KLAUS SCHULZE & LISA GERRARD: FARSCAPE

Lisa Gerrard joining Klaus Schulze sounds like magic on paper. Would this be an incarnation of Dead Can Dance taking off into space?

After the demise of Dead Can Dance, Gerrard released two excellent solo albums (The Mirror Pool and Duality). Then she gradually shifted away from her melodic and song based approach. Her last two albums (Immortal Memory and Silver Tree) are of a more impenetrable and improvised nature. And so is the approach here.

The vocal improvisation style is impressive for a few minutes but I generally find it too long-winded. The moments when it evolves into something memorable are sparse. But also the music sounds rather plain and uninspired. Certainly not Schulze's best.

It takes more then an hour till I finally hear some chemistry at work. On Part V, the pieces seem to fall in place, but halfway through my attention tends to shift to other things. The slow development of the themes and melodies is too inadequate to keep my interest. However, part 6 is better and sustains a captivating mood for the entire lenght.

I regret to say it but for me, this 2 hour compilation of improvisations never rises much above decent background music. I had the opportunity to attend one of their live performances this year in Brussels (September 25th, 2009) and that was an entirely different experience that I will elaborate on in reviews of the live recordings Rheingold and Dziekuje Bardzo.

Klaus Schulze and Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard had apparently wanted to collaborate for some time, but it was only in 2007 that they were able to get together and produce Farscape, an expansive double album cramming the full length of its 2 CDs with Klaus's spacey keyboards and Lisa's ethereal vocals. The combination works far better than I expected it would, and it easily manages to fill two full CDs with decent material - certainly, few other musical acts could put out an album quite so long which retains a particular atmosphere right up to the final chord - and I'm particularly impressed at how well it fits both into the context of Klaus's own discography and into the sort of musical territory Gerrard explored with Dead Can Dance. That said, I can't help but think that there isn't quite enough in the way of interesting textures to allow this one to challenge either Schulze or Gerrard's own best work.

I am a long time fan of both Klaus and Lisa and this double cd contains (almost) all of my favorite things about both of them. Some of this reminds me of early Klaus, but most of it is closer to Dead Can Dance somehow.

Easing and thought-provoking, the combination of their musical personalities is so fascinating and pleasing that it seems that everyone should own and listen to this daily. So, get to it. ;)

This has been my favorite summertime cd since 2009. Re-listening to it today made me think that I really need to come here to remind all of you that it is, in every way, a wonderful experience.

Not a bad record at all if taken for what it is - soft electronic beats and new agey rhythms with gorgeous yet impenetrable female vocals over the top. The mood is reflective and dissonant. For me, this only operates as background music - it's just too long and repetitive to keep my attention all the way through. It's best if I throw it on while doing something else and sporadically give it full attention.

By no means am I a Klaus Schulze expert but personally this ranks low on his list for me.

For some reason this album reminds me of something a university professor would have playing in their office