Ulrich Schnauss' music has now kind of moved into a larger mainstream audience. This album had a lot of hype and praise when it was orginally issued minus the bonus tracks off disc 2. Personally, I don't think this album wouldn't be anything special if it wasn't for the disc 2 tracks. As much as I enjoy his music, "Between Us & Them" is the only listenable track off that disc (fun to listen to while speeding on the expressway). The rest of the tracks are slow-moving and get boring really fast. With that being said, the second disc is more up-beat and tracks don't exactly sound alike. "Suddenly the Trees Are Giving Away" has a fast hip-hop beat with soft ambient-like beats with a 6:22 track time never gets old. "Crazy For You" is a hard track to describe in words. It gives you that nostalgic feel that makes it a stand out among the rest of the tracks. Make sure you get this album WITH the bonus tracks.

After a long absence from Detroit techno, Neil finally comes out with new material. While not sounding negative, each track sounds alike. Its got that steel drum beat (like from the "Sil Lum Tao" track off "Black Buildings") mixed in with different drum beats that sound like fireworks. "Twilight Finding" & its reprise version aren't exactly my favorite tracks. (the echoing vocals from the background, though miminual, ruin both tracks) However, the other two tracks "Frail" and "Crystalized" make up from the short fall. If your familar with DEC's work, its worth getting since it might become a rare find; but if your new to it, I would recommend the hard-to-find "Black Buildings" or "Excerpts".

Its ok, you could try to catch Cardamar playing from the itunes radio. Hearing the track "45 Minutes" made me buy the album. However, assuming that the rest of the album would sound similar like that track, I was sadly mistaken. The album contains ambient soundscapes that sound pretty good but were ruined by the large amount of piano playing that seemed to overshadow the tracks. The first track "Morning (Farewell Sleep)" sounded promising until the sounds of baby laughter completely ruined the mood of the track.

Hard album to find but definitely worth getting. I got the album 2 years ago and is still played on a daily basis. Its hard to describe the album but "Black Buildings" contains an urban/city like atmosphere with industrialous machine soundcapes with ambient beats that aren't cheesy. The artist rode his bike around Detroit with a DAT recorder on him & created riffs that mimic those sounds. Neil's music sounds like nothing I've ever heard and his album would always catch people's attention whenever I'd play it. Even though people sell it online over the $20 figure, its definitely worth getting!