Schiller: Desire

The Sonic Music Review recently featured a review of 'Let Me Love You' here, the first song on Schiller's 2008 album 'Desire.' At this point we are pleased to offer a full feature which covers the rest of this remarkable album. For those unfamiliar with Schiller, the German artist typically writes in an uncommon methodology which combines elements of post-trance with ambient music. This form of writing, which is comparable to Enigma who rose to fame during the 1990's, is typically mislabeled as 'New Age Music' largely due to the sound world such releases typically create, a label not endorsed by the artist. This album features some of Schiller's finest work to date, featuring several collaborations with other artists and singers.

Schiller: Desire

The album opens with the beautiful rendition of 'Let Me Love You,' previously featured here, before moving on to the first of the instrumental works on the album, 'Heartbeat,' which reader's could be forgiven for confusing with instrumental Enigma or even Tangerine Dream output. This track illustrates well the ability of Schiller to combine rich synthetic textures with subtle moving sequences to create a commendable ambient inspired work. The musical references to ambient composers later turn to proponents of dance/chillout music - the track 'Breathe' for instance, which features the singer September, is highly reminiscent of Chicane's output, particularly 'Offshore' which appears on their 'Best Of' album reviewed here. 

Moving to a later track 'Ile Aye,' the ties to the Enigma musical project are revealed most clearly, even going as far as to include elements of foreign chant which typified Engima's output which combined this with a very similar sound world exhibited here. Of all the material on offer here however, 'Lonely,' which like 'Ile Aye' features the female singer Stephenie Coker, shines as one of the album's highlights. To some listeners, the slight cliched writing which audibly panders to the pop music aesthetic may detract from the song, but it remains a well executed example of Schiller's most commercial output. 

It is curious that Klaus Schultze, best known as a prolific electronic artist and, for a time, member of the German band Tangerine Dream whose releases have frequently adorned the pages of The Sonic Music Review, features as a collaborator with Schiller on the track 'Zenith.' This track exemplifies a convergence of the two artist's already comparable styles in a manner that many fans of ambient electronica will highly appreciate.

From the highlights of Schiller's collaborative songwriting with Kim Sanders, Stephenie Coker et al. to the instrumental works such as the hauntingly nostalgic 'Wunschtraum,' this album contributes greatly to the ever expanding repertoire in the burgeoning Ambient Post-Trance musical tradition and is well worth a listen.

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Schiller Feat. Kim Sanders: Let Me Love You

Ahead of an upcoming review of the 2008 'Desire' album by Schiller, The Sonic Music Review is pleased to feature the first track from the album, 'Let Me Love You,' in a deservedly separate article. Like most Schiller output, this track stylistically comes from a convergence of post-trance and ambient music which is best compared to the Enigma Musical Project whose greatest hits album, 'Love Sensuality Devotion,' is reviewed here.

Schiller featuring Kim Sanders: 'Let Me Love You' from 'Desire'

The track begins with a brooding introduction, led by ethnic flute drones which lead to the first exposition of a synthetic riff which underpins much of the music. This is followed soon after by the pulsing bass ostinato which gives the piece a firm initial rhythmic grounding. As the vocals enter, sung brilliantly by Kim Sanders, the African American singer based in Germany, the contour of the musical textures become crystallised, establishing her smooth voice reminiscent of Madonna as the leading timbre in this track.

Instrumentation varies throughout in order to create an interesting and varied arrangement which at its most complex consists of Electronica beats reminiscent of the French duo Air coupled with bass ostinatos, vocal melodies and rich synthetic pad backgrounds which generally typify ambient music. The style of writing is largely dependant on the hypnotic repetition of carefully contoured melodic phrases. The harmonic interplay between the melody and lush harmonic accompaniment adds to the timbral interest, particularly at the chorus sections where Sanders' powerful voice truly shines on a repeated musical theme which interacts in an audibly pleasing manner with the accompanying musical layers.

The song concludes with an extended outro, combining synthetic writing with shuffle electronic drum beats, again similar to Enigma writing. As the song concludes, a fitting sonic basis for the rest of the 'Desire' album is formed. This song is certainly a highlight of the album and a welcome addition to this reviewer's musical library.

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Tangerine Dream: Autumn In Hiroshima

Autumn In Hiroshima is the third instalment in Tangerine Dream’s Five Atomic Seasons series. This 2008 release rejoins the musical narrative following the dropping of the first nuclear bomb in Hiroshima at the finale of the last album, ‘Summer In Nagasaki,’ reviewed here. For those unfamiliar with the Five Atomic Series, a brief introduction is provided at the beginning of the ‘Springtime In Nagasaki’ review here. Unlike the preceding instalments in the Five Atomic Seasons, this album features a larger number of tracks, dominated by 8 ‘teachings’ set to music.

Tangerine Dream: Autumn In Hiroshima

This album opens with the seminal track ‘Trauma,’ one of the finest examples of electronic music of our time. As such, ‘Trauma’ has received a separate review here in order to cover the track in sufficient detail. The following track ‘Reset’ maintains the soundworld of trauma in a more ambient musical context which also gradually suggests partial optimism as the track progresses. This Ambient style of writing continues through ‘Awareness (1st Teaching),’ which makes extended use of western classical church-like vocal harmonies.

