PROGRESSIVE ELECTRONIC

— First review of this album —

French composer LEROUGE is an artist who, biography-wise, has kept a rather low profile so far. He's 50-years-old, resides in the town of Goujounac, and as far as I have managed to ascertain "Un Peu Plus de Noir" is his first official CD, issued by Musea Records on their Gazul imprint in the fall of 2010.

Electronic music is a genre ranging from the relaxing contemplation of new age-inspired ventures to the freaked out non-musical efforts of the experimental enthusiasts. Lerouge's place in this picture is among the purveyors of melodic pieces, albeit a version whose take on it stays well off any paths already highly explored. Reverberating sounds and timbre fluctuations are the name of the game, set in dark, brooding and mostly minimalistic landscapes where metallic sounds and machine-inspired textures are frequently encountered. If this sounds enticing, this French artist may well have found himself a new fan in you, dear reader.

This is rather odd album, but very intriguing.

What Dr. Fiorella Terenzi has done is develop a method of translating radiation detected from objects in space, in this case from a distant galaxy, in this case one known only as UGC 6697, into audible sounds. The radiation waves cycle between 1 billion and 1 trillion Hertz, so she has "mathematically reduced the high frequency" into something humans can hear (between 20 and 20,000 Hertz).

The result are sounds that often sound like some of the early analog synthesizer pioneers like Keith Emerson and Klaus Schultz. Dr. Terenzi takes these sounds, and pieces them together, making the pieces less like music, and more like a sound collage of a trip through intergalactic space (if audio tones were not actually impossible is space).

Only the last track, Cosmic Time, qualifies as traditional music. It is a new age style composition written and performed by Gordon Bahary, with Dr. Terenzi blending her sounds into the music. Compositionally and tonally, the music sounds very much like Andreas Vollenweider's popular tracks, and the galactic sounds lift the music above the banality of most new age.

When this album was released I was working ay a CD store located at M.I.T., and as such we probably sold more copies of this album than most, but the purely nebulous (see what I did there?) nature of the majority of the tracks makes this appropriate for only occasional listening.

I'd rate this between 2 and three stars, and probably closer to 3.

— First review of this album —

SINIAALTO (= Blue Wave) is a Finnish electronic trio who uses vintage equipment and draws influence from the Berlin school, ie. Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, etc. Their homepage promises a new album to be released soon - finally, as this one from 2007 is the latest release. The titles here hint at a conceptual approach; Kuolema means Death, and the five tracks could be translated as 1) Journey to the Zone, 2) On the Brink of Madness, 3) Rest Pulse, 4) Panic, 5) Buried in the Water. Sounds very sinister, but the music itself is not necessarily THAT threatening, not all the time at least. However the term Dark Ambient fits equally well.

The journey starts with a pulsative soundscape in a Tangerine Dream reminding manner, though definitely not to the point of being a complete soundalike. Anyway TD is the best reference that comes to my mind, perhaps albums such as Phaedra or Sorcerer. The opener's melancholic final section consists mostly of distorted and shaky electric-piano notes. The next track has a low repetitive pattern on the bottom, ghostly wails of nearly human-sounding synths that are to be replaced with those Rhodes notes and later more threateningly sharp "knife stabs", so to speak (one association is a certain brief section of 'The Fall of the House of Usher' in The Alan Parsons Project debut). The mood is dark, and the 12½ minutes do get a bit tiring in such airless and deep waters.

Also the third track lasts nearly 13 minutes (the two last tracks get a little shorter, but on the other hand, compared to Klaus Schulze's average lengths these all are pretty short!!). The "pulse" may be of the rest state, but some sense of thread is built along the way. This is an interestingly ambivalent part as it offers some kind of slightly calmer and lighter interlude but still not without the darkness. The "Panic" section starts actually in a delicate manner with a soft Rhodes doodling comparable to the intro of PINK FLOYD's 'Sheep'. The multilayered synth carpet for the rest of the track has the inevitable reminescence of Tangerine Dream. I feel uncomfortable to constantly make that comparison. The sounds are not as fascinating and many-sided as TD at their best. The friendlier way to put it would be that Siniaalto have a more or less identifiable own sound.

On the long run the sound pallette is kept rather similar more than is good to the whole, as well as the mood. Nevertheless this is surely worth checking for the dedicated listeners of the genre, though I don't think it would become a favourite album of anyone.

