Like any (and every) musical genre (and subgenre), individuals and groups are want to further define, categorize and label musical 'types' with their own names. And I know the "electronic," "electronica" and "progressive electronic" realms have plenty of sub-categories under their umbrellas, so I want to honor and try to be inclusive to all of the offspring and offshoots herein, but I'm going to just call the music "progressive electronic" in hopes of recognizing any and all musics that have continued to explore and innovate the uses of electronics in the creation of music. Electronic keyboards, engineering sound effects, and computers and computer technology have enabled artists, composers and musicians to manipulate sound in ways that are only limited by the imagination (which, in my opinion, has no limitation). Therefore, it is not surprising that experimentation in the field of electronic music has continued to progress over the past 100 years. Out of the work of Nikolai Tesla came Theremin and other electro-static sound emanations that were later explored by avant-garde classical composers like Karl Stockhausen and John Cale. Audio tape manipulation led to such things like the reverse voicings used by The Beatles as well as the Mellotron and "Fripp in a Box" (looping) and sequencing while splice, delay and other editing techniques became popular within the psychedelic movement. Sound engineering pioneers like Robert Moog, James T. Russel, Terry Riley, Brian Eno, Kodak's Steve Sasson, Fairlight's Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie, Roland's Ikutaro Kakehashi, Tom Oberheim, Sequential Circuits' Dave Smith, and Bob Carver made huge contributions to the modern sound that can still be heard today--especially in digitization and sampling, standardization of equipments, and computer-basing of sound engineering. And, of course, one cannot over emphasize the contribution that the advent and advances in personal computers gave to the era of the home-made musician and home-produced song, album, and video.
While many choose to separate Progressive Electronic music into two basic groups or "schools"--the Berlin School from which TD, KS, Kraftwerk and Manuel Göttsching came and the Dusseldorf School from which Can, Faust and Neu! came--I would also like to cite the influences of the the styles of Brian Eno's "Ambient Music" and Jean-Michel Jarre's techno-computer led experimentations to the conversation if not the list. Terry Riley, Walter/Wendy Carlos, Manheim Steamroller, Kitaro, Tomita and Vangelis also deserve recognition and credit for their electronically rendered classical music and classical music-influenced renderings that occurred concurrently or even previous to the German "schools."
The most vibrant descendant of the original Progressive Electronic artists of the 60s and 70s currently thriving is the Ambient Music scene--which also yielded the much-maligned New Age music scene. I must mention that there has also been a fairly recent renaissance of a growing number of Berlin School-inspired imitators as well. The original Ambient Music scene included such artists as Brian Eno, Dueter, Klaus Schulze, Peter Baumann, Rödelius, and Kluster and inspired a new generation of ambient/"New Age"artists in Steve Roach, Iasos, Thom Brennan, Robert Rich, David Lanz, Harold Budd, Jon Hassell, Mark Isham, Suzanne Ciani, Patrick O'Hearn, Yanni, Micheal Jones, David Arkenstone, David Darling, Ludovico Einaudi, Enya, Dean Evenson, Gary Stadler, Peter Kater, Coyote Oldman, N. Carlos Nakai, the Gordon brothers, David and Steve, and many, many others.
Today we have the likes of Alpha Wave Movement (Gregory Kyryluk), Zero 7, Marconi Union, Thom Brennan, Boards of Canada, Alva Noto (Carsten Nicolai), Ryuichi Sakamoto, Christian Fennesz, Radio Massacre International, Telefon Tel Aviv, Minilogue, Dadub (Daniele Antezza and Giovanni Conti), Steven Wilson, No-Man, Sigur Rós, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Ghosting Season, Ulrich Schnauss, Ulver, Hammock, Oneohtrix Point Never, Thom Yorke, Carbon Based Lifeforms, Stellardrone (Edgaras Žakevičius), Solar Fields, Marconi Union, Redshift (Mark Shreeve), Sequentia Legenda (Laurent Schieber), Tim Hecker, Alio Die (Stafano Musso), Jacaszek, Juliana Barwick, Bersarin Quartett (Thomas Bücker), Pawel Fiedys, Julia Kent, James Blake, Julia Holter, Julien Neto, Lee Gamble, Thomas Fehlmann, CFCF, Holy Other, Nicolas Jaar, Mount Kimbie (Dominic Maker and Kai Campos), Raime (Joe Andrews and Tom Halstead), Ginormous (Bryan Konietzko), UNKLE (James Lavelle and Tim Goldsworthy), Fever Ray (Karin Dreijer Andersson), and so many others all experimenting with creating music and/or distorting sound using electronics.
