PROGRESSIVE ELECTRONIC

Hiro Kawahara is a Japanese experimental musician who has been releasing material under his own name or using the band name Heretic for more than 30 years. There have been times when Heretic have been a proper band, or Hiro and guests, or others when he has been the only member but always with the same aim of taking influences from the likes of Heldon (in particular) and Tangerine Dream and imbibing them with Japanese hints and nuances to create something which is challenging and confronting all at the same time. This compilation has been put together in album sequence, but many of these have additional tracks so the complete set is 62 tracks with a total running time of more than 13 hours. Yes, you read that correctly, 13 hours 36 minutes to be precise and I played it through twice before I started to understand what was going on.

This is not music which is easy to listen to or comprehend, and it would be very easy indeed to discard it as the noodlings of someone sat in a studio with little else to do and no interest in the rest of the world. However, if one is prepared to spend the time really listening to what is going on then one will find a great deal in here to discover and enjoy. It is not meant to be something to settle back with and relax, but is designed to have the listener work hard ' not all art is meant to be easy, and sometimes it is the extra effort which gives the greatest rewards. This is music which must be played on headphones and one needs to really listen and pay attention, as this is angular and sharp, never settling and there is a danger of missing what is going on. It is a lot to take in but I am sure I would never have got inside and appreciated this nearly as much if I had just played the odd track (which are often 30 minutes in length) or bits of albums. Cuneiform have somewhat hedged their bets on this one as while it is possible to purchase this as 'Complete Works' they have also made the individual albums available as well. However, given the complete set is only $75, if this style of music is of interest then I would just jump on and get this as not only is it the best value for money it is certainly the best way to understand Hiro.

Not for the fainthearted, this is yet another essential extended set from Cuneiform Records.

This is the one-man electronic show of Swiss born Frédy Guye who released two underground albums in the early days of 70s progressive electronic experiments. Guye released two albums under the moniker F.G. EXPERIMENTAL LABORATORY starting with this 1975 debut JOURNEY INTO A DREAM and followed five years later by the 1980 release "Hope." One of those rare collectibles that fetches hefty prices in some circles, the original vinyl only saw a pressing of 100 copies and was available exclusively at live performances however with the renewed interest in the 21st century of all those crazy psychedelic tripper albums of the era, a CD reissue has seen the light of day on the Thor's Hammer label in 2006 and hosts two bonus tracks that were released as the 7" single "Happiness / Church" which followed in 1976.

JOURNEY INTO A DREAM truly lives up to its title with two sprawling cuts both extending past the 20-minute mark that replicate some sort of soundtrack to an astral traveling extravaganza across the cosmos. A veritable mix of Klaus Schulze inspirations into extensive sound collage journeys along with the detached minimalism of electronic pioneers such as Terry Riley, the F.G. EXPERIMENTAL LABORATORY offered a much stranger and melancholic voyage into a cold and dark bleakness eschewed by the more popular acts of Tangerine Dream and Ashra. If those acts were embarking on the soundtrack to orbiting the moon and planets of the solar system, then JOURNEY INTO A DREAM sounded more like the musical equivalent of trekking into the mystifying remoteness of the Oort Cloud and beyond.

The opening title track and its 20 1/2 minute surrealistic drift into the stars opens with references to more tangible Baroque classical musical hooks that clearly indicate a J.S. Bach appreciation however after the initial rocket blast into the heavens, the familiarity slowly dissipates into a never-ending stream of abstract synthesized beauty that implements minimalistic synthesizer loops with eerie ambient effects. Adding to the haunting beauty are wordless vocals insinuating the awe of witness through the human spirit. Through the tracks slow and brooding procession, the track maintains a basic keyboard repetitive groove almost sounding like the opening notes of a wedding march but ends up evoking the very image of what the album cover art insinuates. All in all a unique and idiosyncratic take on the world of progressive electronic adding that frosty Swiss spin on the style as if composed on the top of the Matterhorn.