HORSE ROTORVATOR is the second official release by the avant-garde electronic band COIL, who were clearly on another planet in 1986 when they were making this kind of stuff. If you dropped down in that time period you wouldn't hear anything even remotely similar to this being played in public at least. This was and still is highly experimental music that evokes nightmarish darkened depths where only the insane can thrive. I guess I am one of those insane individuals because I have always loved the bizarre soundscapes that COIL painted. This second release by the band is actually a transition album incorporating the sinister vocal dark wave type tracks from the debut album (almost reminding me of a more hellish version of Soft Cell at times) with the depressive instrumental ambient music that would become their staple for pretty much the rest of their career. The music is surprisingly varied and they clearly had a way of identifying more ways of constructing creepy music than any other act in history.

As I listen to this I am simply in awe at how simple the music seems when it begins and then how amazingly complex it can get as one sound creeps in after another and before you know it is a tapestry of sound for the manic, depraved and absolute crazed. I guess the whole point is to induce a psychotic frenzy, a neo-freakout or whatever you want to call it. The song titles alone suggest a strong desire to eschew even a meager bit of conformity. Tracks like "The Anal Staircase," "Penetralia," "Circles Of Mania" and "The First Five Minutes After Death" only confirm that this gifted group that consists of John Balance and Peter Christopherson as the creative core are one of the most twisted and subversive musical acts that has ever put out recordings. Be warned for if you listen to this you may feel a sense of dread, despair and impending doom unlike any other that even other depressive forms of music can achieve. Oh yes. I love it so very much.

Progressive Post-Math/Rock, Crossover, Eclectic , RiO/AV, Rock Progressivo Italiano with touches of Prog/Electronics with a subtle political/ecological posture !

Yes! All that happens here, not during the whole album, but in each song! Every second counts, every possible development of a musical structure is explored, without shame and opposite to that with a poignant "punk-like" and "focused experimentation" attitude in their performance and songwriting respectively. These all adds up to the frantic intensity, which wraps you up to high peaks, just to let you "sweet-downfall" from there, to be caught again and again until you are already hooked on and delighted.

Italian progressive band SPARKLE in GREY's, 2013, "Thurdsday Evening" , again, has one of the most deceiving, misleading and un-market wise art/covers one could choose to use with this kind of music. Instead of pointing out more or less as to what really is going on inside this marvel, it LOOKS like an 80's art/cover for a "disco" collection. Deceiving, but unimportant, once you are caught inside.

Again as in their previous effort, the strings (violin) have a prominent place in settling up the more touching and heartfelt moments and also again the "electronics" are just an average part of this effort (not counting that it was "electronically recorded" as any other record, but those were nott mashed up in this category, as the untaggable Sparkle in Grey music is).

Bold, energetic, dynamic, creative, diverse, original and above all masterfully unpretentious!

Sparkle in Grey, sparkles also in high musical artistry.

****4.5 "evolving their sound to new heights" PA stars!

PD: Remember not exactly prog/electronic. In fact everything else and then that!

Multinational ensemble ENDOPLASMIC FLOW is a creative entity that appears not to be that interested in sharing information. There's not too much information about them on the net; they don't even have a dedicated homepage, and the promotional material I received left out a few details one would normally expect, like a biography, track names on the album and suchlike. From what I understand "11/11/11" is their sixth official release, and is a compilation of selected pieces from a massive 11 piece CD-R set of music they released on November 11th 2011.

If you enjoy electronic music that shies away from the most well trodden paths and has a taste for slow, careful constructions of electronic ambient music Endoplasmic Flow may just have a winner at hand with "11/11/11". The style explored has been described as avant-garde electronic music and industrial ambient both by others, and it is within that dual context I'll place this production myself. A well made, tranquil journey into a musical landscape void of emotions, where machines go about their duties in a slow deliberate clockwork manner that, incidentally, is both musical and enjoyable for those with a taste for the dark side of the creative arts.

— First review of this album —

Norwegian project HEMMELIG TEMPO is a unit that apparently has been active for quite some time, best known for live, improvised performances, frequently performed within a multimedia context. "Who Put John Cage on the Guest List?" is their debut album, and was released through Musea Records' sub-label Gazul in 2011.

Highly experimental and uncompromising electronic soundscapes are what Hemmelig Tempo provides on their debut album "Who Put John Cage on the Guest List". A production that I suspect will have a narrowly defined audience; those fond of electronic noise productions perhaps the key part of their target crowd. A very well made disc for the especially interested, those unaccustomed to music of this kind better approach with some caution however.

Don't look too much into the genre this band is classified in: it's a cross of symphonic and avant- garde, but no electronics at all.

Though this Circus' successor (since it features both Grieder and Hauser), don't expect that the two bands sound similar. Circus' unusual line-up (no keyboards or electric guitar) gave them a unique and inimitable sound, but Blue Motion is a double KB and drums instrumental affair. In the present project, wind-player Stefan Grieder drops the horns and concentrates on keys, giving the band a distinctive sound, compared to other KB-led trios. Amongst the KB used, we'll hear a Hammond, a Clavinet, a Rhodes, an ARP and a grand piano. A priori, you'd think that this kind of KB-led trio thingie was a thing of the past by this album's release, but Blue Motion is definitely to be ranked in the UFO category along with Flamen Dialis and a couple other Continental Europe projects of the times.

