Jean
Christophe Allier - Ephéméride ($9.99)
SALE!
Latest additions are highlighted in yellow.
Quantities limited – if mailing your order, please specify alternates.
Jean
Christophe Allier - Ephéméride ($9.99)
SALE!1996 electronic music ala Vangelis and Changing Images.
Alpha
III - Ruinas Circulares ($14.99)Alpha III is a pseudonym for Amir Cantusio Jr., a Brazilian keyboardist who released many LPs during
the 1980’s under difficult conditions. His output has varied between electronics
and progressive rock. The Seven Spheres (1990) is the CD reissue of his 7th album; this one is
melodic/rhythmic electronics, his best in that style. Ruinas Circulares
was recorded in 1987, by which time Cantusio Jr was recording on 24 tracks. Here
he started to blend electronic music and progressive rock to some extent, though
it is still just Cantusio Jr on synths, piano, and occasional drums. Sometimes
the electronics are reminiscent of Ralph Lundsten, a peaceful symphony with
electronic sounds suggesting enchanted natural places. Two bonus tracks take the
CD up to 61-minutes.
Alpha
Wave Movement - The Mystic & the Machine ($12.99)
Alpha Wave Movement - Drifted Into Deeper Lands ($11.99)
Thought Guild is the duo of Gregory Kyryluk and Christopher Cameron, performing traditional mid-1970’s Berlin School e-music. Context is from 2002. Alpha Wave Movement is Kyryluk solo and tends to be warmer, more melodic, rhythmic, and energetic. Beyond Silence is from 2005, while A Distant Signal is from 2002. Drifted Into Deeper Lands (2000) has a guitarist on two tracks. This 2007 re-edition contains a 7-minute bonus track recorded in 2001.
On The Mystic and the Machine (2007), Kyryluk
shifts to progressive rock and is assisted by British musician Steve Hillman on
electric guitar and “vintage authenticity”. Hillman himself is well-known for
working in both the electronic music and progressive rock genres. Kyryluk
describes this CD thus: “...melds the beautiful melodic orchestrations of
classic prog giants such as Genesis, Camel, ELP with a sprinkle of cosmic rock
by virtue of synthesizers, samplers and a tasteful splash of electric guitar.
The Mystic & the Machine is a sonic road-trip into the fairytale land where
melodic progressive rock instrumentals meet modern day electronica.” It’s a
great crossover work that carves out a unique niche, like a blend of the
ethereal side of early Genesis with Tangerine Dream, with touches of the
aforementioned Camel and ELP.
Apeiron
& Vasudeva - Mirror Images ($15.99)
Apeiron
is the alias used by German synthesist Andreas Prinz (formerly Konrad). Imagic (1993, 60-minutes) is great
melodic/rhythmic electronic music, generally close to Tangerine Dream’s
non-commercial 1980’s/1990’s style. It is cosmic yet warm sounding, and a couple
pieces use drums to up the energy level. Twilight People (75-minutes)
is the 2002 CD re-release of Apeiron’s 1991 cassette album and is in a similar
style. Both these albums show more originality than many Berlin school-influenced
electronic musicians. Apeiron doesn’t limit himself to vintage gear for the sake
of sounding retro, and neither album locks itself into one particular style. Following the career trajectory of Steve Roach and others, Apeiron shifted style
for Mirror Images (2001, 49-minutes), which adds lots of Asian ethnic influences and is more
mystical and deliberately paced. Vasudeva is actually one Udo Winkler, who adds
sophisticated percussion as well as soundscapes. It’s a very seductive blend,
even bordering on more recent King Crimson on at least one of the hypnotic
pieces.
ARC -
Fracture ($15.99)ARC is Ian Boddy and Mark Shreeve together. These are probably the two most
recognizable names in the UK electronic music scene, both musicians active since
the late 1970s. Ian Boddy also runs the DiN label, while Mark Shreeve has lately
been working under the Redshift banner. Fracture is ARC’s fifth album.
Boddy mans the digital and software synths, while Shreeve is the analog guy with
his giant Moog Modular system. The first four tracks come closest to later Klaus
Schulze, a mix of quirky melody lines and rhythmic elements bathed in spacey
atmospheres, constantly morphing and evolving. The 23-minute fifth track
Rapture is the epic, a classic Berlin School piece featuring a central,
pounding sequencer riff nested within deep space ambiences.
AstroVoyager -
Temporal Gravitation ($14.99)
AstroVoyager is French keyboardist Philippe Fagnoni. Temporal Gravitation
is his 2006 debut, containing 15 tracks of accomplished melodic/rhythmic synth
music influenced by Jarre and Vangelis, with symphonic layers that suggest
Fagnoni has also taken cues from prominent movie soundtrack composers. (Fagnoni
cites Hans Zimmer and Eric Serra.) There is also a multimedia track for Mac and
PC.
Bjarne O.
- Yes ($14.99)
Bjarne O. - The Birth of a Brand New Genre ($14.99)
The new genre referred to by Danish musician Bjarne O. Henriksen is virtual orchestra music, something made possible by the existence of high-quality orchestral sample libraries today. Not to suggest that this style of music has never been done before. Some of Bjarne O.’s pieces are reminiscent of the early Synergy albums, though of course Larry Fast had to do it the hard way, with primitive analog synths. Bjarne O. lists his influences as progressive rock (ELP, Peter Gabriel, Yes, Genesis), contemporary classical (Aaron Copeland), film music and world music. His music is indeed often cinematic and huge, not really classical but rather rock and contemporary instrumental music using an orchestral palette. And his music extends well beyond orchestra simulations into other areas of energetic electronic music and new age. Face On has a world music flavor, as here Bjarne O. also uses samples of a variety of Chinese, Indian, and other ethnic instruments, percussion, and voices. Bjarne O.’s compositional and arranging skills are exceptional.