The second track "2335" which refers to the running time of 23 minutes and 35 seconds seamlessly blends with the title cut essentially making this an album's excursion into the farthest recesses of the electronic space realms with the same synthesizer groove slowly oozing on with its subtle reverb, pitch bends and occasional note changes. An ethereal female wordless vocal cameo haunts the soundscape as it slowly transverses the outer limits of consciousness and physical space. Around the 29-minute mark of the album the music drops altogether and the album is dominated by the sound of wind that offers a transition into a yet even spacier mix of oscillating synth sounds in the higher register with random sounds punctuating the bottom layers. You have truly passed any traces of celestial bodies at this point and are in the farthest and remotest recesses of space. The is is perhaps the bleakest and most effective exhibition of creepy electronica ever recorded. As the final track enters its last legs it delivers a series of bloops and bleeps and simulations of space whales.

This is an amazingly brilliant album delivered by this unknown Swiss master of electronica. While totally on par with the greatness of other artists of the era, this lone spacer seemed to drop in and out of the music world for a mere two albums before taking that permanent journey into the vastness of space never to be heard from again and that's a shame because this is one of those masterful representations of progressive electronic that delivers a larger than life experience and actually takes you on a journey beyond the random sounds of electronic swirlies and as the space tripper's blog Mutant Sounds describes it, this kosmische journey features an acid warped cathedral of organs, echoed glissando guitar, wordless vocal wash and atonal electronic surges all conspiring to coat your brain with psychotropic ectoplasm. Well now, i couldn't describe it better than that!

One of the early psychedelic trippers who found an escapist's route through the promise of the Moog synthesizer, PATRICK VIAN dropped his sole release BRUITS ET TEMPS ANALOGUES (Analog Sounds And Times) in 1976 before floating off into the ethers from which he presumably procured his inspiration. Born in Angoulême, France to the famous novelist and jazz trumpet player Boris Vian, a young PATRICK followed in his father's musical footsteps although he took a major detour into the blossoming world of the avant-garde which began with his first group Red Noise with its sole offering in the form of "Sarcelles - Lochères." However that band soon splintered into two groups, one that would go on to form the avant-prog freakery known as Komintern while PATRICK VIAN himself embarking on a solo career that followed in the footsteps of the Berlin School progressive electronic pioneers as well as the burgeoning electronic experimentalism that was sweeping France in the 1970s.

While initially heard by only the most dedicated of audiences seeking out the most bizarre musical expressions in the realms of the world of progressive electronica, VIAN has earned an immortality of sort as one of the entries in the weirdo music lover's Nurse With Wound list. While many progressive electronic acts feature a single-minded focus on synthesizer worship, VIAN solicited the assistance of guitarist Bernard Lavialle and Georges Granier who contributed his Fende Rhodes workouts as well as supplying some ethic touches in the form of the marimba. The drummer Mino Cinelu also joined in for the tracks "Sphère" and "Oreknock" which added a wider range of tones and timbres than the Moog was able to generate on its own. The album featured 9 tracks just over 39 minutes of playing time and was released on the now legendary Egg label which featured the likes of Heldon, Conrad Schniutzler, Roedelius and many other lesser known seekers of the progressive electronic holy grail.

Rockin' his Moog 2C and ARP 2600 along with a Moog Sequencer and good old-fashioned piano, VIAN mixed the electronic space wizardry with touches of rock guitar, jazz and world ethnic sounds in a way that kept his stylistic approach from sounding like just another Moogspoitation one-trick pony act. Falling somewhere between the upbeat Berlin School sounds of Tangerine Dream and the more depressive soundscapes of fellow French act Heldon, VIAN delivered the perfect mix of cyclical loop accessibility fortified with wild excursions into raucous synth soloing and guitar riffing. Moments of jazzy funk guitar provide the perfect underpinning for the spontaneously of the free improv Moog workouts all fortified with the sensibilities of the world of progressive rock with knotty avant-prog workouts subtly blended into the overall procession of the march of the Moog. A veritable mix of classic White Noise and the technological advantages that several years down the road afforded by 1976.

