Now playing...David Reeves-Otras PS 08/60

In Suspension 9.41: The 'watery' burbling synths on this track reminded me of some of the music used on the documentary 'Unknown White Male'

Scanners Live in Vain 15.39

973.070 4.38

Celestial Entrance 5.22

The Derelict Fleet 8.34

Auto-Plain 5.38

Tetuan4 5.04

The Flowing Light of the Godhead 3.28

1000th Sun 14.28

Andy G said:

DAVID REEVES: Otras

More structured and less jarring than the 'X Jacks' CD with which it has similarities but no less strange in its construction of layered soundscapes and is actually more repetitive, covering rhythmic systems music, Steve Reich style layering and building, stabs of synth grandeur mixed with voice samples and rhythms so quirky you'd swear there was something wrong with the thing until you realise it's actually meant to sound like this. It's all very odd and disturbing.

FAX news: Spyra Album in 2009

Looks like there will be a new album from Spyra (on the FAX label) later this year. :)

Now playing...Pete Namlook & Karl Berger-Polytime PK 08/140

Worldwide Roaming 7.29
Insight 11.00
Polytime 15.57
Tina 5.43
True Blue 11.21

A solid 10/10 from me. Highly recommended for anyone who likes the jazzy/ melodic side of Pete's output.

Andy G said...

PETE NAMLOOK/KARL BERGER: Polytime

An unexpectedly brilliant album because Karl Berger is one of the world's leading vibraphone players and you can only guess what I was expecting. I am happy to report that I was wrong and that this is one of the coolest, most beautiful albums to appear on Fax in along time with oceans of spacey synths, warm sounds from the vibraphone, occasional drum rhythms, occasional tasty electric guitar leads that are just superb. But the overall feel is one of deep feeling and great open spaces but there is much more solidity to the music than you'd ever have thought, with drums and bass guitar appearing in the music. However, this is essentially a relaxed music, spacey to a large extent, on tracks that last from over 5 to nearly 16 minutes. The combination of synths and vibes is spectacularly beautiful throughout a really fantastic album, with depth, atmosphere, layers and textures that will surprise and delight, and for those worried about it being too jazzy - then don’t', 'cuz it isn't.

deadearnest
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mermaidrockpromotions

Now playing...Lorenzo Montanà - Black Ivy PS 08/117

"Lorenzo Montanà - Black Ivy"
(Lorenzo Montanà)

Tracks:
Erasing You (feat. Chelonis R. Jones) 6.19 Dreadful! I couldn't even make it to the end...I'll pretend it didn't happen :)

Jehr Water 2.44 Better...but too short

Insect Invasion 4.26 Much better, I liked the strings over the funky beats, bass and electric piano.

Sap 5.24 A great atmospheric track and then a plucked guitar like melody kicks in, over a wooden echoing percussive loop. The bass line keeps changing keeping you on your toes as a mono-synth glides over the top. Things are swapped around, with various echoes added here and there. At times it slighly reminded me of one of Ulrich Schnauss's less melodic tracks...good stuff nevertheless.

Kirkuk Lanke 4.51 French vocals?...grits teeth...why am I thinking of Aphex Twin's Windowlicker? Actually this isn't too bad at all, with a nice variety of sounds and rhythms, harps and xylophone providing the main melody.

Sap 2 8.07 Strikes me as a bit like Spyra only a bit more 'dance'-like. I like the sped-up sequences over the varied beats. Less keen on the odd SAX notes near the end...but that's being a bit too picky. Overall a very nice track, but the ending is a bit dull.

Dionaea 6.00 Really nice...dancey, sonically up-to-date but with a rather 80's jumping octave bass line. Things die down, but the piece builds up again. 9/10 from me.

Mysteries of Nature 4.59 Ah...more down-tempo! but the tempo soon builds...hmm reminds me of Jerome Froese's solo stuff after leaving Tangerine Dream. Burbling echoing synths throughout 8/10.

Black Ivy 4.28 The title track...and the main reason why I bought this CD in the first place. Yup...I still like it, a Kraftwerk sequence over a stomping beat, in and out of this several melodic lines weave...only for another 'dullish' ending. 8/10.