Yes (2006) is brilliant, as Bjarne O. has
perfected his virtual orchestra, and on this album he sometimes adds
reharmonized vocals a la Deep Forest. With some pipe organ recalling Rick
Wakeman, maybe the title is a reference to the band. One can now say assuredly
that this goes well beyond the early Synergy albums, making full use of modern
tools, and the music is higher-energy. China (2006) is a 21-minute CD-EP
inspired by Bjarne O.’s admiration of the two-stringed Chinese violin, the Erhu.
The music however is Western, with the same high level orchestral music,
flavored by Chinese music but without sacrificing energy. In lesser hands, this
could have been the sort of boring world music that there is no shortage of, but
the music on both Yes and China features thunderous orchestral
percussion and a progressive rock sensibility. The mp3
icons above link to mp3 playlists that allow you to hear two minutes of each
track on the corresponding album in high quality.
The
Black Sea - C:> SpaceWalk ($11.99)
C:> SpaceWalk is a 2002 release from The Black Sea, an American duo producing
electronic rock of the deep space variety. In addition to all the synths and
effects, there is some electric guitar, and most pieces have drums, sometimes
driving, sometimes hypnotic. The music blends the melodic with the sinister,
while sampled dialog is used throughout, clips from NASA transmissions and
sci-fi movies. The final track Home From the Hill is reminiscent of early
Tangerine Dream, but otherwise The Black Sea avoids the floating, free-form
style in favor of the composed and focused. Nothing new age here. As Aural
Innovations said in their review: “It’s rhythmic and melodic, sometimes dark
and cool as the farthest reaches of space, sometimes bright and shimmering like
the light of a new star.”
Richard
Burmer - Treasures of the Saints ($5.99)
SALE!Richard Burmer is one of the most respected American electronic musicians,
who you would group stylistically with Vangelis, Patrick O’Hearn, and David
Arkenstone. Treasures of the Saints (1996) is his 5th album.
Laurent
Calomne - Monstres et Chimères ($11.99)
SALE! Belgian Laurent Calomne is a music teacher specialized in music theory in
addition to being a composer of electronic music. His first album Monstres et
Chimères (2005) contains
melodic, symphonic electronic music, sometimes rhythmic, with references to
Vangelis, Synergy, and Tangerine Dream.
Chrysaldor -
The Legend ($9.99)
SALE!Belgian electronics duo with a 2000 sci-fi concept album in the Jarre and
Kitaro veins.
Coral Caves - Voice from a Distance ($9.99)
SALE!Instrumental synth album from Japanese musician Toshiyuki Fujita. As synth albums go, this one is
fairly (prog-) rocky, with lots of programmed drums, similar to 1990’s Tangerine
Dream at their most rock-oriented. Fujita lists his heroes and, aside from
Vangelis, they’re all prog rock bands, so not surprisingly this could be
likened to a more rock-oriented Vangelis.
Billy
Currie - Accidental Poetry of the Structure ($15.99)
Billy Currie is best known as the keyboardist and viola player for Ultravox.
He is classically-trained and clearly the most progressive-minded musician to
emerge from that band. Accidental Poetry of the Structure (2006) is an
extrovert electronics album in which Currie’s Ultravox heritage is easily heard.
Currie plays synths, percussion, piano, violin and viola. Warm, melodic,
sometimes with fast rhythms, this is for those who like to listen to electronic
music wide awake, electronic music for prog rock fans.
Dionne-Brégent
- same (2CD, $17.99)
This 2CD set reissues the complete works of Dionne-Brégent, the Québécois duo
of Vincent Dionne (drums/percussion) and Michel-Georges Brégent (keyboards).
Their two instrumental albums Et le Troisième Jour (1976) and Deux
(1977) are actually quite different from each other. The first is an electronic
music work that begins symphonic and spacey, with some influence of Terry Riley,
but much of it is abstract and menacing a la the earliest Tangerine Dream. Deux is a beautiful progressive rock album, though there
are still touches of electronic music such as sequencers incorporated into a
driving rock piece. It has a much fuller sound, with the addition of a string
quartet, harp, and brass. In addition to remastered versions of both of these
albums, there are two bonus tracks. One is a performance of a Karlheinz
Stockhausen piece by Vincent Dionne, the other a lost Dionne-Brégent soundtrack
which never appeared on LP. A lavish 20-page booklet completes another essential
reissue from the ProgQuébec label.
Julius Dobos - Mountain Flying ($15.99)This is a symphonic rock work from Hungarian musician Dobos featuring a large choir, orchestra, and (on one track) the vocals of Márta Sebestyén. Much
of this sounds like Vangelis at his most powerful, playing with an orchestra.
There is also one track of symphonic Celtic music, and some rock elements that
Vangelis never used. If this was a Vangelis album, it would rank among his very best.
Chris
Erickson - Sleepin’ with U ($9.99)
SALE!Behind the dumb album name lies an exceptional 2004 instrumental electronics
album by a young French artist. The music is very cinematic and very warm,
probably using one of the high-quality orchestral sample libraries now
available. The symphonic electronics and piano are often combined with engaging
rhythm loops, so rather than background music, this is energetic and compelling,
orchestral trip-hop if you will. The loops are not allowed to run on too long,
which is what most lesser musicians do. Imagine Vangelis circa Blade Runner
but able to utilize today’s music software tools. While other electronic
musicians rehash the same old Berlin school sounds, this is an album that takes
electronic music into new territory, incorporating the latest technology to
widen the scope of what is possible and carry the listener off into other worlds.