There is also a large branch of the electronic music movement that has chosen to dive deeply into the dance-hip hop-beat direction--like techno, house, rave, industrial, dub, acid jazz, downtempo, dark ambient, progressive ambient, and so many others. Trevor Horn, Anne Dudley, Aphex Twin, KLF (Jimmy Couty), Soul II Soul (Jazzie B), The Orb (Alex Patterson), Massive Attack (Grant Marshall and Robert Del Naja), Moby, William Orbit, Ben Watts, Paul Okenfeld and so many other live mix-master DJs. While I recognize the tremendous contributions the dance-oriented branches of the electronic world have made to progress the electronic music, I have chosen to leave them out of this Progressive Electronic page.
For me, Progressive Electronic is one of the most difficult subgenres of music to review. The differentiating characteristics of each song and artist are dependent on variations of tempo, instrument choice (such as the use of 'drum/percussives'), and, of course, the moods created by the music. However, the moods so often conveyed through Progressive Electronic soundscapes are usually either floating/ethereal or traveling/driven, without much variation from the two. Thus, I have found myself hesitant to do many Progressive Electronic reviews--especially song-by-song, movement-by-movement reviews. A lot of what I hear is, of course, rendered into categories according to who they sound like (to me). Yet, there is an awful lot of Progressive Electronic music that I have grown to love. I want, therefore, to be able to extoll the praises of these albums in order to promote the artists creating the beauty from which I and others can so benefit. The act of trying to put a review into words just feels intimidating, even daunting. Perhaps I just need to find another, more creative way of using words. Because Progressive Electronic music is often 'soundtrack' music for me, the most common and comfortable written form I have is to tell the story--to describe the visual sequence of events that a particular song conjures up for me. If anything, this makes for entertaining reading.
In compiling a list of albums to recommend I find myself, as usual, most interested in extolling the modern musicians who have chosen to pick up (or continue to carry) the torch of electronic music. However, more than perhaps any other subgenre of progressive rock music, I find the quality of modern sound recording and engineering preferrable to the archives of releases from the 1970s and 80s--which, then, makes my job easier in creating a list of albums to recommend that contains only 21st Century album releases.
Favorite 21st Century Electronica Albums from the 2000s:
1. KLAUS SCHULZE Kontinuum (2007) Though I found myself fascinated by the albums of Tangerine Dream in the 1970s, I never really became a fan. I think that I always thought that the production was weak, murky, even cheezy. Now I hear a 21st Century Electronic Prog album by maestro Klaus Schulze--using 21st Century technologies and recording advances--and I am blown away. Had the TD/KSchulze albums of the 70s had this engineering and production they would be on my frequent playlists.
Despite Schulze's use of familiar song structures, these three epics are nearly flawless: engaging, creative, melodic yet creepy or quirky when they need to be. From the first notes of "Sequencer" (10/10) I was sucked in and did not want to tear myself away. The same feeling occurs with each replay. It is a true masterpiece of the sub-genre--maybe the one that I would play first were anyone to ask me to play a track best exemplifying the Klaus Schulze sound.
