break from keyboard duties for cosmic rockers the Øresund Space Collective to deliver `Alien Planet Trip: Volume 1', the first of several promised solo works, and a wild, experimental and moody change of direction it proves to be! Culled from studio improvisations, `...Trip' is heavy on feverish distortion, swirling electronics and rumbling drones all fusing into stormy drifting instrumental atmospheres, actually a galaxy far away from the jam-heavy ØSC LP's and more in the manner of the early Krautrock-era of Tangerine Dream (but probably more resembling a soundtrack to Edgar Froese's most vivid nightmares!), also given a very modern edge.

Don't look for anything resembling a tune or melodic elements in side-long piece `Five Dimensions Of The Universe'. It's an endless rumbling drone of maddening electronic loops and ringing fizzes spiralling into infinity laced with grumbling guitar distortion provided by two ØSC collaborators Nicklas Sørensen of mellow spacerockers Papir and Richard Orlando of Alien Plenetscapes. Fleeting synth drifts rise and fall like both blowing breezes and raging gales, and guitars eventually twist into stormy wailing reaches and dreamy psychedelic embers. Fleeting moments of light and wonder from trilling and comforting whirring synth caresses reveal themselves in the second half, but overall this wild trip remains darkly colourful and perfectly captures the stark isolation of space the majority of its near twenty-five minute length.

On the flip side, the maddening and immersive `Rising Sun Over Mars' is a nightmarish machine sound collage of unceasing looping sequencer patterns over washes of harsh splintering guitar distortion and bleeding electronics, and the guitars throughout `In Search Of Life On Io' slink from drowsy psychedelic echoing, bluesy smoulders and feedback-strangled ripples, all the while lurching trip-hop-like programmed beats and scuzzy distortion pepper the background. A bonus track is also available with a download purchase through Bandcamp that doesn't fit on the vinyl edition, and `Alien Improv II' is a fizzing Berlin School-modelled howling storm that doesn't sound unlike parts of early Klaus Schulze albums like `Cyborg', only heavier.

With Heller relocating it essentially means the ØSC will be going on something of a hiatus for now, so fans and followers will have these exploratory releases to look forward to, and based on this first volume, it means there's plenty of challenging and experimental space music to come in the future. Well done as always, Scott, bring on volume two!

Four stars for this wicked mind-melt!

I am a long time fan of both Klaus and Lisa and this double cd contains (almost) all of my favorite things about both of them. Some of this reminds me of early Klaus, but most of it is closer to Dead Can Dance somehow.

Easing and thought-provoking, the combination of their musical personalities is so fascinating and pleasing that it seems that everyone should own and listen to this daily. So, get to it. ;)

This has been my favorite summertime cd since 2009. Re-listening to it today made me think that I really need to come here to remind all of you that it is, in every way, a wonderful experience.

Recorded over two dates in October and November 2016 and taken from performances in both Cairo and the Netherlands, `Live' sees Electric Orange keyboardist Dirk Jan Müller presenting a series of immersive Berlin School-modelled prog-electronic instrumentals in a concert setting, joined on additional synths by Horst Porkert of Sunhair Records. Like the last two Cosmic Ground studio albums, `Live' is comprised of four side-long pieces that slowly unfold and delicately reveal their intricacies, and while the early Seventies works of Tangerine Dream are the starting point as always, Dirk and company move beyond that as lengthy unhurried atmospheres and welcome surprises emerge throughout the set and take the pieces in fresh directions, with many stretches fusing both modern and vintage sounds effortlessly.

Opening with quietly mournful and groaning Mellotron mystery, `Dark Enck' evolves into a heavy and dense pure Berlin School drift that rumbles with jangling machine-driven tension and echoing cavernous vibrations. `Cairo Grind' quickly builds in tempo to thrum with rapid skittering sequencer trickles and pattering beats that almost take on a relentless trance-like urgency.

At its core, `Unground I' is a slowly unfolding drone with a constant sustaining hum to its backing behind placid synth caresses, but there's emerging traces of unease flitting around throughout, and it ultimately dissolves into more dangerous sequencer-laced tension in the second half. `Unground II' comes the closest to a purely ambient piece with serene lulling synth washes and fuzzy unfurling electronic trickles teeming with life, and it makes for a more soothing, hypnotic and embracing finale.