Food
for Fantasy - The Secret of Dreamin’ ($15.99)Back circa 1985/1986, Robert Schroeder teamed with guitarist Charly Büchel
under the name Double Fantasy and released the very successful album
Universal Ave. Food for Fantasy is the continuation of Double Fantasy. Most
likely the IC label still owns the rights to the name “Double Fantasy”, or the
name change may be
because the guitarist is now Phil Molto. The music on this 2006 album is the same though,
improvised in the studio during relaxed nightly sessions, with the best parts
later selected and edited in post production. The result is a melodic, flowing,
laidback, sunny style of EM, with cosmic keyboards, hypnotic sequencer and
percussion grooves, and sympathetic, liquid guitar leads. 77-minutes. There is
one mp3
sample and a review here.
Patrick Forgas - Synchronicité ($14.99)With Synchronicité (2001), Patrick Forgas has produced a high quality
instrumental new age album similar to the work of Patrick O’Hearn. Like
O’Hearn, Forgas’ pedigree in rock and jazz shows in the music, raising it to a higher standard.
Digipack.
Christopher Franke - Pacific Coast Highway ($6.99)
Christopher Franke - Universal Soldier ($7.99)
The ex-Tangerine Dream synthesist/composer who, while prolific, can’t hold a
candle to his old band in terms of number of albums released. (We count over one
million different Tangerine Dream albums to date.) Pacific Coast Highway
(1991) is Franke’s first studio album, lighter and brighter than Tangerine
Dream. The London Concert is a live recording of a 1991 concert, possibly
in London. Klemania (1995) is his 2nd studio album, a return to where
Tangerine Dream was in the 1980’s when he left. Universal Soldier (1992)
is the soundtrack for the film of the same name. Raven (1993) and Babylon 5
(1995) contain music composed for the TV series of the same names. New Music for Films is music composed and orchestrated by
Franke for the films Eye of the Storm, McBain, and She Woke Up,
performed by the Berlin Symphonic Film Orchestra along with Franke.
Norman
Friedenberger - Talisman ($15.99)
Norman Friedenberger is the German synthesist also known as N:Force. Talisman
(1996) is an excellent example of a relaxed synth music album, sensitive and
fluid, that still has depth and detail. This is late night space music with
subtle rhythm tracks and sequencers gently propelling the music forward.
Eloy Fritsch - Atmosphere ($14.99)
Atmosphere (2002, 70-minutes) is the 6th album from
Apocalypse’s keyboard player. It is very much in the Vangelis style and every
bit as good, so much so that if you heard it without knowing the artist, you’d
just assume you were hearing a new Vangelis work. With the Greek guy not so
visible these days, this is the album to turn to for symphonic electronic music
with exquisite melodies and textures. Cyberspace
(2000) is Fritsch’s 4th solo album; this one is high-quality electronic music. Two tracks are in the Jean Michel
Jarre melodic/rhythmic style, most of the rest are firmly in the Vangelis symphonic style,
with doses of Tangerine Dream and Rick Wakeman added. Nothing meditative or abstract here.
Philippe Grancher -
3000 Miles Away ($14.99)This is the CD reissue of the 1977 French classic originally released on the
Pole label. Comparable to Clearlight and Vangelis, the album consists of
instrumental music with Grancher on piano, synthesizers, organ, and Mellotron,
with other musicians adding synths, acoustic and electric guitar, bass and
drums.
Heon
- Requiem ($11.99)
This is the project of Canadian guitarist Martin Heon, who
wanted to widen the sonic spectrum of the electric guitar beyond what we are
used to hearing. He has put a Fender Stratocaster through all manner of software plug-ins,
sometimes giving the impression that we are listening to another instrument. A year of intensive research was necessary to create these
original sounds and has resulted in this 40-minute instrumental piece, divided into
12 parts, inspired by the great mystery of life and death. It is surprisingly listenable, pulsing along rhythmically much of the time.
Steve Hillman -
Opener of the Ways ($7.99)
SALE!With over a dozen albums to his name, Steve Hillman has been a leader in the
electronic music genre since the early 1980’s. Opener of the Ways (2002) contains Steve’s take on the
1970’s Tangerine Dream style. There are a few abstract tracks, and a lot of
sequencer-driven rhythmic tracks. Hillman recorded new versions of some of the
best of his earlier works, even replacing drum machine with drum kit, and this
is what distinguishes his music from Tangerine Dream. The drums kick the energy
level up a notch and make this electronic rock. 74-minutes. After ten cassette-only releases of Tangerine
Dream-style electronics, Hillman recorded Matrix in 1994, in
which he adopted a more rock-oriented approach, with electric guitar leads, drum
programming, and his wife Linda adding some flute. The 75-minute Riding the Storm
followed in 1996, a compilation of remastered tracks from Hillman’s cassette releases.
Simon
House - Spiral Galaxy Revisited ($16.99)
Simon House with Spiral Realms - Crystal Jungles of Eos (2CD, $16.99)Spiral Galaxy Revisited is a 2001 solo album from the violinist of High Tide, Hawkwind, The Third Ear Band, and David Bowie. This is fantastic electronic/symphonic space rock with House’s trademark violin, lots of keyboards, and programmed drums, including new masterpieces such as Gothyk and Glencoe (19-minutes) and new versions of Hawkwind tracks Hall of the Mountain Grill, The Forge of Vulcan, and Chronoglide Skyway. Yassasim (1994, 63-minutes) is House’s debut solo album. Spiral Realms is House assisted by keyboardist Len del Rio. Trip to G9 (1994) and Crystal Jungles Of Eos (1995) both come with a 2nd CD of remixes of the original album tracks, and both are somewhat more cosmic and abstract. All of these have elements of Hawkwind but are so much more symphonic and refined. It’s a beautiful combination of symphonic/spacey electronics, soaring violin, and programmed drums (which fit perfectly with the music). Aside from the violin, the music is sometimes close to the early Fonya style, though House tends to go for a sonic stew with less separation of instruments. Sometimes the sonic stew is impenetrable. (You’d think the remixes on Trip to G9 and Crystal Jungles Of Eos would be less murky than the originals, but they aren’t.) To the extent that Spiral Galaxy Revisited and Yassasim can be considered electronic music, they are some of the best albums we’ve heard in that genre in a long time.
