BROEKHUIS, KELLER & SCHÖNWÄLDER Eglise de Betzdorf (CD EP on Manikin Records)
This release from 2013 features 38 minutes of engaging electronic music recorded live in Luxemburg on June 25, 2010.
Slow-burn electronics craft two long-form pieces.
The first track begins with airy texturals punctuated by synthesized flamenco guitar played slow. Shakers accompany this intro, and they gradually mutate into a marching rhythm on electronic drums. A delicate keyboard riff dances into prominence, coaxing the percussion and auxiliary electronics to fuse into a mounting melody that gains puissance with each passing moment. Additional texturals gurgle from the background to blend with things, ever increasing the flowÕs complexity. Eventually, crisp riffs surface amid the escalating gestalt as keyboards generate whimsical passages. As the e-perc persists, establishing rhythms that bob on the fluid sonics like agile corks, a celestial tone wavers into play, giving the music a solemn reverence. The return of the flamenco marks a transition point in which the tune enters a more pensive phase, with sweeping atmospherics and echoing single-beats. Peripheral sounds and effects creep into the flow as the piece ends.
The next track has a lively start, and things reach a coherent melody far quicker. Choppy keyboards and smooth tones manifest a bouncy tune that is given oomph by erratic percussives. Those choppy keys are providing the main rhythm, while horn-esque electronics waft with mild mirth as they conquer the mix. Those erratic beats had sprouted additional beats and are now producing a soft tempo of some intricacy. Just as the choppy keys resurge and mutate into a more fluid state, the flamenco guitar appears, its lilting strings lending everything a romantic flair. As the guitar begins to flesh out into a lush embellishment of the overall melody, new electronics, shrill-yet-fragile, kick in and compliment the guitarÕs mounting complexity. There is no fade-out; the piece concludes in a civilized and understated finale of the elements.
An excellent dose of the type of peaceful-melodics-growing-into-sprightly-passages one has come to expect from these guys.
FANGER & SCHÖNWÄLDER Earshot (CD EP on Manikin Records)
This release from 2013 features 46 minutes of powerful electronic music recorded live at the E-Live Festival in Oirschot in the Netherlands on October 27, 2010 (with two tracks from studio sessions in 2012-13).
Joining Thomas Fanger and Mario Schönwälder is Klaus "Cosmic" Hoffmann-Hoock.
The electronics flourish with ever-mounting authority, growing from timid expressions to boisterous outcries of undulant sound. While a majority of the electronics are triggered and guided by keyboards, a certain percentage belong to the textural realm, establishing ethereal clouds to roil behind the lead riffs.
Typical keyboard threads are generated and set to cycle, while additional riffs snake in to interweave with them. Frequently, subdued guitarwork embellishes these electronic pastiches; such auxiliary elements possess a distinctly alien flavor. These union are demonstrably wondrous.
Percussives are integral here, synthetic tempos that cascade with catchy character. The rhythms display a sinuous disposition, churning from a vantage immersed in the mix.
Space guitar (in the hands of Cosmic Hoffmann) contributes lofty pinnacles of searing sound. The riffs are powerful as they strain ever upwards, piercing the stratosphere to scald the vacuum with their engaging tuneage. While often submerged in the mix, these guitar spirals frequently surface for instances of crisp dominance before returning to swim amid the gestalt.
These compositions tend to stand alone instead of running together with a seamless flow. They are generally devoid of accreting openings. The melodies manifest punctually and engage in their serpentine progressions and mutations without pause. This results in a more compact, delightful delivery.
| Entire page © 2013 Matt Howarth. All rights reserved. |
Webpage design by
 |