A much more varied pedigree of electronic music creation, BRUITS ET TEMPS ANALOGUES offered a bonanza of moods, styles and musical influences stuffed into an album's worth of musical expressions. While tracks like "Sphère" sit comfortably side by side with other French electronauts such as Heldon, Philippe Besombes and Gilbert Altman's Lard Free, tracks like "Barong Rouge" delivered an unexpected pilgrimage to the Western African traditions that offered a touch of griot wisdom through sound. Other tracks like "Tunnel 4, Red Noise" take the electronic experimentalism to new heights with dueling swirliy effects escaping the gravitational pull of Earth's clutches and launches deep into the cosmos with crazy sequenced looping and an ample layering effect of contrapuntal freakery and perhaps one of the finest moments in the most extreme sector of progressive electronic bar none. No wonder the the album was a recipient of the highest praise of the underground Mutant Sounds blogspot.

Despite a promising career that culminated in this phenomenal expression of outsider weirdo music that dropped in 1976, the musical trajectory of PATRICK VIAN mysteriously ended seemingly as quickly as it began and while VIAN himself lived to the ripe age of 80 when he passed away on 24 February 2023, it remains unknown why this son of a musician with such a promising career suddenly dropped off the radar for the decades following while contemporary acts like Tangerine Dream are still cranking out albums some 50 years later. Whatever the case BRUITS ET TEMPS ANALOGUES definitely stands out for its originality as it mixes the by then popular sounds of the Moog dominated progressive electronic with a plethora of varying influences. It's a true shame VIAN didn't continue because this is really a satisfying trip into escapist music lover's paradise.

LÁSZLÓ BENKÖ is a Hungarian legend for his multi-decade career that started in 1957 with the Budapest based Benkó Dixieland Band and he achieved national stardom as the founder and band leader of Hungary's most famous rock band of all time, namely Omega. Amazingly BENKÖ started Omega all the way back in 1962 and stayed with the band until his passing in 2020 making Omega one of the longest running ands in rock history. While Omega itself has become known outside of the confines of Eastern Europe, what's less known is that BENKÖ released a number of albums as a solo artist beginning with this 1982 debut LEXICON.

LEXICON was technically a double album except it was released as two separate albums with "Lexicon 2" coming out two years later in 1984. Unlike Omega's mix of hard rock, psychedelia and space pop with progressive rock, BENKÖ's solo albums featured his foray into the world of progressive electronic and film soundtrack music. This album is basically the BENKÖ show with him alone going crazy on the various mixes of keyboards, piano, synths (Roland Jupiter/SH1000, Korg Mono/Polisix, Yamaha CS70, MiniMoog, ARP Omni) and drum machine however a female vocalist contributes some wordless utterances on "Fata Morgana." As a stand alone the first chapter of the LEXICON albums featured 11 tracks at about 36 minutes of playing time.

Unlike much of the Berlin School and French electronic experiments that were dominating the scene throughout the 70s and into the 80s, BENKÖ delivered a lighter less alienating style of progressive electronic based on melodies tapped from classical Hungarian artists such as Bartók as well as the synth-heavy prog rockers Solaris. The album features light melodies, basic drum machine accompaniments and placid atmospheres however the danceable pop-oriented grooves do remind a lot of the new wave and synthpop bands that were dominating the MTV airwaves during the day. The album is all-instrumental except the occasional scattering of wordless vocals and the album has that Jean-Michel Jarre crossover appeal but unfortunately ends up sounding a bit cheesy in its execution.