Solar Wind was originally released in 1996 and was the 2nd album to be
recorded under the name Spiral Realms. It was recorded live during The Space Ritual
1995 U.S. tour and contains a selection of Simon’s work as a solo
artist, the Hawkwind song The Forge of Vulcan, and the Syd Barrett
composition Interstellar Overdrive. Del Dettmar plays on a number of
tracks. It’s the style of symphonic space rock we’ve come to expect from House,
and though his favorite reverb setting is still “aircraft hangar”, this one is
actually clearer sounding than some of his studio recordings. All the CDs in this series are the 2005 remastered editions on Hawk
Records, personally remastered by Simon House.
Hypnosphere
- Within the Whirl ($15.99)
This 2003 CD is a collaboration between Lambert Ringlage and Alien Nature (aka
Wolfgang Barkowski). Ringlage is known for his Berlin school style albums,
while Alien Nature’s style is dark ambient. The combination of the two is
somewhat similar to Klaus Schulze at his darkest. Rhythmic sequences emerge from
the dark and eerie atmospherics, subtle melodies appear, tension slowly builds
and lead lines carry the long pieces to climax. 73-minutes.
Indra -
Signs ($15.99)
Indra is a Romanian electronic music composer with a staggering number of
releases prior to Signs (2005), but this is the first to be (re-)released
on the Spheric Music label, in 2006. It’s very apparent that Indra is no
beginner, as this is very accomplished Berlin school EM, generally sticking
close to the sequencer-driven Klaus Schulze style, but with elements of Jarre,
some romantic Vangelis-like melodies, and more contemporary influences. It’s
pretty much everything a Berlin school devotee could want, at least those who
like their EM rhythmic and pulsating, all rolled up into one 55-minute album.
Jean Michel Jarre - Rendezvous / Revolutions ($7.99)Two later Jarre albums on one CD. Russian pressing, last copy.
Jiannis
- Nightsessions ($15.99)
Jiannis is short for Jiannis Zedamanis, who follows the Vangelis naming convention. Plugged is firmly in the mid-1970’s Klaus Schulze style, just three long tracks spanning 73-minutes, full of analog synths, Mellotron, and sequencers. Similarly, Nightsessions has three long tracks spanning 67-minutes, but this one is pretty firmly in Tangerine Dream’s Phaedra, Rubycon, and Stratosfear style. The Plugged and Nightsessions CDs are from 1997 and 1998 respectively, but the recordings are apparently older than that, probably from the late 1980’s. Berlin school devotees will have found heaven.
Timeless Vision (74-minutes) was originally released on cassette in
1988, then re-released on this 1999 CD. This is actually the recording of a live
concert, though there is no crowd noise. It was taken directly from the mixing
desk. Both Jiannis and Lambert are hugely inspired by Tangerine Dream and Klaus
Schulze, though each has his own approach, and this album effectively combines
them. Lambert’s style is more melodic and rhythmic. The dominant style on Timeless Vision
is the early 1980’s Tangerine Dream style, more melodic, romantic, and upbeat
than the Jiannis solo CDs.
Henriëtte
Kat - Violet Fire ($11.99)
SALE!
Henriëtte Kat is a Dutch composer linked to the electronic music scene. Her
debut Violet Fire (2006) is an original, dreamlike, neo-classical
electronic work. Kat obviously has some formal classical training, as the
subtlety and sophistication of this work contrasts with many new age musicians
whose melodies and arrangements tend toward the simple and obvious. 65-minutes.
Klangwelt
- The Age of Numbers ($15.99)
Klangwelt is German synthesist Gerald Arend, and his 2002 debut Weltweit
is 78-minutes of Teutonic electronics of the melodic and upbeat variety. “This
CD is stunning. This is what EM is all about: great sequencing, fine solos,
beautiful sounds all woven into the music which grabs you and sweeps you off
your feet. This is a mix of Frank Van Bogaert meeting John Kerr in a sauce of
Tangerine Schulze with a crisp of Jarre.” [Ron Boots]. The 2nd Klangwelt CD The Age of Numbers
(2003, 78-minutes) is similar but perhaps even better. Follow the mp3 icon above
for numerous reviews.
Krakatau
- As... ($14.99)This Krakatau is solely the work of Swiss keyboardist, sound designer and
composer Alexandre Borcic. His first CD As... (2006, 63-minutes) is an instrumental
work undoubtedly realized on a computer, yet it crosses over into progressive
rock, albeit with sampled drums. It’s almost impossible to compare this to
anything else. Part of the reason for its uniqueness is that Borcic created all
the sounds on this album himself. So no stock synthesizer presets that everyone
else is using. The music is significantly more complex than the average
electronic music album, with influences of classical music and touches of jazz
and avant-garde. The density of sonic elements suggests a soundtrack, but this
album is not boring or ambient nor is it inaccessible, rather it is highly creative.
Here are 128kbps mp3’s of the entire
Track 4 and
Track
11.
Lambert -
Pearls ($15.99)
Lambert & Palantir - Finis Terrae ($15.99)
Lambert is Lambert Ringlage, who runs the Spheric Music label. Inside Out (66-minutes) is Lambert’s 1991 debut, lively and accessible EM that has been compared to Jean Michel Jarre, Michael Garrison, and Tangerine Dream. His 2nd CD Mirror of Motions (1993, 75-minutes) combines longer tracks of the older, sequencer-driven Tangerine Dream style with shorter, upbeat pieces featuring bright, major-key melodies and drums, closer to later T. Dream or to Jean Michel Jarre. Lambert adds some electric guitar leads as well. There is a human drummer on two tracks, programmed drums on some others.