`Live' maintains the same high standard of the three (to date) Cosmic Ground studio albums, and it captures beautifully the energy and momentum that the live environment offers. Some may find nothing particularly new here, but take the time to look past the surface similarities to Tangerine Dream, give it plenty of repeated plays and dig a little deeper, and you'll discover a hugely rewarding live document from an intelligent modern progressive-electronic artist in Müller.

Four stars.

This is a bit of a deep cut from Richard Pinhas' extended discography. It's essentially a Heldon side project, with Pinhas and Heldon drummer François Auger teaming up with multi-instrumentalist Hervé Picart to turn out this mellow piece combining Berlin style progressive electronic performances with psychedelic jamming reminiscent of early Tangerine Dream or Ash Ra Tempel. Props also have to be given to the gorgeous cover art, which puts me in mind of the excellent science fiction art coming out of France at the time by the likes of Moebius and hits the mood of the music perfectly. Put this on when you're gazing out of your space colony on an arid world in the process of being terraformed.

— First review of this album —

Women working in vintage electronic music certainly don't enjoy as much status as the more well-known fellas of the genre, but alongside equally worthwhile artists such as Doris Norton, Laurie Spiegel and many others, Dorothea Raukes, the former keyboardist for German spacerock group Streetmark offered the `Deutsche Wertarbeit' project and album in 1981. It's a constantly rhythmic-based and accessible work that crosses light Berlin School-modelled atmospheres, fuzzy ambient passages, programmed beats and frequently breezy vocoder tunes that drift closer (but not wholly) to synth-pop, with little traces of disco and dance music worked in as well.

Upbeat opener `Guten Abend, Leute' is very much modelled on the popular electronic Kraftwerk era of the mid Seventies onwards, being a slightly kitsch slice of electronica full of dominant upfront reprising themes, pulsing beats, spacey synth swirls and robotic vocoder spoken-word recitations provided by Dorothea herself. The laid-back and easily pleasing `Deutscher Wald' blends sparkling electric piano notes with fuzzy caressing synth washes over light beats, and `Unter Tage' offers strident urgent themes and jangling sequenced beats, softly taking the piece a little closer to Tangerine Dream.

`Auf Engelsflügeln's uplifting gliding synth waves and churning beats on side two almost take the piece into synth-pop territory, effortlessly coasting into a blissful vocoder spoken coda in the final moments, and almost heroic theme comes to life in `Intercity Rheingold' that could pass for one of the shorter soundtrack segments that Tangerine Dream delivered plenty of in the same decade. But for many listeners the near-ten minute closer `Der Grosse Atem' will impress most of all, a delicately solemn, enveloping and unhurried purer Berlin School work. Big on slowly evolving sonic atmospheres, chilly icy drones and eerie electronic shimmerings with just a touch of Jean-Michel Jarre's fizzing spacey caresses, it ultimately takes on a comforting Ashra-like serenity without ever coming close to vapid New Age music stylings (but an unwarranted and obtrusive glitch computer meltdown in the final seconds kills the mood!).

`Deutsche Wertarbeit' (aptly translated as `quality German workmanship'!) is hardly the most demanding or complex of German electronic works, and it's very likely that some followers of the heavier-going Berlin School acts and works will likely dismiss it as being throwaway or insubstantial. But close repeated listens uncover subtle depth and fascinating ideas buried beneath the misleadingly lightweight and effortlessly melodic surface, and it's a shame that Ms. Raukes didn't release any more solo efforts after this promising debut, as she was already revealing a distinctive and unique prog-electronic personality that would have potentially developed in even further interesting directions.

Three and a half stars for this charming album, rounded up to four, an interesting and worthy addition to vintage prog- electronic collections.