Essentially LEXICON is a series of minimalistic electronic grooves with the keyboards dominating all aspects of the spectrum which includes a bouncy bass groove, tinkling melodies of the treble keys and a rather nondescript monotonous drum machine. In many ways some of the tracks sound like the vocal-free karaoke versions of new wave bands like The Human League or Berlin. Overall i'm not terribly impressed with LEXICON as it sounds rather amateurish especially coming from one of the godfathers of Hungarian rock and prog. It's an ok album that doesn't sound particularly bad in any way but it fails to excel beyond a generic cheesy 80s synthpop style of execution. If you come here expecting Klaus Schulze or Tangerine Dream and their multi-layered spaciness effects then you will be sorely disappointed as this is basically pop music translated into electronic sound effects.

Review Nº 763

Tangerine Dream is a German progressive electronic band that was formed in Berlin in 1967 by guitarist Edgar Froese. Originally with an electric/acoustic sound, Tangerine Dream emerged in the experimental and German Krautrock scene. In the same year, Froese invited drummer Klaus Schulze and cellist Conrad Schnitzler to the band, later releasing, in the same year, their debut studio album, "Electronic Meditation". This album was considered one of the most advanced and experimental works in the history of the modern music. It was influenced by the works of John Cage and Stockhausen. Several times awarded, "Electronic Meditation" contains a unique sound palette, with keyboards, standard instruments and countless non-standard sounds, filtered through several effects processors, creating an experimental atmosphere.

In 1970, Schulze and Schnitzler embarked on solo careers and were replaced by drummer Chris Franke. With him, they recorded another album, "Alpha Centauri" in 1971, this time with the collaboration of keyboardist Steve Schroyder. However, after that album, Schroyder also left the band and was substituted by keyboardist Peter Baumann. And with the trio Baumann, Franke and Froese, Tangerine Dream would released a serious of very sucessful albums, of which stand out, "Phaedra" of 1974, "Rubycon" and "Ricochet", both of 1975, "Stratosfear" of 1976 and "Encore" of 1977.

But, again, Tangerine Dream saw another change in their line up. Baumann also left the band to pursue a solo career. This time, Froese and Franke chose to join them, multi-instrumentalist Steve Jolliffe and drummer Klaus Kruger. They released another album "Cyclone" in 1978. After "Cyclone", Jolliffe also left Tangerine Dream and the duo Froese and Franke with the collaboration of Kruger and Eduard Meyer on cello released their next album "Force Majeure" in 1979.

Tangerine Dream ended the 70's with one of their best albums. Froese and Franke continue their previous search here. In few words, they consisted of a combination of the electronic style of the band, known from the albums "Phaedra" and "Rubycon", with elements of classic progressive rock, derived primarily from the then work of Pink Floyd. In practice, this meant an increase in the role of traditional instruments and a stronger outline of melodic lines. Tangerine Dream returned to the purely instrumental territory again with "Force Majeure", but the album itself was musically still a continuation of the more conventional prog rock style they had explored on "Cyclone". And Tangerine Dream, at their best, had absolutely nothing to do with be conventional. This time, you can hear all the time who is the creator of this material. The sequencer based arrangements of past albums find their fruition on "Force Majeure". Froese and Franke change their longstanding collaboration into a complementary musical dialogue that is at once lean and evocative. The recordings were made in Berlin in 1978. The author of the cover of "Force Majeure" is Froese's wife, Monika Froese.

The album consists of three songs, two lengthy and one shorter, although with its seven minutes of length it's surely not a piece to play on the radio. The eighteen minute title track is mainly based on the electronic sounds, at first with an ambient character, then more vivid and more trance, in which parts of the electric and acoustic guitar, piano and drums are perfectly woven. There are plenty of expressive motifs and cool solos. There is also a lot of dynamics. "Cloudburst Flight" is already a more condensed recording, in which traditional instrumentation usually comes to the fore, and the electronics rather only complement the sound. The song shows the more prog-rock face of the band, but by no means imitating the style of someone else. The thirteen minute "Thru Metamorphic Rocks" is the oddest track on the album and looks like a bit less exciting but it doesn't spoil the high quality of the album. It's a two part song that contains the more heroic guitar from Froese, but it's generally a return to the amorphous and eerie compositions of past albums, with percussive space echoes that occasionally suggest the work of Klaus Schulze. The first five minutes are another example of a successful fusion of electronic and traditional instruments. The further part has purely electronic sounds. It's the track with most in common with the old Tangerine Dream, but with a more modern and less human approach.