Pearls was originally released on cassette in 1990, then re-released on CD in 2000. It adheres pretty closely to the late-1970’s Tangerine Dream style, five long pieces spanning 72-minutes, driven by both sequencers and programmed drums/percussion, with enough melody to keep it interesting. Ultimately it’s the hypnotic effect of the sequencers that dominates the feel of this album, drawing the listener into a pleasant dreamlike state.
Finis Terrae (1997, 61-minutes) is a collaboration between Lambert and Christian Schimmöller,
aka Palantir (check below for the Palantir CDs), inspired by and recorded in
Finistère, part of Brittany. “The addition of some environmental recordings has
created an incredible sense of atmosphere. Finis Terrae is a remarkable
achievement, a CD which has given a serious meaning to the usually flippant
sound of the synthesizer, and which has magnificently incorporated location
recordings and abstract sounds without veering too far into the field of purely
dark ambient music. As such, it’s to be applauded, although it remains heavy
going to listen to the album all the way through in one sitting. Perhaps that’s
just a tribute to the intensity of feeling which Lambert and Christian have
managed to capture in their music.” [Mark Jenkins / AMP Music]
Bertrand
Loreau - D’Une Rive à L’Autre ($14.99)
D’Une Rive à L’Autre (2006) is the 6th album for French synthesist
Loreau, assisted here by three other musicians. The music is generally bright
and melodic, in the romantic Vangelis and light classical new age styles.
59-minutes.
Jacky
Maestracci - Symphonia ($9.99)
SALE! Symphonia (1996) is quality electronic/new age with an orchestral
focus by Corsican keyboardist Maestracci,
along the lines of Changing Images or Patrick Broguiere.
Frederic
Maillet - Inlandsis ($14.99)The French composer Frédéric Maillet is a devoted disciple of the 1970’s electronic music scene. His
first opus Inlandsis (2005) is a 55-minute album composed of just two
suites of cosmic electronics in the 1970’s style. The cover photo of bright
arctic ice is appropriate for the music.
Jean-François
Moulin - 40 ($14.99)40 is the 2006 debut for Belgian synthesist Moulin, the album title
probably a reference to his age after having spent the 1990’s leading a rock
band. It is one of the best and more original releases on the Dreaming
label. One aspect of Moulin’s style is dark orchestral music, suitable as
dramatic and poignant movie soundtrack music. But he marries this with
electronic rhythms and electronic sounds to create something original. A guest
on lead electric guitar takes the music into progressive rock territory in
spots.
Musicaenchiriadis
- Music for Nikola Tesla ($11.99)
SALE!Musicaenchiriadis was a famous treatise on music written in the middle ages.
It’s now the name of the new project by Piergiorgio Ambrosi, the Italian
keyboardist of the band Montefeltro. The style on Music for Nikola Tesla
(2005) has nothing to do with Montefeltro though. It’s a blend of industrial and
symphonic techno, if that makes any sense. On Musea’s Dreaming label, it’s more
experimental than most of the Dreaming releases, but not too abstract or
difficult. Since Tesla’s work was in electricity, Ambrosi wanted the sound of
crackling electricity, which accounts for the industrial side of the sound, but
the symphonic techno side is a rather interesting combination.
Erik
Norlander - Seas of Orion ($13.99)Seas of Orion (2004) sees Erik Norlander returning to the electronic
sound of his first solo album Threshold, though this is not Threshold
part 2. This instrumental album was commissioned by the Alfa Centauri
Festival in Holland where Erik first played in 2001 when Rick Wakeman headlined,
then returned in 2004 to headline the festival himself. The 22-minute Adrift
on the Fire Seas of Orion’s Shield is clearly inspired by Tangerine Dream
and Klaus Schulze, but Norlander’s own style is easily recognizable by now. The
first three tracks are melodic, higher-energy and more rock-oriented than
anything to come out of the Berlin school, with the track Fanfare for Absent
Friends closer to ELP. The album ends with a cover of Vangelis’ beautiful
Hymne from Opera Sauvage. Norlander employs his arsenal of synths
both ancient and modern, the oldest being a 1967 modular Moog that is just a bit
older than Erik himself. Greg Ellis is back, adding his ethnic percussion and
humanizing the feel. All in all, this is a fantastic electronics album. It may
even introduce some of the younger, metal-minded fans of Norlander’s heavier
rock output to electronic music which, along with fusion, are the real
sister-genres of progressive rock.
Olyam
- Orange Love ($14.99)
SALE!
SALE!
Olyam is a French composer and musician comparable to Vangelis, merging his synths with human voices and acoustic
instruments (guitar, bass, percussion). Like Vangelis, he is versed in rock, classical,
and traditional/ethnic musics. On Orpheus
(1997), the vocals take the form of Gregorian chant (on 3 of the 13 tracks),
while the music is powerful and larger than life. Cristal Rêveur (2002)
is 55-minutes of beautiful relaxed instrumental progressive/new age music
blending electronics and acoustic instruments. Olyam plays synths, percussion,
and acoustic guitar, while other musicians add trumpet, bass, flute, accordion,
violin, cello, and voice.
Orange Love (2005,
72-minutes) is Olyam’s most modern and rhythmic work, in an essentially romantic
style close to Vangelis, but on this album each song is propelled by rhythm
loops. It fuses electronic and acoustic sounds, the results sometimes close to
progressive rock, both relaxing and revitalizing. Olyam plays both guitars and
keyboards, with significant use of vocal and traditional instrument samples.
Guests contribute bass and trumpet. We would rank Olyam among the top
practitioners of electronic music today.
Omni -
Mermaids ($14.99)
In the mid-1980’s, there were two great Polish electronic bands: El Division and Omni. While the El Division LPs have yet to be issued on CD, the 1985 first album by Omni has. This is the Metal Mind re-edition, which adds three bonus tracks. Omni is a duo making melodic/rhythmic electronic music somewhere between the Tangerine Dream and Jean Michel Jarre styles, but very high-energy and very exuberant. Classical themes are blended with racing sequencers and electronic drums.
