Ulrich Schnauss ‎– A Strangely Isolated Place

Far Away Trains Go By was awesome, but I prefer this one. As the fifteen people before me said, its stuning and amazing masterpiece. When I listening this album I feel like driving thru the road of my lifeline with rises and declines. This is the BEST THING that I ever heard... without any shadow of a doubt !

Strange and isolated.... a place.... hmmm.... desert islands spring to mind, desolated inner city car parks, forests at night or a state of mind..... isolated yes, but strange?

Melodic swathes and swirls of vocals sweep by, bubbly electronica with rhythmic isolation and lenghty formations piercing out of the speakers make a long car drive seem ideal for this CD. Ulrich has created a musical trip reminischent of Manual, that flows from one track to the next with the ease of forgetfullness....

CD on the player, headphones on, and forget the day to day routines. That is what this is about, and this is what the tunes manage. The album builds up from one track to the next, sometimes melancholic (Gone Forever, A Letter From Home), sometimes trippy but poppy (On My Own), generally interesting (Monday - Paracetamol, In All the Wrong Places), occassionally chilly and even beautifully composed(Clear Day, Blumenthal, A Strangely Isolated Place). A few tracks are generally release candidates as singles, and all Schnauss fans are going to like the album. For those not in the know, this is a great CD for those making their first steps into the world of non-commercial electronical music.

second on monday paracetamol... what a superb track

the bassline surges with immense power while remaining unhurried, the slight deadening of the last note in the middle melodic layer on transitions is so uninsulting, great detail

this track is not pretentious as is the danger with these types of compositions, the ultra high-range palette used in the crescendos can linger a bit long and the breakdowns of these massive towers of sound can become a bit formulaic on repeated listens but i'll buy the full package out of sheer respect

excellent job as usual, more please

Monday Paracetamol is a damn fine track, so delicate and soothing, everytime i listen to it I feel shivers on my back. When it grabs in its arms it won't just let go. Joyous and uplifting melodies are the core of this beautiful record, which is the first Schnauss' release i had contact with and I'm very pleased to know that electronic music still has its freshness.

If there was a Eurovision Songfestival for electronica, Schnauss would win it without any doubt since he manages to please an awful lot to an awful lot of people on the first hearing. Being released on City Centre Offices, a label related to Morr Music, you can expect some unpretentious indietronic that however uses much more melody and pushes things really to the boundaries of beauty and polished kitsch. For me this is a delicious perfume, pshh pshh and hop, there it is. Enjoy, but use with moderation!

Though certainly not as graceful and cohesive as "Far Away Trains Passing By" there is a brooding magnificence and a spirit to explore new avenues here. Whereas the first album was essentially variations on a similar theme and mood, albeit achingly lovely ones, this record shows him flexing his muscles a bit more and incorporating new ideas. More power to him i say. It falters only slightly here and there but largely the results are stunning; "a letter from home" is just about perfect and "blumenthal" is as lovely as anything on the first record. He is one of the very brightest objects in the sky at the moment, waiting only for the clouds to clear just a bit more.

Just when i wanted to give up the electronic music with the thought that all the good music had already been produced, i found this album.
This album is f*ing amazing. Absolutely the feel good album in the electronic music.
Everytime when i hear this album i'm floating in the air with tremendous feelings of warmth, happiness and joy.
The world isn't as bad as i thought!
The first time when i heard the album i cried!!
I warn the people who haven't already listened to the album because the music works like a strong drug.
Before you know you are a junk and addicted till you die!!!!
All tracks are highlights, but i think that ''In All The Wrong Place'' and ''A Strangely Isolated Place'' are one of the best tracks ever produced in the world of electronic music.
A true masterpiece and it will definitely become a classic.
I gave it 5 points, but it deserves a lot more.

Yes this is a little over produced and yes it isn't as good as Far Away Trains but.....

It is still a very delicious cd full of some sublimely beautiful tinkerings as only Ulrich can provide. I would like to hear his material a little more stripped down that saturated with reverb etc but there are still 3 songs on this cd which will just make you melt if you are into this type of electronica..

You just have to find out what those tracks are yourselves ;).

This is a bit of a let down after "Far Away Trains..". His debut album was never going to be bettered as it's one of the finest releases in electronic music.
But this time the tunes are totally over produced, it's like he's trying to cram too many sounds in together - too much sugar in the mix. It just doesnt stir the same emotions that his earlier work does.
But I'll continue to listen to "far Away Trains.." for many years to come.

What happened? I was so looking forward to this release, and now so disappointed. The finesse, structure and bliss of "Far Away trains.." would be hard to better. What I hear here is dated 80/90's synth pop something like Curve or worse still what Steve Hillage would do to Coil. I don't understand why he's done this release at all, seems such a drastic turn in direction towards mainstream boredom. Got to admit I hate it, it's no masterpiece, he already accomplished that with "Far Away Trains...."