CYBORG

I don't usually listen to electronic music, but these early works from the seventies with their eerie covers and titles somehow trigger memories of childlike fantasies and attraction. I already owned Tangerine Dream's 'Zeit' double lp and expected this to be in a similar vain, yet this record wildly exceeded my expectations!

Skimming through my colleague's reviews I frequently stumble upon descriptions as non-lineair, droning, non- melodic, modern, ambient and so forth. All these do apply in abundance, yet I was surprised how harmonic and musical this record actually was! To me these four side long pieces feel like quite natural one-man meditations on technology-driven modern classical music. Every piece could have lost 5-10 minutes without being comprised in impact. Then again, the record does offer time to fully embrace its soundscapes and trigger once's own projections on it. The opening track Synphära and closing track Neuronengesang offer most variety and engagement and are therefor arose as my favorites at first spin. Conphära is a strong experimental piece with a mind boggling main drone and melancholic strings (which start to distort slightly toward the middel of the vinyl). Chromengel is perhaps my least favorite and reminds me most of the bleak minimalism of 'Zeit'.

I can't imagine any-one really enjoying this on headphones of low-fi stereo equipment. This isn't really music, not in a traditional way. It's more like a abstract movie you have to watch with your eyes closed. Guided imagination. A soundtrack to trigger your own sci-fi fantasy. Klaus Schulze offers a complete work with a unique impact and therefor my rating of four stars is more then accounted for.