Klaus Schulze – Irrlicht

This is my favourite KS record. This is haunting space music I've never heard such thing before. I have the 2006 rerelease by reveisted and I can only advise this version to anyone. thank you kS !

I discovered Klaus Schulze while I was listening to electronica. His collaborations with Pete Namlook has provided one of the biggest discographies I have ever seen, with over 130 albums on his account alone. But in the beginning Klaus was all about exploring the possibilities of his synthesizer, after leaving Manuel Göttsching and Ash Ra Tempel behind. "Quadrophonische Symphonie für Orchester und E-Maschinen", the undertitle of this release, shows what he sought to create with his toys. It's really a haunting experience, and one of the toughest albums I've listened through. But that is what makes it all that special. When it's all over, you feel a sense of relief, like you have endured something rather than listened to it.

it changed my life definitely, thank you very much Klaus

So, with the aid of a small orchestra (who thought Klaus was mad), several tape machines, electronic gadgetry, an organ, guitar, percussion and various odds and ends, Klaus went on to produce what is arguably the first real "cosmic" electronic album (Tangerine Dream's ZEIT was recorded a month later!) despite the absence of any real synths. What was created is a music that is flowing, spacious, melodic yet also abstract, featuring sequential or systemic type patterns (a touch of Terry Riley maybe) and an overdose of effects taking the listener into the nether regions of infinity. In three parts, yet almost sounding as one piece, IRRLICHT offered a choice of directions for Klaus to pursue: the sequential style of Ebene, the dramatic chance electronics of Gewitter, and the abstract reverse tape cosmic cacophony of Exil Sils Maria. Another track: Land appeared on the KOSMISCHE MUSIK sampler suggesting even more Terry Riley influence. Although recorded three months later, Land was very much in character with IRRLICHT, it further went on to consolidate Klaus' talents as a keyboard musician and engineer, and despite being voted number 5 instrumentalist of the year in German Sounds magazine he still remained relatively unknown in his homeland.
From my Klaus Schulze feature in Audion #21, published in May 1992