Moving on to the later track ‘Oracular World (4th Teaching),’ the ambient style of writing has been replaced with a more typical example of Tangerine Dream writing, supported by a steady, yet unintrusive, beat throughout. The later ‘Touching Truth’ in fact references the band’s earlier output during their so-called Blue Years. The way in which a large number go the tracks on this album transition smoothly between one another proves worth note as this in itself speaks volumes about the band’s production values. Seemingly paramount to this release is a sense of flow. This is particularly well achieved with reference to the music’s emotional subtext, smoothly segueing with the music to form a narrative of emotions and moods expressed by the music to echo the narrative to this programmatic work.

In each of the releases in Tangerine Dream’s Five Atomic Seasons series, the penultimate and final tracks typically prove to be particularly interesting, providing an indication for the music which follows in the following instalment. When attention is paid to the final two tracks, ‘Omniscience (8th Teaching)’ and ‘Nothing And All’ respectively, a heavily sequence-led track is juxtaposed with an ambient successor, indicatory of uncertain times ahead, although the smoother ambient nature of writing induces a sense of calm in stark contrast to the beginning of the release here featured.

As ‘Nothing And All’ reaches its inevitable conclusion, the listener is plunged into silence once more in preparation for the following chapter in the series, ‘Winter In Hiroshima.’


View Tracklisting

Tracklisting:

1. Trauma
2. Reset
3. Awareness (1st Teaching)
4. Novice (2nd Teaching)
5. Strange Voices
6. Fathom (3rd Teaching)
7. Oracular World (4th Teaching)
8. Remembering Ayumi
9. Mellow Submersion (5th Teaching)
10. Answers (6th Teaching)
11. Touching Truth
12. Insight (7th Teaching)
13. Omniscience (8th Teaching)
14. Nothing And All

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Alva Noto: Unitxt

'Unitxt,' the 2008 album by Alva Noto, also known as Carsten Nicolai or simply 'Noto,' celebrates the German composer's 28th studio album to be released, excluding collaborations. In typical form, the composer combines heavy glitch elements with complex rhythmic structures to create an offering in the inimitable Alva Noto style.

Alva Noto: Unitxt

The album consists of 25 tracks, separated into two distinct parts: 10 original compositions followed by a series of 15 tracks realised by converting data from programs such as 'Powerpoint' or 'Fontlab4.0' into digital audio files, creating compositions informed by the aesthetics of noise music comparable to the Japanese artist Merzbow.

Minimal in style, with every track devoid of traditional harmonic and melodic constructs, this album is dependant on two clear elements, the sounds used by the composer and their rhythmic use within each track. This is shown immediately from the first track, 'u_07.' In this particular track, Alva Noto has combined surprisingly bassy glitches with various digital beeps. Later, Anne-James Chaton features in edited vocal elements which lie atop Noto's rhythmic glitch backing.

The electronic timbres used later develop in 'u_08' to give a clear brooding characteristic, rather curious considering the lack of harmony, illustrating the composer's ability to create emotions out of sounds rather than complete music. In contrast to this, the later tracks of the album which were created from executable data serve as more of a blank canvas from an emotional standpoint. These later tracks serve a greater stylistic purpose and can also serve to introduce fans of noise music to Noto's work.

For a review of Noto's earlier 'Insen' album, click here.

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Chicane: The Best Of Chicane

Chicane, the British electronic act, is best known for their material which fuses dance, trance and ambient musics to create a combination of chill out and uptempo material in their various releases. 'The Best Of Chicane' is their 2008 compilation album, celebrating their biggest hits between 1996 and 2008.

Chicane: The Best Of Chicane

The album begins with the band's first ever single, 'Offshore,' released in 2006. This mimics some of Tangerine Dream's more ambient work in its approach, but refines the style and lays idiomatic dance beats under the repeated phrases. Unsurprisingly, this particular track features both in a number of dance and chill out compilations.

Following 'Offshore' comes 'Bruised Water,' a collaboration between Chicane and Natasha Bedingfield. This compilation showcases a number of collaborations which the band have undertaken throughout their career, including their 2006 single 'Stoned In Love' featuring Tom Jones. The album, which contains 18 tracks lasting over an hour, serves as a fitting retrospective for the versatile work produced by Chicane, including a variety of their more commercial dance releases alongside more ambient inspired works such as 'Saltwater.'

The album concludes with possibly the most ambient track of the compilation, 'Early,' clear in its further use of trance/chill out writing. This track lends a sense of tranquility as the album draws to a close and, for fans of ambient music in particular, is well worth a listen even if in isolation from the rest of the album.

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John Metcalfe: A Darker Sunset

This little known work from 2008 by the obscure virtuoso violinist and electronic musician, John Metcalfe remains a rare curio in this reviewer's music collection but undoubtedly one of the highlights.

Throughout, the composer combines a writing style comparable to Air with more classical classical writing for acoustic instrumentation, displaying notable versatility from the composer. His talents as a violinist are also plain to see throughout but one of the stand-out tracks is undoubtedly 'The Shock Of Recognition.'

In addition to the composer's precise electronic writing, the extensive use of drum programming brings even greater credit to the album alongside the well refined use of synthesised melodic lines. Later in the album, the composer demonstrates an affinity to more ambient film music in tracks such as 'Higher, Lighter.' Overall this album presents a very appealing listen, well worth the time and certainly a purchase if a copy can be found.

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