Crystal Lake (track) by Klaus Schulze

When "Mirage" (1977) was in the record stores I was not always 100% convinced of the work of Klaus Schulze. The long drawn-out and sustained chords and the rarely melodic and sparse solos: it sounded too much like a formula, functioned as the ambient of that time, even though the music often sounded ominous and luckily the boring lightness was omitted. This generally applied to so-called Berlin school, but Tangerine Dream did better in my opinion, especially because they knew how to stop repeating on time. Also Schulze records such as "Timewind" were the soundtrack to my musings, the virtual (bizarre that I may refer to "virtual" in this context) walks in surrealistically arranged landscapes, making connections between thin music and the improbable paintings from Salvador Dalí. I looked up at Schulze. Stared with awe at the analog sound monster that listened to the name "Big Moog" and associated the hundreds of cables with the lab of a contemporary magician. With "Velvet Voyage" and "Crystal Lake" (quite striking but also very poetic titles) the repetition worked wonderfully. This time Schulze's minimalism effortlessly managed to charm me completely. Countless times I have been overwhelmed by the beautiful pattern of the sequencer that made the first part of "Crystal Lake" incredibly fascinating. Sounds like ice. Beautiful white snow landscapes that made the world imperturbably beautiful. Frosty cold and vast white carpets of snow. An occasional tree whose crown and branches groaned under the constant showers of snow. The beauty of this music is that it gives the listener, just as with (predominantly abstract) paintings, only a minimal hold. For the rest, it is up to the listener to dream away and give the landscape of sounds a unique visual form. Nice to see that Schulze does not impose any restrictions. Mirage can be from this world, extraterrestrial or both: with this landscape of icy sounds, the listener can go in any direction. Schulze and his Big Moog at their very and still analogue best. Believe me.