MIRAGE (1977) Brain Records
Program 1: Travel Velvet (28:16)
Program 2: Crystal Lake (29:15)
With MIRAGE (1977) , the teacher gives us a cornerstone of his discography, one count of Find out immediately its place alongside that other monument electronic music what the T IMEWIND 1975. Between the austere intellectualism of P ICTUR MUSIC and flamboyant lyricism T IMEWIND , MIRAGE is a special place, steeped that it is a melancholy novel that makes me so valuable . Indeed, this album strives to reconcile the cold and heat: the recent death of his brother, chilling Schulze at the heart of his being, gives MIRAGE tone epidermal winter, while the incredible job on the textures of electronic web surrounds each heat prégnant unparalleled. The artist had never reached such a depth of climates, he had never trodden territories as close to impressionism and surrealism.
The first track, the huge Velvet Travel , alone justifies listening to this disc. Beginning with space vehicles signs that pierce the cosmic vastness, the composition slowly installs an environment of weightlessness with a density sidereal. You can even hear in the first five minutes of messages we receive cosmonauts so subliminal, barely whispered, buried under layers of synthetic beauty. The effect is more subtle that it requires listeners to be fully understood. This long introduction marries a lifting motion which translates to me what to feel when you are aboard a rocket taking off. But the trip will gradually develop into something much more original. Strata sound overlap imperceptibly to takeoff. A strange atmosphere, immaterial, eventually invade the sound space. A feeling of loneliness pierces the moment synthesizers are tinkling in their infinite cosmic strings. Then it occurs to me at that moment a staggering impression that it's difficult to describe otherwise than evoking the famous soft clocks of Dali. The soundstage, after the accumulation of various strata, peaked to the point that no one comes up empty hole. Sound mass set in motion seems to freeze in a strange dimension where the eliminated space and time. Disorientation becomes total, immanent. The sound fills every space between the ears to become subliminal. Magical. Towards the end, Velvet travel negotiates a time loop that sees rebound the stridency of the space long introduction at the same time as the screen goes blank sound gradually all synthetic choirs and the bells tinkling.
The second track on the disc will never reach the heights of the first title, but nonetheless excellent. Crystal Lake begins with a sequence characteristic of the style clash that sees schulzien two melodic lines produced by bells. The effect will be reproduced by the supervisor in various albums such ANGST , A UDENTITY and D REAMS . The repetition of these minimalist loops eventually foster a strong sense of enclosure and fold almost claustrophobic, then amplified by the addition of synthetic notes varying only one octave and an echo which extends the inexorable breakthrough. Above, Schulze just strum a few layers of keyboard that weaves its way into improvised endless arabesques. Towards the end of this title, referring to the lines sequenced Velvet travel invite themselves again mixed with those of Crystal Lake concluding lyric to the album. Captivating.