Haliaras 8.32 A longer track...so it promisses more, but can Lorenzo deliver you ask? 4 mins in...ok so far...solid...nice variety in the drum machine department, 5 mins in...ah nice...a repeat sequence starts...more beats...soon joined by a trancey like Namlook synth with mucho-reverb. Really nice...like the metallic PPG-like timbre at the end. 9/10

Debhra Thor 7.37...and into the final furlong, and with the grandstand in sight. Hmm...no beats...ah...he's wrong footed me and they're back a stumbling 4/4 beat....good so far. I like the bass, but it's not doing much, bar marking the chord changes. Far better are the modulated synth melody Lorenzo introduces over the top...3.46 mins and it's all change, the tempo increases and the pitch as well, like Tangerine Dream's Keep soundtrack goes club for a few bars...a pause...and then a different plucked DX7 piano melody appears whilst the tempo drops. Once again it's let down by a poor ending...but I can forgive that. 8/10

Now playing...Dr Atmo & Ramin-Sad World 3 PS 08/82

Release Date: 11 September 1995
Limitation: 1000

Iskander 13.05
Shirin 30.25 (What a stunning track!)
Khorasan 19.05

DR ATMO/ RAMIN: Sad World 3

First 13 min track features soaring celestial synths and choirs flowing over a nucleus of what I can only describe as synth washing machine gurgles with a pulsing beat, very unusual and very hypnotic. The 30 min track 2 features slowly building, oozing and swooping synths over a soaring bongo rhythm and cymbal-style perc background as a combination of cascading synths and soaring sheets of sound flow along behind the foreground rhythms. This setting slowly shifts, flows, adds and subtracts layers making for a most stunning cosmic journey. Finally the 19 min track 3 features a delicate bongo rhythm over a cascading series of pulsing layers of synth rhythms, and a distant set of flowing orchestral synths is heard. Added sequences and layers give an even fuller, harder sound as the track progresses, very much in the vein of Klaus Schulze's classic 'Picture Music' album.

Review written by Andy G
deadearnest
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Now playing...Drum Machine Circle-Dada PS 08/90

All tracks writtem by Charles Uzzell-Edwards and Jason Rivera*

Track 2 only*

Parts of the second track: Rosswell (certainly during the opening 8 minutes) even reminded me of Tangerine Dream's Rubycon...mainly the churning and flowing ambience.

Andy G said:

DADA: Drum Machine Circle
On Fax, the brainchild of Uzzell-Edwards and Jason Rivera, with 4 tracks and 68 minutes of more extraordinary soundscapes that we have come to expect from Mr Edwards' projects. The opening 6 min track consists of distant voice samples, and echoed synth rhythm bouncing around the mix, odd percussive beats and a generally hazy mood, dark but tranquil. Track 2, at 38 minutes, is similarly constructed, only with more of everything from rhythms and beats to samples and synths, and more stretched out, similarly atmospheric, with stumbling time signatures and winding layers of percussion and synths creating a truly bizarre set of music, sort of rhythmic, sort of spacey, and of which the best bits are the combination of synths and drums that starts around the 18 min mark and continues to 22 mins, where it gets well spacey and weird. Track 3 is even darker, bass and el drums rumbling along the bottom of the mix and all very minimal, which is a similar story for track 4. Overall, very strange, no tunes, sod all melodies but plenty of atmosphere and rhythmic qualities.

Review written by Andy G
Deadearnest

Deadearnest Myspace page

Now playing...Pete Namlook (Peter Kuhlmann - Jürgen Rehberg - Lucia Mense )-The Sunken Road YT 3

A bit New-Age for me to be honest. The first two tracks are very nice, but after that there's too much flute for my liking

Now playing...Move D & Pete Namlook VI-Live in Heidelberg 2001

An overlooked album in many ways, but certainly up there with the best IMHO.

Andy G said:

PETE NAMLOOK & MOVE D: Live In Heidelberg 2001

Even though it’s all synths, the first things you hear are a jazzy guitar line and an acoustic bass, then a supremely cool drum rhythm, all serving to create one of the jazziest, relaxed and addictive opening tracks to grace a Fax label CD to date. From hear the album moves through a second track of languid, melodic ambience, a third track of music that’s like a lounge-style Namlook/Schulze piece, with its funky, jazzy synth-meets-techno feel. Track 4 is just a corking slice of beat-driven techno/trance with wicked bass and drum rhythms, electronically created, more synth layers, buzzing space synths, samples, gradually adding texture on texture as the track progresses. Track 5 decelerates the process with echoed rhythms, early Kraftwerk-style echoed flute, and a supremely languid feel, despite the piece being predominantly rhythmic. A beaty, chunky, stripped-down slice of phased house music with echoed synths and rhythms plus miles of synth layers, is what follows, ending on three minutes of relaxed, beat-driven ambience with a split electric piano-like lead and quite sparse, warm feel. Overall, a classic Fax label album.

