FRIENDSHIP

25 years after the band's last official recording, after the electronic revolution of the 90's, do you really expect that the reunion of the two synthesizers pioneers can result in a music comparable to the krautrock of the classic 70's ASH RA TEMPEL albums? Recorded in 1998 and 1999, "Friendship" consists in long ambient soundscapes weaved by Klaus Schulze's keyboards textures and Manuel Göttsching's whirlwinding guitar interventions. The style is pretty much similar to Schulze's modern solo works.

"Reunion" opens on a floydian and relaxing tone, until the distorted guitar floats over spacey synthesizers and modern drums. Nice but a bit lengthy. Mainly electronic, "Pikant" is the passage the most similar to Klaus Schulze's compositions, especially his 90's releases. It nonetheless contains an interlude where Göttsching offers a delicate solo, sounding a little Spanish. On the contrary, the title track is rather driven by electric guitar. A slowly evolving cosmic piece, nice and dreamy but not very varied.

As you may have understood, of the two band cofounders, Schulze is the one the influence can be the most perceived on this album. The music neither resembles classic ASH RA TEMPEL, nor a modern version of it (such as SUBARACHNOID SPACE), nor even ASHRA, regardless of the period. "Friendship" can be described as a pleasant 90's Klaus Schulze album accompanied by Manuel Göttsching's guitars. The quality is overall constant, however the only problem is that all tracks are too long and not very changing.

Consider this disc as an unexpected enjoyable bonus from the Germans. Don't pick this one if you're looking for immersive psychedelic / space rock, but you can give it a listen if you're into modern Schulze records and electronic ambient soundscapes.

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