1. "Sequenzer (from 70 to 07)" (24:54) begins with a gorgeous computer keyboard sequence that just suck you in and keeps you there. For fully eight minutes little major changes, yet I'm still there, in the music. Wordless vocals join in brilliantly causing major and minor key shifts to the main melody with their own pitch changes. Another ten minutes passes like this before things begin to fade out and shift toward a new, spacey background synth. A pause and then a couple of new synths play out the rest of the song in some eery minor key. Starkly cold--like being on the moon, alone. Amazing! (50/50)
2. Euro Caravan (19:41) begins with some low notes while some odd/eery ENO Ambient 4: On Land-esque noises flit around in the background like fairies flying around. After two minutes of this a lone male voice enters singing in a heavily treated voice some nondiscript words à la LISA GERRARD. A very DEAD CAN DANCE-like soundtrack song. In the sixth and seventh minutes the vocals take on more of an Arab religious tone, style and feel. Then at the 9:45 mark one of TD/Schulze's signature bass synth driving sequences enters as the keening voice slowly fades further and further to the background. At 11:25 enters another signature sound from olden days: a computer/synth originating 'drum'/rhythm sequence. The new, playful, mostly-bass synth hits playing around over the top keep the song driving forward--into the distant future (the same very distant future that these guys were playing in during the 70s). At 14:10 the rhythm and the haunting ghost-voices flitting in and around the soundscape become more insistent, more driven. At 17:30 the song's male Arab keening-sounding voice returns, though he disappears for the final minute as the song's initial faerie voices return to take us out (or, truly, into the next song). (40/40)
3. Thor (Thunder) (31:47). The music here does not quite match its title, in my humble opinion. Instead, it has a very sparse, Blade Runner-like sound and feel to it--at least for the first seven and a half minutes--before the computer rhythm track begins. Then the lead synth begins to show some teeth--and support keyboard sounds fill the sonic universe in a more cosmic majestic way. At the eleven minute mark a very fast paced synthesized 'tambourine' joins the music, accompanied by some more wordless vocal keenings à la LISA GERRARD. This continues for ten minutes with little or no significant or emotional shift until at the 23-minute mark the rhythm 'instruments' cut out, leaving us with a kind of shifting progression of chords of mellotron voices over which which a solo voice and occasional synthesizer single note their ambiguous, androgynous melodies. To the end. (52/65)
Not enough development and variety on the album's last song, and yet the album as a whole is a perfect update of some of the best sounds and techniques of the pioneers of electronic music. Only, here, they benefit from the technological advances in sound production and music recording.
91.61 on the Fishscales = 5 stars; A; a masterpiece of progressive rock music.
2. BERSARIN QUARTETT B3RSARiN QUART3TT
1. "Oktober" (6:25) laid back, trip-hoppy beauty (9.5/10)
2. "Geshichten von Interesse" (4:55) lots of incidental special effects for the first two minutes over a very repetitive, slow, four note "horn" synth arpeggio. "Drums" kick in at the three minute mark joined by a few other incidentals. Cool display of sounds but the foundational arpeggio gets a little old. (7.5/10)
3. "Inversion" (5:40) opens like I"m in the Arctic with Tyler in the film of Farley Mowat's Never Cry Wolf (Mark Isham's amazing soundtrack). Add a few Brian Eno/Jon Hassell-like sounds and you have a kind of Blade Runner thing!
At 3:33 everything crescendo's with a buzz before going completely blank. But then it starts all over again, building in tension as one feels the stark isolation and less-than-hospitable conditions of being a human being on the tundra. (9.25/10)
4. "St. Petersburg" (5:14) another Isham/Windham Hill feeling song built on three different arpeggio riffs from three different instruments, working in their own isolated universes (as are the people of Russia?). Electronic percussions and washes join in the third minute, for a moment taking over the song, but then the arpeggi return and some other instrumental riffs are woven into the tapestry. It's like three songs, each transposed over the other with little or no regard as to whether they work together or not (they do!) Absolutely stunning and beautiful--and stark. (10/10)
5. "Und die Welt steht still" (8:51) opens sounding like a strings orchestra weaving several etheric waves in a rondo, teasing the listener with slight raises and then depressions in volume before having the entire top end of the sound spectrum nearly muted in the fourth minute. At 3:20 some Star Wars light saber like zings zip in and echo across the muted soundscape. The sound cap begins to lift with the advent of the fifth minute to reveal that some more stings have been added--a whole bunch each holding one single note making a full spectrum "chord" of uncentered, perhaps chromatic, tonality, which then holds strong until at 6:42 it fades back allowing a few thin threads of solo melody from the opening weave to hold it all together. Light sabers strike and echo again at 8:08 and the weave slowly fades down and then out. Interesting! (17.5/20)
