Irrlicht
by Klaus Schulze

It may not be fair, but I have always less appreciated the work of Schulze (who left Tangerine Dream (TD) because of artistic differences with Edgar Froese in 1970) than TD's. As a young boy you may need variety. Possibly it was difficult for me at that time to appreciate the musical and artistic values of the currently highly acclaimed and groundbreaking "Irrlicht". Track 1 ("Ebene") gets under way with heavily manipulated strings. The mixed in drones are accompanied by strings played backwards. The process of generating music (indeed, you can call it "Musique concrète") is more important here than the result. Occasionally you hear sounds that seem to come from a synthesizer, but Schulze did not have a synthesizer for recording Irrlight. I would therefore like to know all the details of the process and the instruments used. Later in Track 1, Schulze plays his special, modified organ as if his life depended on it. I fear that I am too old and less sensitive to experiments. Track 3 is more monotonous and sounds like the relentlessly held and amplified background noise from a factory in the metal industry. I do not think we are in Berlin but in the Ruhr area, and here everything is dark, angry and hostile. This does not make you happy. On the contrary. We have to wait for the sublime "Mirage" to find a more accessible sound carpet. But for now this is the "Dark Ambient" of a sound artist. The recording of the reverse playback of an orchestra is interwoven with the noise that turns the background gray. I can't make up my mind. Does Irrlicht have such great artistic value? Is this album still relevant, or can we talk about musical archeology?

Chilling, deep, spatial and metaphysical. Klaus Schulze has been in the deepest part of the universe and has come back bringing with himself the statement of his journey. The music sounds inevitably apocalyptical, dark and shapeless. Klaus Schulze is able to disconnect you from the real world, to make you feel yourself in an ethereal dimension. He doesn't need words to compose something poetic.

From ButterThumbz TOP 100 COMMENTER 04/07/2015 13:14 | #139010 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

The perfect accompaniment for your elevator ride to hell. Going down!

From CellarDoor TOP 100 COMMENTER 11/27/2011 21:31 | #31570 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Staring at the cover gives me the creeps.

Emotionally powerful.