Conclusion: "Force Majeure" is one of the best albums of this great band. This is a calculated and compelling work from two experienced artists who move through the electronic music with high grace and precision. Overall, the album doesn't look as electronic as their earlier works, as the drums in particular, when used, provide a driving beat that is more familiar with rock music and when Froese reaches into the guitar, you maybe think that you are in the wrong film. But we cannot complain too much. After all, it's a good thing when a band tries to develop further. Due to its more rock oriented music, it may be suitable for people who are otherwise not into the electronics. So, it's an absolute necessity for those who might be curious about the band, or even successful experiments within the rock genre. Sections of the album would later appear in slightly altered versions on the soundtracks for the films "Thief" and "Risky Business".

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

One of the more awkward releases in COIL's massive discography, the music on THE ANGELIC CONVERSATION included some of the earliest recordings of John Balance, Peter Christopherson and Stephen Thrower around the same time as the band's debut "Scatology." The music was created exclusively for the soundtrack of the 1985 film titled THE ANGELIC CONVERSATION, an arthouse drama film directed by Derek Jarman. The film featured homoerotic images and served as a visual quest that was supposed to represent a dream state and the daily rituals of navigating the violence of the real world in order to transcend into some sort of perceived paradise.

The music eventually found its way onto CD in 1994 but obviously lost a lot of the effect without the intended visuals. COIL mixed various orchestral samples with dark ambient atmospheres and surreal musical soundscapes that merged the world of musique concrète with neoclassical darkwave and nature recordings. The soundtrack also featured recurring spoken word recitations of Shakespeare sonnets read by Judi Dench. COIL also used samples from the debut EP "How To Destroy Angels" and the track "Never" was previously released in a shorter form on the "Unnatural History" compilation.

This is a rather lengthy album at nearly 70 minutes and never seems to really go anywhere. It's primarily an incessant flow of abstract swirlies that float around like amoebas in a petri dish and while the ambience aspects with snippets of orchestral embellishments is a nice way to drone out for an hour's run, the incessant poetic prose of Judi Dench constantly contrasts with the otherwise surreal and detached nature of the musical flow which for my tastes ruins it. Not that the music itself varies much at all as it sounds like the ultimate recycling of snippets and tidbits that never really coalesce into anything other than aimless ambience.

I've personally never seen the film the soundtrack accompanies but usually these types of film scores are only relevant in conjunct with the visual aspects and / or dialogue that they accompany and that is definitely the case with THE ANGELIC CONVERSATION. This is probably my least favorite album in COIL's entire discography but yet it isn't totally awful either. I really only pull this out and listen to it every few years after i totally forget what it sounds like only to be reminded why i didn't care for it much in the first place. The ultimate collector's only edition but since i'm a huge rabid fan of COIL's insanely experimental electronic sounds i couldn't possibly live without this mostly unheard album in my collection. Worthy of hearing once in a while but it really fails to engage in any meaningful way whatsoever.

— First review of this album —

Do not ignore this album!

'Collide' is a live performance by Shreeve's band at the Elelectronic Music & Musicians' Association ('EMMA') 'festival' at Derby Assembly Rooms on 12th March 1994. 'Collide' comes at the end of Shreeve's period of electro-synth pop/rock influenced releases. In some ways it serves as a bridge between Shreeve's pop style and his later 'Berlin School' masterpieces recorded usually with collaborators (especially 'Redshift') where his live sequencing of a massive Moog IIIC modular is extraordinary. The musicians performing on 'Collide' (Mark Shreeve, James Goddard, Julian Shreeve) are the synthesists that later record as 'Redshift'.