Basically, this album is centred on two lengthy epics (opening each side), and a flurry of short pieces (9 of them are inferior to 3 minutes), and obviously those two 12-mins (minimum) pieces are the foundations. The 14-mins Stromboli opens on a wild Emersonian Hammond and soon replaced by a piano and Clavinet duo, the whole thing powered by Hauser's always amazing drumming. With plenty of twists and twirls, you'll get dizzy trying to follow Grieder and Amman's constant explorations. An eruption of the volcano certainly is less exciting than this wild extravaganza. The rest of the A-side could be seen as a sometimes-dissonant and disjointed suite with the following Fingers is a calm piano exploration, while Moontales is dominated by the Hammond, but underlined by the Clavinet. Hauser's amazing xylophone (Motions) and Grieder's dissonant piano (Fingers 2) are much reminiscent of Circus' Dawn piece, and both pieces are followed by the title track, which segues into the splendid piano-only 31/8.

The 11-mins Stonehenge opens the flipside, which opens on a calm piano, but the accompanying Hammond and Clavinet are slowly elevating the pace, and Hauser's always entertaining drums and percussions are certainly driving the keyboards overboard. Therest of the album is taken up by variations of Motions and Moontales, though Grieder finds a Parking spot for his piano, before a grandiose end in Slow Motion

Blue Motion's sole album received a Laser's Edge release some 20 years ago, but you can still find another version on the mini-lp specialist Japanese label Belle Antique, though it's probably one of the more botched up reissues of theirs, at least of the cardboard side of things. And the so-called SHM disc was taken directly from LE's remaster, so one can wonder what the added value is for such an expensive rekidd. Despite that, it might be the only solution to lay your hand on this baby; and believe me: it's certainly worth the investigations and investment. While it may not be of the calibre of Circus' first two albums, but it is a worthy offshoot.

So close to heaven...

German duo Peter Mergener and Michael Weisser's 1987, live "Syn-Code-Symphony for Computer and DNA Molecules" album, certainly projects one of the most amazing and disappointing results at the same time. The album consists of three songs, the first two run 20 minutes (give n' take) each, and the third 9 and a half .

The first song "Syn-Code-Rain.." is a marvelous and original electronic trip, feeding on all kind of influences but never sounding like none. They feed on the "Pink ", as they visit the blues, as they do with close to this sub-genre contemporaries and other cats. But I insist, without sounding like rip-offs of those guys. How? Well, they always stick to their guns and this is by not moving their ensemble beyond analog-synths and their respective sounds and "noises", without trying to imitate "bass" or "electrics". This song is an easy 4.5 star, according to PA's parameters.

Next comes the slow downfall. Track 2 "Syn-Code-Ocean...", as if really trying to come up with something completely opposed to the previous track, they choose the maybe novel in those days, 80's horrendous drum-box dance methods. No, not all the track is like that. It starts in a very promising manner but eventually becomes an 80's MTV anyone's song. It then kind of recomposes itself by oblitarating the "drums" and turning into something more "opera-like". This is the 3 star minus song of the album.

The third part, the coda of the concert, "Syn-Code-Sunset...." starts from scratch a very evocative and spacy (and kind of short, in comparisson to track 2) trip that resembles more the music of Michael Cretu's ENIGMA than the "official" PA's electronic proggers. A relief considering the previous "momentary lapse of reason". This one is a 4 star song.

If I could feel comfortable rating this album 4 stars I would. But that "80's MTV" detour sets it short of the "flawless" & "essential" PA's tagging credentials needed.

Anyway, highly recommendable to aquire, but you have been forwarned!

3.9 PA stars!

Playful and meditative electronic music.

From Germany (again), a prog electronic duo named "Software", which besides its obvious name reference, the "soft" also serves to represent their musical tendency, in this their "ELECTRONIC UNIVERSE-Part 1", 1985, album.

More "baroque classical" inspired songwriting, than let's say experimental, moving closer to "friendly" , softspoken and intriguing musical figures, but also delivering long passages of very "electronic abstract ambients" , which contrast the mid-tempo and slow-tempo structures.

The most obvious comparisson will be with Klaus Schulze's non-pulse music, but the reference will be kept at a proper distance always, by their playful but intelligent compositions and approach.

An electronic trip that is surely enjoyable, although kind of short of becoming "essential".

3.5 PA stars.