F.D. PROJECT: E-Live 2013 (2014)

“In E-Live 2013, F.D.Project shares with his public the cradle of his influences that are parts of contemporary EM's roots”

1 Unlimited (E-Live Version) 24:55

2 Part of Quadea 13:05

3 Norway 12:00

4 PF Medley 7:50

5 Encore 4:10

F.D. Project

(CD/DVD 61:38) (V.F.)

(Minimalist, melodic vintage Berlin School)

It's in the very sober decors of the E-Live Festival, held in October 2013 in Netherlands, that F.D. Project invites his fans to watch an intimist performance with a familiar music which breathes of its new sonic flavors. And the word sober is not too strong. Simply entitled E-LIVE 2013, this CD/DVD package is an unpretentious witness of an inspired and inspiring performance where we see Frank Dorittke a little bit solitary, timid and especially very concentrated going out bit by bit of his bubble in order to offer a spectacle where his EM takes on black clothes of a sometimes furious cosmic rock. During more than one hour F.D.Project shares with his public the cradle of his influences which caress the music of artists as dominant as Mike Oldfield and Tangerine Dream while passing by Pink Floyd.

And that begins with Unlimited (E-Live Version). Pulled of his last studio album, Moments of Life, we hear here the same structure but with a long more melancholic introduction. The same delicious melodic ritornello are rolling like a hypnotizer earworm on 4 minutes in more before that the taciturn winds keep it silent and entail us towards the spheres of Tangerine Dream, periods Ricochet to Stratosfear. As well comfortable on a machine which sequences rhythms as with his guitar, Frank Dorittke forges a nervous rhythm which skips and hiccups in the mist which initially concluded Unlimited. Synth pads are spreading a harmonious smog which quite slowly takes the melodic paths of Stratosfear while that Unlimited (E-Live Version) brings the listener in a soundscape as much familiar as unexpected with good synth twisted solos which sing on a structure of rhythm which reminds enormously Chris Franke's signature. Part of Quadea presents an interesting revision of this long music piece 67 minutes, The Other Side of F.D. Project... Quadea, that F.D.Project presented in 2012. Norway is a wonderful interpretation of Norway - My Heart is with You taking out from the 2011's album Water and Earth. This is a great electronic ballad where Frank Dorittke's guitar cuts out the sweet ambiences blown by Eric van der Heijden on flute. Taken out of his small scenic cocoon, Frank Dorittke seems to feel more comfortable on stage behind the striking solos of his six-strings and dives very hard into his PF Medley which is a very beautiful electronic version of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb. Encore concludes this very sober performance, both in video than audio, with a track which is more or less ambiospherical. A track which uncorks towards a kind of psychedelic ambient trance with loops of guitar a la Manuel Gottsching.

E-LIVE 2013 is a good CD/DVD set. Needs to live with the means of the edge and this is what does Frank Dorittke. There are no surprises, except for the musical bends, no special effects, neither bonus, nor making of. The images are beautiful, well presented with nice close-ups on artist who feels more comfortable as the show moves forward. I think that it's more dedicated to his fans. But in the other hand, E-LIVE 2013remains also a very good means to penetrate into a universe of which the secrets are the privilege of its charms.

Sylvain Lupari (July 3rd, 2014) ***¾**

SynthSequences.com

Disponible au FD Project Bandcamp