Whilst Shreeve's synth pop has a good deal of 'bubble gum' in the sound, this is not true of 'Collide'. which is far more more rock and far more prog. 'Collide' is the Shreeve 'solo' album fans of heavier prog and synthesizers must add to their collection.

'Collide' represents the very best of Shreeve's 'solo' career. The pieces on this album vary from the full, in-your-face, heavy synth-prog ('Graveraver', 'Meateater', 'Assassin') to intricate, dark and detailed synth sequencing ('It', 'Pan-Galactic Anorak') alongside more pop and anthemic pieces ('Storm Column', 'Darkness Comes', 'The Stand').

I'm so very tempted to nudge this album into 5-stars because I don't think anything else occupies this unusual niche in the panoply of prog. But for now, four stars: "Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection" describes it very well.

Considered one of the lesser known underground geniuses of the 20th century, IGOR WAKHÉVITCH started out as a humble child of Russian immigrants who who settled in the south of France but rose to prominence at least n the 1970s amongst the world of the avant-garde. Born in 1948 in the town of Gassin, WAKHÉVITCH's attraction to music led him to become a child prodigy under the tutelage of French composer Olivier Messiaen and spent his teen years at the Conservatorie de Paris later finding guidance from Pierre Schaeffer. Inspired equally by the modern classical sounds of composers like Igor Stravinsky as well as the burgeoning psychedelic rock and jazz-fusion of the 1960s, WAKHÉVITCH's explorative nature landed him in the forefront of musicians exploring the amalgamating effects of merging the world of 20th century classical sounds with the sounds of progressive rock, electronica and psychedelia.

WAKHÉVITCH released seven albums throughout the 70s and also scored the role as chief composer for Salvador Dalí's opera "Etre Dieu" in 1974. Crafting a mishmash of sounds so weird and alienating, WAKHÉVITCH remained an outsider but found a cult following after he was included on Bible of weirdo music, namely the Nurse With Wound list composed by Steve Stapleton. After writing numerous compositions for dance schools and winning a slew of accolades for his musical inventiveness throughout the 60s, WAKHÉVITCH began releasing his own albums which began in 1970 with this debut LOGOS. The music was originally recorded for a Norbert Schmucki ballet which premiered at the Festival d'Avignon 1970. The album showcased WAKHÉVITCH's haunting darkness that forged a bridge between the orchestral, the psychedelic and the newer sounds that electronic instrumentation were offering.

A veritable intermingling of taped electronics and the psychedelic prog rock courtesy of the French band Triangle backing it up, LOGOS mixed hypnotic percussive beats with ghostly choral parts that once manipulated electronically and loaded with spliced recorded parts became the what sounds like thesoundtrack for a house haunting. In addition to the rock and electronic aspects, an uncredited classical section provides haunting violins and other instrumentation however the spectral choral vocals are what leave the most long lasting impression. The album itself is relatively short playing with a running time of only 33 minutes and features eight tracks that alternative between ethereal minimalist classical moments such as the opening "Ergon" and then gradually incorporates more rock elements which by the time the seventh track "Danse Sacrale" begins features more robust guitar parts and energetic drum rolls however even that track quickly nosedives into an avant-garde frenzy.

A true underground gem of avant-garde mind f.u.ck music, LOGOS is the equivalent of Pink Floyd's "Saucerful of Secrets" hooking up with a classical composer like Gyorgy Ligeti along with a psychedelic prog band (Triangle in this case). Add to that the obscure rarity given the album was limited to 500 copies and is impossible to find. Only a box set that features many of the original albums is accessible in physical form. A veritable journey into tripper's paradise, LOGOS was too freaky, too dark and too outside the parameters of even what was considered outsider music of the era to have made a significant impact. While classical purists will frown upon the liberties taken, for lover's of psychedelic rock and electronica, this one will simply fly over their heads as it features the tight-knit compositional structure of the abstract nature of 20th century classical albeit fortified with the more contemporary sounds that were emerging in the late 60s and early 70s.