Pete Namlook-Silence V AW 055 (Reissue)

"Silence V"
(Pete Namlook)

The continuation of a project with a long history.. 9 years ago the first in the -Silence- series came to life and since then the worldwide Ambient scene has grown. This recording bears some technological innovation as well as Environmental sounds and beautiful Soprano passages that take you on a journey through Ambient Music. While listening to these sounds of healing nature, your soul will travel to another place. The music is designed to induce relaxation and to remove you from your otherwise hectic day.

CD tracks:
Asbendos 13.01 / While Angels Sleep 8.42 / Master of the Sky 9.04
Ancient Beauty 12.50 / Picnic 10.38

Lorenzo Montanà - Black Ivy PS 08/117

"Lorenzo Montanà - Black Ivy"
(Lorenzo Montanà)

This debut Solo-CD of Lorenzo Montanà is a fascinating mixture of IDM/Glitch and Chill-Out/Ambient combining different styles and modern production technologies. The sound is fresh and unassimilated,futuristic and "80s" at the same time. Using this unique music mixture BLACK IVY describes the microcosmos of flora, lakes, ancient landscapes... the sound of the sap and microscopic life forms. Debut CDs often have this special magic that comes from years of collection and dedication to the best sounds and compositions the artist was able to find to finally release them. "Black Ivy" has this kind of magic and FAX is proud to present this music to you.

CD tracks:
Erasing You (feat. Chelonis R. Jones) 6.19 / Jehr Water 2.44 / Insect Invasion 4.26 / Sap 5.24 Kirkuk Lanke 4.51 / Sap 2 8.07 / Dionaea 6.00 / Mysteries of Nature 4.59 / Black Ivy 4.28 Haliaras 8.32 / Debhra Thor 7.37

Now playing...Jochem Paap-Vrs-Mbnt-Ocs 9598 II PS 08/96

Andy G said:

JOCHEN PAAP: VRS - MBNT - PCS 9598 II

Second album in just under as many months from the artist previously known as Speedy J, and this is an altogether different approach from the first one. It starts with five minutes of warm, cosmic synth textures and you think 'now this is going to be GOOD'. Then, along comes this twenty-eight minute centrepiece track where, over the cosmic backdrops, you hear this sort of cosmic clanging sounds like some synthesised bell peel at quarter speed, and it is then that you realise this album is not going to be the pushover you had been led to believe from the opener. Luckily, the symphonic synth textures tend to become more dominant as the track progresses, but it essentially retains the clanging bits throughout its length. THEN, the final eighteen minute track continues the process, only here at a quarter of the quarter speed from before, this time working perfectly, creating a quite eerie, mesmerising, almost darkwave slice of cosmic synth ambience. Bizarre for sure - an acquired taste - certainly!

New releases....coming soon

Silence V (AW 055)
Lorenzo Montanà - Black Ivy (PS 08/117)

Now playing...Pino & Wildjamin-The MS-Series PS 08/70

Much better :) what retro-synth music should be all about and none of that Berlin School nonsense in sight. As an owner of a Korg MS10 I'm obviously biased as hell

Andy G said:

PINO AND WILDJAMIN: The MS Series

This is superb but I can't describe this. How about: "slowly rhythmic, minimal but full-sounding ambient techno with feeling but without being bombastic or overly powerful, featuring music that flows, is full of hidden depths and creates a spellbinding musical mood without being repetitive and appearing to be full-sounding despite its subtle use of the minimum of synths layers and rhythms to create the magical effect." Phew!!!

Now playing...Pete Namlook & Robert Gorl-Elektro PK 08/109

I don't rate this much, the atmospheric stuff is great, but it's ruined by the sub-par Techno/Electro nonsense

Andy G said:

PETE NAMLOOK/ROBERT GORL: Elektro

Collaboration with the main man from the Industrial group DAF and promised to be quite an experience, so we thought. We weren't disappointed. A single 47 min piece divided into 5 tracks. The first 6 mins or so are some brilliantly spacey, dense industrial multi-synth/electronic sound collages but after this the composition shoots straight through into a section of the heaviest industrial trance music on the planet complete with massive drum rhythms, all manner of whooshing, whirring, cascading, echoed and acid synth surrounds and a set of music that storms through your head with unstoppable force, all the time varied in the foreground and brain-blasting in the background. The first 5 or 6 mins of track 3 are, by contrast, very tranquil and quite floating before drifting into a subtly electronic rhythm that starkly takes the piece into track 4 with echoed perc slowly leading into a massive slice of acid techno as a new soundscape of rhythms, beats and samples/electronics towers over the proceedings with stabs of shredding synth rhythms and huge drum beats plus squelchy synth and manic samples for over 11 mins. The final track ends with 5 mins of spacier music finishing with flowing waves of string synths, gentle synth rhythms and swoosing synth effects.