6. "Die Dinge sing nie so wie sie sing" (8:03) more Mark Isham synth and bassoon enter very gently, very slowly, as if by the most loving angels, three notes, repeated slowly, gently, over and over, creating quite a beautiful and inviting overall sonic chord. A "glitch" at 3:10 allows a signal for bass and drums to begin contributing some slow beats, but then they leave--but only for a few seconds. At 4:12 they rejoin, only this time by providing quite a spunky little dance beat. At 4:45 "trumpet" begins adding it's own arpeggi to the mix, jazzing up the mix quite a bit. More synths and cymbals increase the post-nap party until everything cuts out again at 6:20, leaving the same instruments making a four-note arpeggiated chord variation on the one that opened the song. Another interesting, unique song. (12.75/15)
7. "Nachtblind" (4:02) heavily treated piano (á la Harold Budd) slowly tinkling its melody on the ivories as cello-like synth occasionally adds a note or two. At 2:05 very staticky electronic percussion is added while the piano formalizes its presentation on another track. Incidental industrial and instrumental samples appear and disappear throughout the final minute. (8.5/10)
8. "Es kann nicht ewig Winter sein" (4:27) slowly drawn cello or bowed double bass notes create a little layered texture before bass and bass end of organ/electric piano join in and take over. By 2:20 the opening bowed instrument has left and a new heavily treated tuned and MIDI-ed percussion instrument takes over. Brushes on a drum kit enter and slowly provide a NO-MAN-like rhythmic foundation with the bass while synths and synth percussives play around in front, beneath, and in-between. Pretty cool. (9/10)
9. "Endlish am Ziel" (4:38) echoed single notes from a stringed instrument like a dobro or banjo enter with synth washes all around. Slow hi-hat beat and occasional gentle cymbal crash or tom hit accompany the addition of single note organ play and more string-section-like orchestral chords and washes. (8.5/10)
10. "Mehr Als Alles Andere" (5:47) has a little feel and sound of some of JEAN-MICHEL JARRE's sound in the opening calliope sound. This is joined by incidental strokes of "cello" or "viola" flitting and flashing by in the soundscape until Berlin School-like rhythm pattern joins in. A cymbal crash notes a transition into a more uptempo, busy dubstep or trip hop section, full of all kinds of FENNESZ-like glitches and static sounds. Reminded of Marconi Union here, but then full-on cello stroke brings me back to reality: This is Bersarin. There is no one else like it. (9/10)
What to say? Spellbinding and totally calming despite so many unexpected, unpredictable noises, shifts, and transitions.
87.62 on the Fishscales = B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of refreshing and beautiful progressive electronic music.
3. THOM BRENNAN Stories from the Forest (2008) Californian Thom Brennan has been experimenting with electronic-exclusive sound making since the early 1980s, releasing numerous albums and CDs but it is not until this album that his music rose above the rest of what to me is New Age background music. The songs pulled together fro Stories from the Forest have an edge, an aggressiveness that commands one's attention. Parts 3 and 10 (the album's 11 songs have no individual titles) are among the finest electronic songs I've ever heard, both packing a wallop emotionally. A lot of the sounds programmed into Thom's songs here sound like various guitar and percussion sounds, treated with effects, of course, yet none are live played on those familiar instruments--all are electronically generated.
Five star songs: 3. "Part 3" (6:44) (15/15); 10. "Part 10" (5:36) (10/10); beautiful and slow paced, 7. "Part 7" (6:59) (15/15); 2. "Part 2" (4:42) (9/10); 4. "Part 4" (9:29) (18/20); 5. "Part 5" (6:46) (13.5/15); 6. "Part 6" (8:11) (13.5/15); encroaching into Berlin School familiarity but freshened by all of the incidental samples thrown into the mix, 9. "Part 9" (4:49) (9/10), and; the gentle, peaceful, ambient closer (that still manages to inject a few surprises), 11. "Part 11" (8:49) (18/20).
Four star songs: the nice opener that fails to give much indication of the jewels that are to follow, 1. "Part 1" (3:57) (16/20), and; the slowed down repetition of previous themes and sounds in 8. "Part 8" (6:30) (8/10).
90.625 on the Fishscales = five stars; A-; a masterpiece of progressive electronic music.
4. YVES POTIN aka JAZZCOMPUTER.ORG Elsewhere (2007) The second album released by guitar-based prog electronic/jazz/fusion artist Yves Potin under the JazzComputer.Org name. The music here is very difficult to categorize. It is a fusion of many eclectic styles, all very nicely engaging the listener on some wild and otherworldly yet relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable journeys through some very exotic aural topographies that might be better described as coming from "ancient futures."