Nothing more was heard from Omni until
Mermaids (2006). The core of their sound remains late-70s/early-80s
Tangerine Dream. The first of the four tracks is electronic rock, as Omni add
rock guitar, drums and wordless female vocals. The remaining three tracks stick
mainly to electronic music, but each is quite distinct. One member adds cello at
times, which is one element Omni use to elevate their music beyond ordinary EM.
The 23-minute final track is a beautiful example of EM that builds from
ambient/cosmic to a powerful sequencer-driven conclusion. One sample from
each CD can be found on
Metal Mind’s mp3 page.
Rob Orlin - Spirit Dreamer ($5.99)Despite the new age-y title, this is loud, buzzy, in-your-face electronic
music from a Canadian artist. Machines take over the world.
Palantir -
Empire of Illusions ($15.99)
Palantir is the name adopted by composer, musician, and audio engineer Christian Schimmöller for
his music projects. There is a melodic and a rhythmic component to his music,
but its main feature is an exotic, other-worldly feel and the highly-imaginative
use of background sounds of all sorts: spoken, sung, natural, industrial, and
indescribable. With the 78-minute Empire of Illusions (2000, digipack), Schimmöller has created a wondrous dream world that has few
parallels, ultimately relaxing but so full of detail that it never becomes
background music. If you have the time to listen to at least some of it on
headphones, the music takes on a three-dimensional quality due to the binaural
recording technique used.
Roger
Powell - Fossil Poets ($14.99)
Roger Powell was one of the pioneering American electronic musicians, releasing
the album Cosmic Furnace in 1973 and later Air Pocket in 1980.
Prog rock fans know him as the keyboardist in Todd Rundgren’s Utopia. Powell
returns in 2006 with the instrumental Fossil Poets, on which he is
assisted by guitarist/bassist Greg Koch, with producer Gary Tanin also
contributing some synth parts. Powell also plays guitar, mandolin, tin whistle,
flute, accordion, flugelhorn, piano, and organ, but the predominant textures on
the album are synthetic. It’s a modern synth album, very rhythmic and unafraid
to use distorted, snarling tones. Call it a prog and fusion-tinged
ambient/electronic album. This is the digipack edition on Discipline Global
Mobile.
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Christian Richet - Waves ($14.99)This is a 2004 album of sophisticated electronic music by French synthesist
Richet. It comes closest
to Vangelis, but Vangelis’ more ethnic side rather than his symphonic side. Most of
this is powerful and high energy, yet the overall effect is hypnotic because of
the long tracks with repetitive rhythmic elements.
Steve
Roach - Arc of Passion (2CD, $16.99)
Steve Roach is often considered to be America’s leading electronic musician. Arc of
Passion (2008) is a double-CD that, as the press release describes it,
weaves elements of his three distinct styles into a continuously evolving flow,
fusing rich harmonic chords, spiraling sequencers, and deep sky sound-worlds.
The full press release and links to reviews can be found by clicking the mp3 icon above.
Dom
F. Scab - Necessary Fears ($15.99)
Spanish synthesist Dom F. Scab has quite a large discography and has established himself as an important
figure in electronic music. He is taking the Berlin school of spacey
sequencer-driven electronics in new directions. Twelve Stories (2004), Crosswords (2005),
and Necessary Fears (2006) all have
strong influences of Tangerine Dream circa Stratosfear, plus a few instances of
more Vangelis-like material. Never too
abstract or experimental, his music is full of classic Teutonic sequencing
blended with melodic elements.
Robert
Schroeder - Brainchips vocal version ($15.99)
Most fans of electronic music are familiar with Robert Schroeder, a protégé of
Klaus Schulze who released his first album Harmonic Ascendant in 1979.
After a break from EM for the past several years, Schroeder released his 14th CD Brainchips
in 2005. In an unusual move, there is an instrumental and a vocal version
available. The vocal version adds singing and some spoken word (mostly in
English but several other languages as well) by the Moroccan Rahal Brimil on
five of the album’s 12 tracks, giving those tracks a multi-cultural flair. This
album has fine electronics in the traditional Schroeder style, gently rhythmic,
sometimes close to Klaus Schulze’s style but more melodic. Schroeder
distinguishes himself from most other EM practitioners by playing electric
guitar in addition to keyboards. This is as good as anything Schroeder released
in his early days, but if you just want to hear the same old
Berlin school stuff repeated ad infinitum, this album may not be for you. This
album see Schroeder broadening his style in new directions such as electronic
trip-hop and demonstrating that he is at least aware of developments in
electronic music over the past decade. Along with his new project Food for
Fantasy, Schroeder is in the midst of a creative renaissance. 74-minutes.
Klaus Schulze - Live @ Klangart (2CD, $19.99)
Klaus Schulze’s Wahnfried - Drums ‘n’ Balls ($14.99)
Klaus Schulze - Ballett 4 ($16.99)
Klaus Schulze - Ballett 1 ($14.99)
Klaus Schulze - Dosburg Online ($14.99)
Klaus Schulze - Das Wagner Desaster (2CD, $16.99)
Klaus Schulze - En=Trance ($14.99)
Klaus Schulze - Angst ($14.99)
Klaus Schulze - Trancefer ($14.99)
Klaus Schulze - Dune ($14.99)
Klaus Schulze - Body Love ($14.99)These are the 2005-2008 remastered digipack deluxe editions on SPV’s Revisited Records label, with bonus tracks, enhanced booklets, new photos and new liner notes. Klaus Schulze is a synth music icon and, together with Tangerine Dream, is the father of electronic space music. The 76-minute Kontinuum is Schulze’s 2007 CD, with three new tracks that carry the listener back to the 1970’s and forward into new realms. Moonlake (74-minutes) is Schulze’s 2005 release. The tracks Playmate In Paradise (30:07) and Artemis In Jubileo (17:49) were recorded live in the studio, while Same Thoughts Lion (10:38) and Mephisto (15:23) are new tracks recorded at a concert in Poland in 2003. Schulze currently prefers the live element in his music, the opportunity for improvisation. This is a good album for Schulze, as rhythm plays a more dominant role than has been the case for some time. Thomas Kagermann adds violin and voice to Playmate In Paradise.