Let me tell you that YOU's debut Electric Day was amazing, to see that great electronic music can be made in 1979. Wonders from the Genetic Factory is their third album, from 1984, and it's clearly an uneven album. I am not surprised that this would have an '80s sound, it's 1984 after all, but I'm glad they didn't go overboard on drum machines or fell in love with the DX-7, but drum machines are used. "Axis" is a bit off-putting due to the 1980s upbeat nature, and the liberal use of that "orchestra hit" sound (that really got overused to death by the late '80s, I was so glad that use was pretty much over with after 1990). But there are some nice moments as well. "Isotopic Moments" is luckily better. "Europe Transfer" is without a doubt one of the better cuts on the album. What really surprises me is the presence of Mellotron, done really nicely (it was a Novatron, and the band removed the "Novatron" badge and found the Mellotron logo under it, which meant the Novatron was nothing more than a rebranded Mellotron, due to legal difficulties stemming back to 1976). "Sampling Dance" was clearly a big mistake. They were trying to be so trendy for the times with a bit of hip-hop influence (luckily without rapping). I could almost imagine seeing kids breakdancing to this (I grew up in the 1980s, and I remembered very well the breakdancing craze of the mid 1980s). What were they thinking? Luckily the lengthy "Yourovision" more than makes up for it, outdoing anything Tangerine Dream was doing by this point. It even features a little bit of Mellotron which really pleases me. This album has a couple of questionable moments, and is clearly not as consistent as Electric Day, it's still has a lot of worthwhile material, and for the most part, better than most other stuff I've heard from this time period.

A great electronic discovery for me. The fact this German group You recorded their debut in 1979, and had it released the following year, 1980, was the big reason I passed on them, given even progressive electronic was going downhill by '79, so I couldn't imagine You being worth my time. Well, I was wrong, I was just blown away by Electric Day.

Unsurprisingly this is Berlin School electronic music, very much as you expect: heavy on the sequencers, but also Edgar Froese- like guitar playing and none other than Harald Grosskopf on drums, although he was credited as Lhan Gopal, don't ask me why, perhaps it was due to his contract with Sky Records (his album Synthesis came out roughly the same time). It's perhaps a bit more hyper than even what Tangerine Dream would do, and they do not go for that "calm and sedate" stuff that Klaus Schulze is known for (I do enjoy his calm and sedate stuff, like on Mirage, so not to knock on him). Mellotron even makes an appearance on "Slow Go". What's really surprising is the tron in question is the Mark II, as the Mark II seemed to have disappeared from recordings after 1973 (roughly the time Genesis put out their live album). England's Garden Shed (1977) is often thought of as the last commercial recording using the Mark II until the 1990s tron revival, but it appears to be Electric Day. My big gripe is why they didn't use the tron more? Tangerine Dream certainly used it to great effect on many of their albums and You could have had that potential. Strangely You would continue using a Mellotron through the 1980s, only this time a Novatron, but I hadn't heard those albums, but apparently a cut above what many other electronic acts were doing at the time. Anyways, I was also happy that there are no new wave, new age, synth pop or modern elements in Electric Day, which makes me ever so happy. Strangely this music reminds me of some of those newer progressive electronic artists you might run across on Bandcamp. Whatever the case, another great album highly recommended to the fans of Berlin School electronic music.

— First review of this album —

Wavemaker was one of many projects created by people who worked at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, in this case Brian Hodgson and John Lewis. They created Electrophon Studios, so no surprise many albums recorded by these people were recorded there, including In a Covenant Garden by Electrophon (Hodgson and Dudley Simpson), and Zygoat (American Burt Alcantara with Hodgson and Simpson), and of course both Wavemaker's albums. Where Are We Captain is the first and to be honest his is more or less a continuation of the sound created by Zygoat. There is a strong reminder of Synergy here, so this sounds like the UK answer. If you enjoy Zygoat, there's no reason not to enjoy this album. "Double Helix" is some really great and adventurous piece of progressive electronic. "Lodestar" features some interesting synth sounds, while "Wavemaker" is more simply tripped out sounds. The music has that rather hi-tech futuristic sound overall. I'm glad to see these musicians working for the BBC Radiophonic Workshop did much more than create music and sound effects for Doctor Who, but went out of their way to record albums that were available to the public. Sure Wavemaker can get a little cheesy at times, but there's no denying great stuff making Where Are We Captain? a worthy addition to your collection. Unfortunately it's never been reissued, luckily original LPs can still be had for a reasonable price.