LOGOS is utterly unique even within WAKHÉVITCH's own solo canon as it was primarily constructed as a classical ballet and had not yet committed fully to the world of prog rock and the newly emerging progressive electronic. A comparison with the following "Docteur Faust" will reveal LOGOS as a true anomaly that defies any comparisons. LOGOS truly is one of the darkest and most freakiest albums ever to have been recorded and the true soundtrack for an apocalypse. One listen and it's little wonder why Salvador Dalí, one of the greatest surrealists of all time chose WAKHÉVITCH to compose for his ambitions in the world of opera. This really is one of those unrecognized masterpieces of the era and a true highlight in the world of abstract outsider weirdo music that takes you on one of those alternative reality rides.

4.5 rounded UP!

One of the true original psychedelic trippers in the world of progressive musical expressions, EDGAR FROESE is a legend having formed Tangerine Dream back in 1967 and remaining the only continuous member of the long running act until his death in 2015. Originally born in Tilsit, East Prussia which became the Kaliningrad region of modern day Russia (the city of Sovetsk) in modern times, FROESE was born during the second world war and did what a lot of his generation of Germans did and that was namely escape the horror of it all through sound.

In addition to the vast wealth of recordings put out by Tangerine Dream (well over 100 studio albums), FROESE has also released several solo albums over the course of several decades beginning with this 1974 debut AQUA. Recorded simultaneously with Tangerine Dream's classic release "Phaedra," AQUA was created in Berlin throughout 1973 - 74 and was basically made in the hopes of earning enough revenue so that the parent band could invest in the newest and most sophisticated equipment. Having been launched into the limelight in the worlds of progressive rock and progressive electronic with Tangerine Dream's mass appeal, FROESE received an advancement and immediately went shopping.

Unsurprisingly AQUA engages in the same surreal vortex of swirling synthesizer sounds, layers of abstract atmospheres and engaged in the musical equivalent of a helium balloon finding itself liberated from the gravitation constraints of the Earth's clutches. The original album from June 1974 actually found two separate releases on different labels. Each release featured a different version of the album therefore the Brain Records edition released in Germany and the Virgin Records edition released in the rest of the world featured different track orders, two completely different mixes of "Panorphelia" and "Upland" and a cover album inversion with one basically being the 180 degree rotation of the other. It's safe to say though that these minor differences don't necessitate experiencing both versions as they are negligible.

If that wasn't enough the album was re-recorded and re-released in 2005 and there exists a French version titled "Aqua II" Oh, brother. The album is notable in that FROESE engaged in experiments with artificial stereo where two microphones were placed inside the ears of a dummy head and then was recorded in a manner in which a real human would hear the sounds. This supposedly improved the stereo effect and created a more realistic 3D sound but given the abstract nature of the progressive electronic realm, this excessive nerding out goes above the heads of common music lovers who aren't obsessed audiophiles searching for the holy grail of recording techniques. While considered a solo work, FROESE was joined by fellow Tangerine Dream member Chris Franke who plays moog on a few tracks.

As far as 70s progressive electronic in the Berlin School style are concerned, AQUA is a totally listenable and quite enjoyable edition to any electronica freak's overall collection but it really doesn't substantially deviate from the Tangerine Dream playbook which one would hope for considering this would be FROESE's opportunity to deviate from his main band's signature sound so i wouldn't call anything about AQUA utterly essential but it's certainly a worthy slice of prog electro to experience. It features the usual bumpy ride synthesized sequences that simulate percussion along with all the glissando note glides and wobbly sound effects that are associated with the Berlin School. It's vocal-free, drum-free and devoid of any instrumentation other than the electronic synthesized sounds. It's definitely worthy of a trip beyond the confines of rock music but is a rather generic representation of the greater prog electro continuum that even by 1974 had amassed an amazing array of diversity.