Das Wagner Desaster was recorded live during two legendary 1994 concerts staged by Klaus Schulze in Paris and Rome. Schulze then edited the shows into two different mixes, with Disc One featuring The Wild Mixes and Disc Two The Soft Mixes. There is also a 19-minute bonus track Encore Sevilla, bringing the total time of this 2CD set to 154-minutes. Originally released in 1984 as the soundtrack for the Austrian judicial scandal documentary film, Angst (a.k.a. Schizophrenia), Schulze’s music acted as a storyline for the unedited film, rather than incidental music added to a completed story, thus allowing the score to drive the film. As standalone music, Angst is typical of Schulze’s moody, serene and atmospheric symphonic synth style. The previously-unreleased 32-minute bonus track Silent Survivor brings the total time to 72-minutes.
In Blue was originally released in 1995 as a double CD, with Manuel Göttsching guesting on guitar. This edition adds a 3rd CD of live material which also features Göttsching. The 79-minute Le Moulin de Daudet is the soundtrack to a French film and had previously been available only in France. This edition adds a rare 16-minute bonus track from 1994. Miditerranean Pads (1990) is the only album in this series without a bonus track, but the CD is already 72-minutes long. En=Trance (1988) has the 8-minute bonus track Elvish Sequencer added, taking the album length to 78:49. Dreams (1986, 79:50) includes the previously unreleased 24-minute Constellation Andromeda as a bonus track.
Inter*Face (1985) adds two bonus tracks totaling 26-minutes, taking the CD up to 75:11. The tracks on Audentity (1983) appear in a different order now and it includes as a bonus Gem, which is an album in itself, 58-minutes long and broken into five tracks. Trancefer (1981) was the first album released on Schulze’s own IC label and features Michael Shrieve on percussion and Wolfgang Tiepold on cello. The bonus tracks are alternate versions of the two album tracks and take the CD length up to 75-minutes. Dig It (1980) was Schulze’s first digital album, played and mixed entirely on computer. This edition contains a 28-minute bonus track from the original session tapes and a bonus hour-long DVD (NTSC, all-region) of Schulze’s performance at the 1980 Ars Electronica festival in Austria, previously unreleased.
Live (2CD, 1980) was Schulze’s first live album, consisting of four extended compositions recorded in Amsterdam 1979, Berlin 1976, and Paris 1979. Arthur Brown appears on one track. This edition includes the 18-minute bonus track Le Mans au premier, taken from a 1979 concert at the abbey L’Epeau near Le Mans in France.
X was Schulze’s tenth album and is considered by many to be his masterpiece. On this edition of X, each of the two CDs is nearly 80-minutes long. The track Georg Trakl which was only 5:25 on the original 2LP and 2CD releases is restored to its full 26:04 here. There is also a 21:32 bonus track Objet d’Louis recorded live with an orchestra, while the booklet has been expanded to 24-pages. Dune (1979), which features Arthur Brown reading a poem and Wolfgang Tiepold on cello, now includes the 23-minute bonus track Le Mans. Body Love (1977, 75:00) includes the bonus track Lasse Braun (22:26), named after the porn director who asked Schulze to compose this album as a soundtrack to his movie of the same name. Body Love 2 (1977, 79:33) contains more music composed for the film and adds the bonus track Buddy Laugh (23:16). Mirage (1977, 77:10) includes the previously unreleased 20-minute In Cosa Crede Chi Non Crede?
Moondawn (1976) has to be considered one of Schulze’s classic albums. This CD adds the 21-minute Floating Sequence as a bonus track, taking the total time to 74-minutes. Timewind (1975) and Blackdance (1974) are classics from Schulze’s years with the Virgin label. Timewind comes with a 56-minute bonus CD of previously-unreleased music from the original 1975 sessions. Blackdance has two previously-unreleased bonus tracks totaling over 25-minutes and taking the CD length up to 73:33. Picture Music (1973) now includes the 33:00 bonus track C’est Pas la Même Chose, taking the album length up to 80-minutes.
Dziekuje Poland Live ’83 was recorded and originally released in 1983 during the Audentity tour. The original release was also credited to Rainer Bloss, and though Rainer’s photo is still on the back, his name got dropped from the front. This may be the best of Schulze’s live records, as they are some of the most dramatic and powerful electronic works on record. This 2CD reissue contains two previously unreleased bonus tracks: Dzien Dobry, recorded live in Gdansk, and The Midas Hip Hop Touch, a studio recording from the same era.
Are You Sequenced? was recorded live in concert in Derby, England in April 1996 and was edited and remixed by Klaus Schulze that summer. It’s an amalgamation of analog sounds played on contemporary 1990’s equipment with the Schulze flair, with all 11 tracks played as a continuous 80-minute piece. Schulze apparently knew to stop playing when the capacity of a compact disc had been reached. This new 2CD edition contains the bonus track Vat Was Dat?, a mere 77-minutes long, recorded in Hambühren in 1993.
The 79-minute Dosburg Online was originally released in 1997. Recorded live in Duisburg, Germany, it is highlighted by the tracks Requiem für’s Revier and Primavera, where Schulze is supported by opera singer Roelof Oostwoud.