1. "Indian Mood on Thethys" (9:38) opens like a jazz guitarist's solo sound experimentation. I'm reminded of both Pat Metheny's totally solo album from 1979, New Chautauqua, as well as some of Jan Akkerman's late 1970s solo experimentation (Eli). Gorgeous stuff. The first half goes with very little rhythmic structure (the occasional background synth wash chord), but in the second half the guitar and newly-present bass and talking drum and rim shot percussives become support for the soloing of a koto. Cool sounds and cool stuff. I'd like to have seen a little more melodic development to engage me a little more deeply. (17/20)
2. "Dawn in the Snow" (11:34) opens as if it came straight from outtakes from Vangelis' Blade Runner soundtrack, this song contains some absolutely magical moments (like the sparsely used operatic voice notes) but lacks from full development in many overly-spacious places. (16.5/20)
3. "Elsewhere" (24.55) other than the opening atonal space synthesizer section (which is very cool but a little too long), this song stands up as one of the prettiest, most deeply engaging and evocative electronica pieces I know of from the Naughties. The section from the beginning of minute seven to ten is absolute prog perfection. The percussives in the next section are really cool, as are the space sounds and unsettling synth worms in the thirteenth minute and the guitar "punches" in the fourteenth and fifteenth minutes. The next section that establishes itself around 17:30, driven by the "lunge jazz" beat, is really cool for the scurrilous flights of the synth "bats." If the opening four minutes were as peaceful and engaging as the final four this would be a perfect prog epic. (47.5/50)
90.0 on the Fishscales = A-/a five star minor masterpiece of ambient electronic jazz fusion (or something like that) and a gorgeous example of the possibilities of 21st Century technological potential.
4. YVES POTIN aka JAZZCOMPUTER.ORG Elsewhere (2007) The second album released by guitar-based prog electronic/jazz/fusion artist Yves Potin under the JazzComputer.Org name. The music here is very difficult to categorize. It is a fusion of many eclectic styles, all very nicely engaging the listener on some wild and otherworldly yet relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable journeys through some very exotic aural topographies that might be better described as coming from "ancient futures."
1. "Indian Mood on Thethys" (9:38) opens like a jazz guitarist's solo sound experimentation. I'm reminded of both Pat Metheny's totally solo album from 1979, New Chautauqua, as well as some of Jan Akkerman's late 1970s solo experimentation (Eli). Gorgeous stuff. The first half goes with very little rhythmic structure (the occasional background synth wash chord), but in the second half the guitar and newly-present bass and talking drum and rim shot percussives become support for the soloing of a koto. Cool sounds and cool stuff. I'd like to have seen a little more melodic development to engage me a little more deeply. (17/20)
2. "Dawn in the Snow" (11:34) opens as if it came straight from outtakes from Vangelis' Blade Runner soundtrack, this song contains some absolutely magical moments (like the sparsely used operatic voice notes) but lacks from full development in many overly-spacious places. (16.5/20)
3. "Elsewhere" (24.55) other than the opening atonal space synthesizer section (which is very cool but a little too long), this song stands up as one of the prettiest, most deeply engaging and evocative electronica pieces I know of from the Naughties. The section from the beginning of minute seven to ten is absolute prog perfection. The percussives in the next section are really cool, as are the space sounds and unsettling synth worms in the thirteenth minute and the guitar "punches" in the fourteenth and fifteenth minutes. The next section that establishes itself around 17:30, driven by the "lunge jazz" beat, is really cool for the scurrilous flights of the synth "bats." If the opening four minutes were as peaceful and engaging as the final four this would be a perfect prog epic. (47.5/50)
90.0 on the Fishscales = A-/a five star minor masterpiece of ambient electronic jazz fusion (or something like that) and a gorgeous example of the possibilities of 21st Century technological potential.