— First review of this album —

Frequent Syn-Gate label-mates Alien Nature (Wolfgang Barkowski) and Michael Brückner are fresh off two very interesting recent releases this year, with the former offering the noisy Krautrock-flavoured `Unter Null' by pairing-up with Christian Fiesel on the Aural Films label, and the latter reworking an earlier electronic/ambient/world fusion project by collaborating with a range of guests on `All the Pieces Fit Forever'. But the notable modern progressive-electronic German composers team up here for a pure Seventies-modelled Berlin School instrumental stunner, `The Dark Path', which lies somewhere between vintage-era tribute and a deeply atmospheric exploration all its own.

Throughout opener `Mandala', long drawn-out sustained veils of dark symphonic chords and warbling spacey effects build an eerie unease, the piece eventually taking on a more ashen drama with an almost imposing industrial iciness once pulsing colder beats kick in alongside searing slivers cutting through the air. A trilling loop then flits in and out of the slinking electronica of `Endemonic Howls', given a touch of psychedelic weirdness by colourful little bleeding twitches.

The unceasing backdrop of almost twenty-eight minute `Auf Sibernen Pfaden' is pure stormy deep-drone ambience, lightly coated with the fizzy rising/falling sprinkles of Klaus Schulze and his ever-unfolding vast landscapes with manic up-front soloing, and the relentless maddening pattering beats, bubbling effects and aching Mellotron choirs that remind of Tangerine Dream here are the closest Bruckner and Barkowski come to openly acknowledging their Berlin School musical forefathers.

The aptly-titled `Blissful' is absolutely sublime, soaring through deep space with hypnotic swirling electronics and lulling crystalline chimings without ever drifting into overly placid ambient patterns for even a moment, making it one to listen to over and over, completely enveloping and rapturous. Closer `Ionic Master' continues the nice come-down by incorporating tribal percussion and spiralling flute into chilled electronica grooves, truly becoming the soundtrack to a secretive ancient ritual on some faraway alien world...probably!

Even in its more shadowy moments, `The Dark Path' is never quite as pitch-black as its ominous title might suggest, instead preferring to graft mysterious moods to its furthest-space travels, and while the pieces are all unhurried and carefully unfolding, Brückner and Barkowski ensure they are full of movement and never become uneventful or too vague. It's also much more than mere slavish hero-worship recreation going on here (even if the longest piece in the middle comes the closest!), the compositions mostly aiming higher than simply remaking Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze's music using their exact same sounds of old - and let's face it, there's endless lesser electronic artists doing just that. Many repeated plays prove `The Dark Path' to be extremely rewarding and holding a quality that will likely reveal it to retain a timeless quality, and this is pure Berlin School music done right with a couple of other musical diversions also thrown in as well from two intelligent modern progressive-electronic composers.

Four stars.

I found a copy of this for cheap, the 1980 American pressing of this on Celestial Harmonies. This album was first released in 1977 in Germany on Wergo, and when it was released in America, the artwork and packaging made this album look more like what you'll be expecting is insipid New Age. Had I known nothing about this album prior to purchasing, I'd probably pass this by and end up regretting it. By this point he moved away from the Terry Riley-type minimalist music of his 1972 double album Hamel (I am not familiar with Between, but I should remedy that if I can find a copy) and in Nada went right in the world of Schulze style electronic music. The title track features minimalist synth patterns utilizing the Elka Rhapsody (amusingly the album states it was an organ responsible for this, and there's not a single jot of organ in this album). It has that nice '70s feel to it which I really like. "Silence" sounds more like abstract avant garde to my ears. "Slow Motion" sounds like a piano variation of the title track. It's all played on piano, and I usually find the piano boring and overrated, but this was surprisingly effective piece of minimalist piano music. "Beyond the Wall of Sleep" takes all of side two, and it really isn't too different from the title track, except longer, and it starts off slower and then picks up speed as it progresses and then slows down towards the end. There doesn't appear to be much in the way of world music influences here, the Berlin school and minimalist music is most dominant, and it actually works well. Nice album well worth having.