“This second cd is much more intended to the collectors and the die-hard fans of Klaus Schulze”
CD 1(75:42)
1 Shadowlights 41:12
2 In Between 17:07
3 Licht und Schatten 17:23
CD 2 (73:14)
1 The Rhodes Violin 55:24
2 Tibetan Loop 17:50
Synthetic Symphony SPV 260070 (2CD 148:56) (V.F.)
(Modern Berlin School)
Why two reviews for the same album? Because the said album is presented in two formats; a simple album that will outlive the two skeuds special edition, but mostly because the overall rating for SHADOWLANDS will suffer tremendously if I meld the two reviews into one. Do you see me coming?
A large majority of comments are positive about this 2nd CD offered in limited edition. I am quite divided. At times (yes it happens to him) the friend Klaus has the annoying habit of wanting at all costs to fill the 80 minutes of the digital furrows of the silver skeud. This is a bit like what happens on this small silver platinum of SHADOWLANDS Limited Edition which puts in our ears a too long minimalist dissection of The Rhodes Violin. True, the small shimmering arpeggios which sparkle in oriental moods and in the tears and riffs of Thomas Kagermann's violin and his fuzzy orations are bewitching. It's also true that the rhythm, absent from the beginning, which is profiled and which gains momentum by chords of sequences interlocking in a serpentine stroboscopic movement, and that the bass line which pumps its round and hopping chords and finally that the percussions which pulsate a delicate techno of zombies end up offering one of those always magnetic rhythms from the master of electronic minimalist art. As it's also true that The Rhodes Violin suffers from these too long minutes between what each of the aforementioned musical elements integrate in order to harmonize its 56 minutes scattered in the spheres of boredom. Cut off 20 minutes and The Rhodes Violin would have been as delicious as Shadowlights. Tibetan Loop takes us to another level with a fascinating spiritual incantation chanting on the wings of abstract musical art. The synth waves are dark and strangely musical. They weave these walls of comfort that support the weight of Schulze's vocalized heresies where Kagermann's violins get lost in them with a skillful fusion of two musical entities that confuse the hearing with magic. Except that Tibetan Loop remains atmospheric. A mixture of lunar and tribal ambiences with chants more Berber than Tibetan which get lost in an Aeolian mosaic where synths and violins lose their fragile nomadic harmonies, confirming at times all the questioning on the need for this 2nd CD which is aimed more to collectors and to die-hard fans of Klaus Schulze.
Sylvain Lupari (March 10th, 2013) ***½**
Available at Groove
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