Originally recorded between 1998-2000 and only available in the now deleted 10-CD boxset Contemporary Works I, The Crime of Suspense is a welcome addition to the Klaus Schulze re-release catalog. On Good Old 4 On The Floor, Schulze delivers a trance classic with soul, while Overchill is refined by the beautiful voice of Julia Messenger. Two previously unreleased bonus tracks have been added, taking the total time up to 80-minutes. The four-part Ballett series was recorded between 1998-2000 and was also part of Contemporary Works I. The 77-minute Ballett 1 features cellist Wolfgang Tiepold, who also played on Dune, Trancefer and Audentity. Ballett 2 features Thomas Kagermann on flute and violin, while Wolfgang Tiepold plays cello on the 24-minute Wolf’s Ponticelli. Ballett 2 has an ethno, eclectic vibe, one that is more prevalent than on Ballett 1. One bonus track has been added, expanding the CD to 80-minutes. Ballett 3 (79-minutes) has one bonus track, as does Ballett 4 (78-minutes). Vanity of Sounds (78:33) was recorded between 1999-2000 and was also part of Contemporary Works I.
In 2002, Schulze released the second part of his box set series Contemporary Works. Virtual Outback is the first of five CDs from this set, which was only available online and has been sold out for some time. The CD is now available with a booklet including new liner notes and the bonus track Chinese Ears, which Schulze recorded for the China Millennium Show in Beijing.
After performances by Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream, the organizers of the KlangArt Festival invited Klaus Schulze to play in Osnabrück in 2001. The concert from June 9th is actually the last time Schulze played in Germany, and was originally released on two separate CDs in 2001. Both CDs are now available together in the Live @ KlangArt 2CD digipack, with two bonus tracks adding another 18 minutes.
As if Schulze didn’t release enough music under his
own name, around the end of the 1970’s he began also releasing music under the
pseudonym Richard Wahnfried. Drums ‘n’ Balls (The Gancha Dub) was
originally released in 1997 and now with a 15:21 bonus track added, runs
72:28. Trance Appeal (76-minutes) was originally released in 1996 and
now includes a 13-minute bonus track.
Synergy - Metropolitan Suite ($12.99)
Hopefully Synergy, alias Larry Fast, needs no introduction. For many of us,
he was the electronic music pioneer in the U.S., as his albums are
just far more interesting to rock fans than those of the few other U.S.
electronic music pioneers. Prog fans also know that he had a large hand in the
sound of Nektar’s Recycled album and, as Nektar was falling apart,
joined Peter Gabriel’s band. But the Synergy albums are his true legacy. These are the
latest remastered versions, released on his own label. (There are RealAudio
clips on the same page as the Windows Media clips; click the icon above. Note
some of the copies of Metropolitan Suite have a tiny hole drilled through
the back of the case, but they were all purchased directly from Larry Fast.)
Tangerine Dream -
Paradiso (2CD, $17.99)Edgar Froese and company continue to reinvent themselves, as Madcap’s Flaming Duty (2007) is not an electronic album so much as a sort of adult contemporary progressive rock album with male vocals throughout. The album is dedicated to Syd Barrett, while the lyrics for the songs were adapted from English and American poets from the 17th and 18th centuries. The synths and sequencers form the backbone of the music. The band is a sextet plus guests here, with the instrumentation also including bass, drums, electric guitar, flute, violin, mandolin, bagpipe, recorder, and more. One track is an Irish traditional tune, with guests on bouzouki and bodhran, and is really quite good. The album is generally relaxed, though a few tracks up the energy and tempo and are about as close as Tangerine Dream have come to sounding like a conventional progressive rock band. More instrumental passages would have been welcome to break up all the vocals, as the CD runs 74-minutes and many of the songs share the same laidback tempo. Given the expectation of electronic music from Tangerine Dream, this album is guaranteed to be a controversial one with their fan base. One thing is fairly certain -- there is more humanity and soul here than on any other T. Dream album. You can listen to a 40-minute interview with Edgar Froese on the subject of this album, including music excerpts, or listen to amazon.com’s sampler.
Paradiso (2CD, 143-minutes) is the third and
final part of Tangerine Dream’s take on Dante’s La Divina Commedia,
following the CDs Inferno and Purgatorio, though it’s the first of
the three to be distributed in the U.S. Tangerine Dream recorded it live
with the Brandenburg Symphonic Orchestra and opera singers at the Hans-Otto
Theatre in Potsdam in January 2006. After about 40 years of making music, Edgar
Froese is still coming up with new approaches. Check for
Tangerine Dream DVDs on our DVDs page.
Tangerine
Dream - Oasis ($7.99)
SALE!
SALE!Oasis (1997) is one of Tangerine Dream’s best soundtrack albums and among
the best of their 1990’s output. The Dream Mixes (1995) contains 67-minutes of
Tangerine Dream tracks from the albums Tyranny of Beauty, Rockoon,
and Turn of the Tides remixed by Jerome and Edgar Froese, plus four new
tracks in a similar style. To quote the back panel, this album energizes the
famous TD sound with an infectious beat. This is actually one of our very
favorite wide-awake-listening Tangerine Dream albums. The rhythms are not the
monotonous thump-thump of techno but rather tasteful rhythm patterns that change
every few bars. Perhaps TD listened to the high-energy EM of Mark Shreeve
and Andy Pickford and thought they’d better not let these upstarts eclipse them.
Tranquillity - The Spectre Within ($15.99)
Tranquillity
(that’s not how we would spell it) is German synthesist Frank Makowski. The Spectre Within
(1994, 63-minutes) is energetic, melodic, rhythmic synth music very much in the
1980’s Tangerine Dream style, hinting at the energy level of Mark Shreeve’s
Legion or Ian Boddy’s Phoenix.
Sam
Vitoulis - April 4th 1984 ($14.99)
Sergio Koval - Clon ($15.99)There aren’t many electronics artists that really turn our head these days, but Sam Vitoulis is one such artist.