PETE NAMLOOK & K. SCHULZE: THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOOG IV

Yes, three pipers. A third artist is added to the project, Bill Laswell, as yet unknown to me but according to Wikipedia it's a versatile musician (bass guitaris/producer) that has been busy in diverse genres such as funk, metal, jazz, punk and ambient, leading to hair-scratching co-operations ranging from Motorhead to Herbie Hancock or from PIL to this Dark Side of The Moog series with Schulze and Namlook.

I wouldn't be able to single out what his contributions exactly are but the result is a Dark Side of The Moog chapter that is entirely different from the first three. This album veers off into more techno directions. No 'car tuning beats' or too obtrusive rhythms, but it's Dance nevertheless. So your enjoyment will depend on your beat-resistance. The quality is undeniable though but as usual in this series, not consistent.

Part I offers the known recipe of sound effects and slowly flowing melodies and minor chords. But Part II doesn't beat around the bush anymore. A particularly dark sequence on a rhythmically pulsed single bass note introduces a 20 minutes techno piece with an almost continuous 4/4 beat, sounding very close to the legion of concurrent artists that had been influenced by Schulze (Underworld, the Orb). The mixing is a bit strange, particularly at the end of the piece, rhythmic accents sound lots louder then the actual music. It makes for a confusing experience, but it's very captivating to my ears.

Part III returns to ambient textures and doesn't feature much else then sounds from the bushes and highly reverberated didgeridoo. Part IV dwells a bit longer in similar ghostly moods. Part V is short but sharp techno moment with a typical droning nihilistic beat. Laswell adds a little playfulness with nicely looping bass line, too bad this wasn't explored a bit further.

Entirely different sounds again on Part VI, the best piece here, featuring some sparse cosmic synth chords and a moody clean guitar improvisation. No one is actually credited for playing guitar though. Part VII is a one tone reverberated and tuned-down gong sound, quite morose. Part VIII continues the bass line and beats from Part V but it fails to build up to anything groovy or entrancing. The short Part IX ends the album with some interesting flanger effects that could have developed into something again but doesn't hit the mark really

Probably this shouldn't be listed under Schulze at all. His contributions are marginal and the resulting album sits miles away from his usual fare, unlikely to please his fans. As a progressive techno album it also doesn't fully deliver but it's still a good album. Approach with caution as your enjoyment will largely depend on your affinity with 90's chill-out techno.

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