 Klaus Schulze Klaus Schulze is one of the few people who gets cited as a pioneer of both new age and ambient electronic music, which are often the same exact thing. Most people chilling to Aphex Twin probably aren't aware of how easily they could be chilling to Kitaro, but they might be able to namecheck Schulze as an "influence" or whatever on the recent crop of synth explorers. I actually prefer Kitaro to anything more recent or more respectably hip, and I approach Klaus Schulze's music as a forebear of Kitaro's super-mellow wash of synths. The similarity in melodic approach is immediately apparent, and in terms of enveloping sound they are in a similar ballpark. Schulze's music has more implicit menace to it, though, and on Timewind in particular the darkness is tangible, though it remains below the surface. The layers of swirly synths take you in and put you into a dreamlike state if you let them, and like many dreams there is a noticeable undercurrent of dread in this music. A propulsive keyboard arpeggiation strings along at the bottom of the mix, barely there but rearing its head when the slower, more contemplative synth lines wash out. This gives the first piece ("Bayreuth Return," which was Side 1 on the LP issue) a sense of impending danger even despite the beauty of the surface music: at the 30-minute mark, the danger rises to the forefront with a violent crash, which is jarring but kind of thrilling, too. "Wahnfried 1883" is the second (Side 2) piece, also an extended synth journey in much the same style, but a little more mellow and less manipulative. This is a more intellectual kind of style than you'll find in most new age artists, quite weighty and really substantial. It's surely great stoner music, and generally just excellent late-night chill music for any occasion wherein you want to space out. This CD is a new age classic – using that label as it was originally intended, to denote progressive instrumental space-out music rather than wussy background music for your grandparents who love angels. Quite Germanic, a la Kraftwerk, but not so cold or song-driven, this is a surreal soundscape that sucks me in every time. Great stuff.
Review by Anita Paker |