5. FENNESZ & SAKAMOTO Cendre (2007) Okay, so, my being a rabid fan of RYUICHI SAKAMOTO goes a long way toward elevating his 21st Century collaborations with the likes of CHRISTIAN FENNESZ into this Progressive Electronic "hall of fame" but, people, just listen to this music and you will understand why these albums belong here: the sound engineering experiments of Fennesz and Alda Noto are pushing the boundaries of previously explored (or unexplored) dimensions of sound rendering--especially in recorded form. It's like listening to live manipulation of music in its raw wave form: clipping, smoothing, shaving, harmonic shifting, sine wave manipulation--all the things I'd heard The Monroe Institute, The Tomatis Institute, and The Listening Program do with the brain wave therapy recordings they created for the purpose of promoting healing through sound manipulation. This was a mind-blowing experience the first time I heard it and now is one of my favorite relaxation albums. It's a real musical and mystical journey, with the album opening on very positive, beautiful note, but, by the time you venture into the middle of the album--with the mid-section of "Trace" through the haunting yet gorgeous title song--you're in a deeply contemplative "shadow-side" of the album. Luckily, by the time we enter the final song we're climbing out of the doldrums (despite the last song's title, "abyss").
Five star songs: 1. "Oto" (3:52) (10/10); 2. "Aware" (4:48) (10/10); 4. "Trace" (5:49) (9/10); 5. "Kuni" (2:27) (5/5); 6. "Mono" (4:16) (10/10); 8. "Cendre" (3:12) (10/10), and; 11. "Abyss" (5:41) (9/10).
Four star songs: 3. "Haru" (4:42) (8/10); 7. "Kokoro" (4:19) (8/10); 9. "Amorph" (6:01) (7/10), and; 10. "Glow" (7:15) (12/15).
90.0 on the Fishscales = 5 stars, A-; a near-masterpiece of progressive electronic music.
6. OÖPHOI & TAU CETI Celestial Geometries (2001) Synthesizer masters Oöphoi (Gianluigi Gasparetti) and Tau Ceti (Enrico Cosimi) have created here a truly remarkable collection of interspace or interspatial soundscapes. Celestial Geometries is an album cast entirely of songs composed of atmospheric space sounds. The music here reminds me much of the noises used to fill interstellar space scenes in films like the Ridley Scott Alien series in which the director/composer is trying to capture the stark feelings of emptiness that the void of soundless space might present. There is also an influence expressed from musical traditions of the 1980s like BRIAN ENO's On Land and Apollo albums, only the songs here are more drawn out (the way we all probably wanted Eno's songs back in the 80s to be). Verily, each song represents an eery adventure that challenges the listener to stay centered in oneself and grounded in the realities that are known to us. With the accompaniment of this music, the isolated, solitary listener can test the boundaries of his or her consciousness and let the imagination run wild. Not for the faint of heart but brilliant for those experienced with meditation, trance, and hypnosis.
Five star songs: the beautiful 2. "Cydonia Plains" (7:01) (15/15); the spacious 1. "Arsia Echoes" (9:28) (18/20); the unsettling 3. "Valles Marineris" (11:04) (18/20); the peaceful, 4. "Chryse Planitia" (7:28) (13.5/15), and; the scary, hyperdriven first third of, and calmer, "you have reached your destination" final half of 5. "Isidis" (13:03) (22.5/25).
Four star songs: the eerie, "who's out there!" of 6. "Candor Chasm" (6:44) (12/15), and; the heavy, vocalise-driven, almost-monastic-feeling and ultimately peaceful 7. "Tholus" (12:46) (20/25).
87.41 on the Fishscales = stars; B+; a near-masterpiece of Ambient/Progressive Electronic music.
7. ALVA NOTO & RYUICHI SAKAMOTO Insen (2005) This and 2002's other collaboration between Carsten Nicolai and Ryuichi Sakamoto, Vrioon, are the first two albums that I had ever encountered in which computerized editing techniques are purposely used to produce pops, clips, glitches, and other obvious computer-'enhanced' percussive effects. Sometimes Carsten's work is used alongside Ryuichi's fully present track of classical minimalist piano play (e.g. 1. "Aurora"), and sometimes they are used to affect it (e.g. 3. "Logic Moon") and still other times they are used to affect a second track of piano while still allowing a clean, straightforward piano track to play through (e.g. 2. "Morning" and 6. "Iano"). Unfortunately, much of Ryuichi's minimalist playing is highly discordant, overly spacious, and lacking any catchy melodies. On the other side of things, there are several songs in which Carsten's computer noses and edits are sequenced to provide quite nice rhythms and melodies (3. "Logic Moon" and, especially, 4. "Moon").
Five star songs: 3. "Logic Moon" (6:50) (15/15); 4."Moon" (10/10), and; 6. "Iano" (6:47) (13.5/15).