One of Progressive Electronic's most experimental artists, Tim's 2006 product does not disappoint. What follows, below, are my verbalized Rorschach-like impressions to each of the album's 15 songs.

1. "Rainbow Blood" (1:52) What if the bells at Edinborough's St. Cuthbert's stopped ringing? 2. "Stags, Aircraft, Kings And Secretaries" (4:30) feels like the sounds (and smells) inside London's Victoria Station, around 10:00 AM on any weekday, c. 1980. 3. "Palimpsest I" (0:35) Lost in the fog on the Shannon Estuary. 4. "Chimeras" (3:13) the ghosts of Heathcliff and Cathy, seen walking on the Moors, of course. 5. "Dungeoneering" (5:24) cycling in County Donegal in the night time with only a headlight to give light to your path. 6. "Palimpsest II" (0:38) shoreline is nigh. 7. "Spring Heeled Jack Flies Tonight" (3:11) walking home from the pub with the dulcet tones of Maíre Brennan's voice still ringing through your head. 8. "Harmony In Blue I" (1:31) walking briskly through the seemingly-endless wheat fields of Saskatchewan, at dusk, in late September. 9. "Harmony In Blue II" (1:52) lead on by the ghost of Jon Hassell, one's brisk walk turns into a run as one feels closer to the source of the Malayan Dream Theory trumpet. 10. "Harmony In Blue III" (2:41) sitting on a wet park bench in the cold fog of Christmas morning in the near-empty Stefansdomplatz in Wien, watching the locals walk by in their heavy green boiled-woolen overcoats and Hutmacher Zapf feathered hats. 11. "Harmony In Blue IV" (2:02) standing on a railway quay in rural England, early on a foggy winter's morn, waiting to catch the first train. 12. "Radio Spiricom" (4:52) view from the train window fast-forwarded 32x. 13. "Whitecaps Of White Noise I" (7:29) standing on the edge of the tarmac at Shannon Airport, watching a plane on the runway take off and then recede into the distance while the next jet lines up to repeat the same. 14. "Whitecaps Of White Noise II" (5:57) deja vu! (More planes. It's a busy afternoon in Shannon!) 15. "Blood Rainbow" (4:06) ? and then the bells came back! How long before we'd stop noticing?

Total time 49:53

My respected and quite prolific (if breviloquent) compatriot from ProgArchives, Arthur "Warthur," King of the Britons, Brit Tonnes, and British "tons," concisely nails Tim Hecker's talents with the comment that "[the artist] gets that 'ambient' does not mean the same thing as 'featureless', and that a good ambient album should exist in a curious space where it simultaneously fades into the background but also calls the listener's attention without ham-fistedly grabbing or demanding it." Arthur then appropriately posits his opinion that Harmony in Ultraviolet "offers a Rorschach test for the ear." I like both of these assertions very much: they feel spot on. (No pun intended.)

As with many of the albums in the Progressive Electronic sub-genre, the instrumental, often "ambient" music offered can be quite challenging to bring words to. For me, this is more the case with brief "tests" of the mind and ears than the long mesmerics provided by so many of the other artists of the subgenre. As Arthur pointed out, the pieces of Tim's music offer tests in which the listener is provoked into an mental-emotional/psychological or psycho-spiritual response. In the case of much of the organ- and computer-treated music of this album I can honestly say that my response has been fairly uniform: feelings of general agitation and discomfort pervade--not quite enough to make me run away (though in times of old this may have been my response). I made it through. I can't say that I actually enjoyed it--that is, I can honestly say that I never felt any joy commencing to gush up from within the wells of my being--but I did find the music--the process

The surprising and obviously incongruous feature of my review is that almost all of my Rorschached-up memories/projections are of scenes from my many trips to the British Isles whereas Tim is Canadian!

A-/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of inventive Progressive Electronic music from one of the sub-genre's envelope-pushers. If it weren't such a typical (though wonderfully consistent) Tim Hecker album, I'd might be bold enough to proclaim this a minor masterpiece in the sub-genre.