Years ago, Jeffrey Koepper was one-half of Pure Gamma, an EM band known basically to residents of the American East Coast for their spacey electronic performances. Recently, he has gone solo, crafting EM of similar beauty.
JEFFREY KOEPPER: Etherea (CD on Air Space Records)
This release from 2003 offers 72 minutes of dreamy electronic music.
Synthesist Koepper is accompanied on several tracks by EM pioneer Steve Roach, who also co-produced and mastered this album.
Crystalline electronics luxuriate amid fields of textural atmospherics. Keyboard chords waft on these undulant breezes like airborne strands of gemstones, twinkling and majestic in their slightly agitated serenity.
Layered tonalities ripple with dreamy elegance, merging to generate more regal harmonies, then separating to pursue their own individual sonic destinies. Flowing melodies instill a pacific calm as they explore astral paths of gracious distinction deep into the listener’s cerebellum.
Amiable keyboards introduce fluid riffs into the ethereal mix, flavoring the drifting flux with a tantalizing melodic deportment. Engaging loops establish a succulent medium for those riffs as they twirl and spiral in soporific patterns. Chords are sustained to create threads of grace running throughout the tuneage. Their complacent presence enhances the music’s overall soothing character.
Delicate e-perc swims through one track, describing languid rhythms that sparkle gently rather than provide any urgent momentum.
These compositions blend ambient soundscapes and sinuous melodies to produce structures of stately beauty. While the emphasis is generally on tranquil soundscapes, some of the tunes exhibit tasteful touches of utopian substance with gentle euphonies rising from the mellifluous pools.
JEFFREY KOEPPER: Momentium (CD on Air Space Records)
This release from 2006 offers 67 minutes of engaging electronic music.
Synthesist Koepper is joined by Kelvin Russell (on additional synthesizers on one track) and Steve Roach (on Xpander textures on three tracks, plus final mastering and enhancements).
Rich textures and demonstrative electronics combine to achieve masterful tuneage. While background tones formulate an engaging ambience, lead electronics provide this music’s real allure. Commanding riffs are created and layered until a lush density is accomplished. That richness communicates an urgency that is gentle but captivating.
Deep notes and crisp timbres conspire to round out the music’s substance. The result is a fusion of airy and gutsy moods, tuneage that is simultaneously grounded and ascendant. This balance is expertly crafted to embody the best of both directions.
Keyboards flourish, littering the flowing music with nimble-fingered riffs that inject luscious attraction to the compositions, whether with gurgling pools or bouncy loops or gripping cosmic sequences.
E-perc is employed in some tracks to lend additional locomotion to the fertile tuneage. These rhythms are fancifully seasoned with auxiliary electronics which serve to cocoon the tempos in surging embellishments, transforming the beats into lush expressions of honeyed resonance.
These compositions are outstanding in their union of expansive power and introspective character. The melodies move from drifting sections to commanding passages, doing so effortlessly, sometimes combining both aspects to achieve a dazzling astral authority. This sense of power remains undiminished even when Koepper turns his attention to dreamy passages, propagating atmospheric textures that throb with the promise of imminent escalation.
JEFFREY KOEPPER: Sequentaria (CD on Air Space Records)
This release from 2008 offers 71 minutes of masterful electronic music.
This time, Koepper did it all, with final mastering by Steve Roach.
A masterful confidence permeates the electronics on this album. Tonal foundations are fairly buried beneath layers of enthralling lead riffs that intertwine to produce a lavish tapestry of delightfully compelling tunes.
Sparkling loops and gurgling textures provide ample ambience, but Koepper’s manner of nudging these aspects into the forefront of the mix enlivens the music. This luscious dominance results in a constant state of blossoming brilliance These songs exude an immensely appealing sophistication bursting with electronic vitality and bewitching melodies.
Keyboards introduce even more threads to that crowded tapestry, resulting in melodies that are dense but not ponderous. Cycles are established, then embellished slowly, hiding their evolution in the thick mix, only to pop forth ripe with entrancing splendor. Stunning pinnacles abound in these tunes.
E-perc serves to boost a few tunes with bouncy rhythms. Other tracks rely upon strident keyboard patterns to establish a rhythmic presence; these low-impact tempos often possess more oomph than any percussion could produce.
Koepper’s ability to imbue simple riffs with lofty eminence is astounding. His tendency to combine numerous minimal elements into lavish structures of pulsating puissance is guaranteed to be an ultimate satisfaction to EM enthusiasts seeking music that bridles with energized vigor while retaining a mesmerizing edge.
The compositions flourish with a rich sense of regal command. These soothing melodies generate a pronounced invigoration, gradually accruing power with each subsequent passage until an impressive stage of epicurean grandeur is achieved.
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