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Porcupine Tree - Metanoia - 05-Sep-07 12:08 PM
The reason why I like the CD so much is that it combines two completely different philosophies in making music. On the one side, there is a rock song with intro, chorus, interlude etc. Opposite is the approach of Berlin school and ambient music: lengthy, no structure, not many - if even - harmonic changes.

"Metanoia" is a member of the latter, played by a "rock" band. This makes it so strange - you do NOT get what you expect. You get lengthy, meandering improvisations, played a against a frame of a single mode, with keyboards, guitar, fretless bass, and drums. And it is played very very well, as was to be expected of musicians of that calibre.

The first seven "pieces" flow, and even bass and drums alter subtly, nearly unperceptibly, akin to the best works of, say, Ashra, or Steve Reich.

The last piece, however, is again different. It took me very long to comprehend why it was included. It is just conversation fragments, obviously recorded in Milan. But if you listen closely, it has a structure, and it is the same as in the other pieces. Repetitions, minor changes in texture, variations on a theme.

All in all, really strange, but really good.

Vangelis - Invisible Connections - 26-Sep-06 07:49 AM
Well, I am still wondering if this is a "serious" release or if Vangelis just wanted to fool the classical and conservative label Deutsche Grammophon... Well somehow the music works, especially if I look back in 2006 an what has gone on in music since the first release of "Invisible Connection". Today, it makes more sense than back in the 80ies.

Klaus Wiese, Ted De Jong & Mathias Grassow - El-Hadra - The Mystik Dance - 21-Feb-05 03:01 PM
This record, unfortunately, was quite a disappointment. Perhaps I excepted too much after I read all the praise on the Internet. However, I have two major points to complain. Firstly, the tablas just sound dumb and hence unnatural and unsubtle. Secondly, just pressing one chord on the keyboard makes no drone. It is just not enough on this record. On the other hand, the zither and tablas are played wonderfully. If the tablas were crisper and the keyboard much less obtrusive - perfect! But is is not so. Much better is "Holy Domain" by Klaus Wiese, Mathias Grassow, and Carsten Agthe. It has everything this record lacks, and more.

Liquid Mind - Ambience Minimus - 01-Oct-04 06:21 AM
This CD was a bit of a disappointment. I heard it first on the soma.fm internet broadcast and ordered the cd. On my big stereo it sounds a bit too sugary and new-agey for my taste. Sweet pads and angelic chords, drifting and shifting up and down... it is nice, but a bit too much. No comparison to works of Mathias Grassow, or Oöphoi IMHO. Too superficial.

Another hint for not buying records intentionally made as "Healing music".

And yes, the track listing on the CD is wrong. The one here on Discogs is right.

Bernhard Günter - Monochrome White / Polychrome W/Neon Nails - 16-Sep-04 07:45 AM
This double cd - and its brother "Monochrome Rust/Differential" is one of the most strange, extraordinary, and awesome music I came across so far.

The main thing is that it uses only the high frequencies, about 4 kHz and above. It consists of short blips and creaks like the sounds of water drops or buzzing insects that are arranged in a uncomprehensible yet perceptible structure. It builds and changes and develops, but not in a fashion you normally expect of music, even drone music.

It is this - for the listener - almost undetectable structure, what makes this music so awesome. You need to listen to it on a very low, barely inaudible level so as not to acquire a tinnitus ;-)

Best listened to late in the night, when there are no disturbing sounds around. Then, it is a very uplifting experience.

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