Four star songs: 1. "Aurora" (8:51) (16/20); 2. "Morning" (5:28) (8/10); 5. "Berlin" (6:34) (8/10), and; 7. "Avaol" (2:56) (8/10).
87.22 on the Fishscales = a solid four star album; B; an very good album that I recommend any adventurous music listener to try out--and an album that I do happen to prefer over its predecessor, Vrioon.
8. YVES POTIN aka JAZZCOMPUTER.ORG Out of the City (2009) French jazz guitarist Yves Potin has contributed another sophisticated and thought-provoking contribution to Prog World in this decidedly cooler, more unsettling collection of soundscapes. While Yves instrumental and computer prowess is undeniable, the music here is quite dystopian and bleak. I shouldn't be saying that as if it's a bad thing, it's not--it's just the reality of the way things are progressing--especially on the human-disrupted surface of our planet. In that respect, the music presented here is quite powerful in its representation and reflection of the harm and chaos we have wielded upon our Mother. Ridley Scott and Vangelis would be quite appreciative of this music.
1. "Stress" (5:12) Though the power as a support of some tense, deep-in-the-night scene is undeniable, this one is a little too soundtrack-like and less the kind of music that you'd want to play without something theatric or visual to go with it. (Are there videos to any of your songs, Yves?) Virtuosic modern jazz-rock fusion guitar play (in a JERRY DE VILLIERS, JR. kind of way). (8.5/10)
2. "Anguish" (4:22) is like standing in a big city train or bus station and trying to fathom the surrounding chaos. Amazingly affective. (9/10)
3. "Stoned and Blurred" (5:26) unfortunately uses the same guitar sound and arpeggiated chord from the previous song to introduce the theme over the stark industrial soundscapes established by the computer synths. (9/10)
4. "Inverted Twilight" (8:06) Disc Two of Gone to Earth! Awesome job of replicating the ambient soundscapes that David Sylvian created on that awesome album! (12.75/15)
5. "Those I Left Behind" (9:17) More from Disc Two of Gone to Earth! This time with similar guitar parts to the ones that David Sylvian, Robert Fripp, or Bill Nelson added to those ambient landscapes. Add the fretless bass, water drums, and Steve Jansen-like percussive rhythms to the final section and it's a perfect Sylvian replica! (17/20)
6. "Cold Bright and Quiet" (9:09) reminds me of the music from Vangelis' 1995 album, Voices. Spacious, deeply engaging and magically hypnotic. Though the lead instruments are nothing but hand percussives and a kalimba-like or kalimba-MIDIed vibraphone, it is eminently effective. The bass and synth washes could be higher up in the mix. (18/20)
An aural masterpiece in its representation of mankind's self-created troubled times, this is music that you don't want to listen to if you're already depressed. I commend and laud Yves' efforts and skills, but this is one of his discs that I'll probably not return to very often. (But then, you never know!)
87.94 on the Fishscales = B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of progressive rock music though this is probably a true masterpiece of progressive electronic music.
9. ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT A Distant Signal (2002) Using a lot of synth washes over programmed sequences and computer drum and bass tracks, Gregory T. Kyryluk (AWM) makes some very relaxing, spacey music in the vein of Sequoia Records founders, DAVID and STEVE GORDON, soundtrack artist, VANGELIS, or New Age legend, JONN SERRIE. Sometimes Gregory's music a little cheezy and "Buddha Lounge" like but it's always pleasant, melodic, and engaging.
Five star songs: 8. "Portal Full of Stars" (7:32) (9.5/10); 3. "Liquid Cosmos" (6:53) (9.5/10); 2. "Distant Signals" (7:32) (9/10), and; the Buddha Lounge-like, 5. "Outward Bound" (6:55) (8.5/10).
Four star songs: 1. "Mapping the Heavens" (6:03) (7.5/10); the space funky, 4. "A Place of Peace" (7:26) (8.5/10); 6. "Centauri Memories" (2:48) (8/10); the Blade Runner-like, 7. "Requiem for C.S." (3:28) (8/10); 9. "Plasma Cloud" (4:10) (7.5/10); 10. "No Man's Land" (6:29) (8/10), and; 11. "Lunar Sunrise" (2:14) (7/10).
82.73 on the Fishscales = a four star album; B-; recommended for fans of New Age, spacey soundtrack-like music.
EDGAR FROESE Dalinetopia (2005) The old wizard still has all the chops--plus a mastery of melody, chord shifts, and rhtyhmic constructs that will hook the listener in--and I mean in deep. Though there are a lot of clichéed and saccharine sounds and 'tricks' that Edgar uses--as well as modern computer keyboards (I'm sorry: a computer sampled piano is not a grand piano)--there are enough instances of pure magic (magic that only a master of his craft can make) to make virtually every song an experience of pure pleasure and awe. Plus there is an incredibly wide range of diverse sounds, styles and instruments used throughout this album. It is truly miraculous to have such amazing freshness between any single song and the others on this, a progressive electronic album!
Five star songs: 1. "Daleroshima (6:47) (9.5/10); 2. "Dalozapata (5:19) cheesy Buddha lounge trip hop beat with jaw-dropping melodic and instrumental riffs (9/10)
4. "Dalerotica (6:57)
5. "Daliesquador (5:57)
6. "Dalumination (9:24)
7. "Dalagalor (6:54)
8. "Daluna (7:13)
9. "Dalysisiphus (7:48)
10. "Dalinetopia (7:48)
Four star songs: 3. "Dalamuerte (5:26) acoustic guitar and electric guitar, slow with no beat (8.5/10)
BOARDS OF CANADA Tomorrow's Harvest (2013) A band of two since their beginnings back in the 1990s, Scottish brothers Mike Sandison and Mark Eoin have a modest output in terms of studio albums with each gathering its own fan bases to the point that fans will argue tirelessly over which album, which style is better. Were one to be able to treat each album individually, for the sound and emotions evoked from each, one might find one's time and energy better spent.
Tomorrow's Harvest was the first BoC album I heard (and bought) so I might have a bias toward it, but I do find that I like the others as well, each in their own way. TH feels more like separate and sometimes isolated pieces as if for movie/video soundtrack--not unlike Brian Eno's "Music for Films" albums. The integration of totally computer-generated sound/music with other individual instruments like drums, bass, and other keyboards makes for very interesting and more 'human' music with which we, the listeners, can make more human connections.
My one complaint with the collection of 17 songs, is that being totally instrumental, it is sometimes difficult to remain attentive and to notice when songs might switch or run into each other; my brain keeps letting the music fade into the background.
RADIO MASSACRE INTERNATIONAL Emissaries (2005) Steve Dinsdale (Keyboards and Drums), Duncan Goddard (Keyboards and Bass), and Gary Houghton (Guitar, Synth)
BOARDS OF CANADA Geogaddi (2002)
1. "Ready Let's Go" (0:59) (/2.5)
2. "Music Is MAth" (5:22)
3. "Beware the Friendly Stranger" (0:38) (/2.5)
4. "Gyroscope" (3:35)
5. "Dandelion" (1:15) (/5)
6. "Sunshine Recorder" (6:13) (/10)
7. "In the Annexe" (1:12) (/5)
8. "Julie and the Candy" (5:30) (/10)
9. "The Smallest Weird Number" (1:17) (/5)
10. "1969" (4:20)
11. "Energy Warming" (0:35) (/2.5)
12. "The Beach at Redpoint" (4:19) (/10)
13. "Opening the Mouth" (1:12) (/5)
14. "Alpha and Omega" (7:03) (/15)
15. "I Saw Drones" (0:27) (/2.5)
16. "The Devil Is in the Details" (3:53) (/10)
17. "A Is to B as B Is to C" (1:41) (/5)
18. "Over the Horizon Radar" (1:09) (/5)
19. "Dawn Chorus" (3:56) (/10)
20. "Diving Station" (1:27) (/5)
21. "You Could Feel the Sky" (5:14) (/10)
22. "Corsair" (2:52) (/10)
23. "Magic Window" (1:47) (/5)
Total time: 66:06
BOARDS OF CANADA Music Has the Right to Children (1998)
Zombi, Krautwerk, Zoltan, Node, John Battema, Girón, Gert Emmons, Andreas Wolter, Ian Boddy, even the trip-hoppy New Age of Davol and techno-dance-pop of SpiralDreams; Briedablik, Kosmischer Läufer, 6LA8, Fovea Hex, Xiu, Involved, Samuel Cadima, Sounds of New Soma,
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