“What a way to end another great year in E.M.! This Timeless II must be the solidest, the strongest album of Frank Dorittke ever”
1 Space Fields 5:52 2 Lost Ship 6:40 3 Elemental Movement 12:42 4 The Return of O; Part V 7:45 5 Spectralis 6:30 6 Timeless Two 6:03 7 An Evening (Live) 17:26 F.D. Project
A line of vivid and bouncy sequences scatters the haze from a snoring machine to bring out the exciting pace of Space Fields. The percussions structure a good electronic rock drenched in synth pads whose fluty breaths will remind a bit of Tangerine Dream's Jive period. Playing with fluidity on the various algorithms of rhythmic structures, Frank Dorittke adds a second line more harmonic this time which hiccups in a jerky structure to initiate a beautiful harmony whistled by a synth with the scents of Mike Oldfield. On heavy and lively rhythms, forged in patterns of sequences that spin and / or zigzag in very minimalist structures, chiselled of harmonies from his unique guitar, or his synths, FD Project presents in TIMELESS II his most solid album to date.
If we have been spinning with the hypnotic spiral of Space Fields, Lost Ship takes us to a heavy motorik structure with an amalgam of bumps and muffled pulsations that hammer a jerky rhythm that percussions are redirecting into a more fluid structure. Cosmic effects, ethereal layers and vampiric shadows surround the harshness of the rhythm while very good and incisive guitar solos flagellate and pierce after the point of 3 minutes. Elemental Movement offers another very heavy and minimalist circular structure which is fed by various tones, including rattling cymbals and chords strung here and there in stroboscopic threads. The synth is superb with nice dreamy harmonies. It's a good track record with just enough nuance to make you appreciate its long minimalist jingles. Must we necessarily speak of The Return of O; Part V? Absolutely! On a structure still flowing in heaviness, Frank Dorittke takes us into the territories of Q2 with a tasty spheroidal approach as ethereal as Celtic. Reminiscences of Tubular Bells are always at the rendezvous, as well as some small aromas of 5 Miles Out and the many solos of a solid guitar. Spectralis will become the most beautiful ballad of the F.D. Project repertoire. Imagine Drunken Mozart in the Desert, by Edgar Froese, but in a fast motion. It's a bit the main frame of Spectralis which unfurls a bed of sparkling sequences like a flock of hummingbirds with diamond wings. Hallucinating, this structure is supported by sober percussions that give it an approach as rock than the sequenced melody can be in its ballad mode. It's lively and full of life, and the melody pierces its worm-ear while the guitar, always incisive, is spinning solos still and always very inspired. After an introduction woven into reverie, Timeless Two extricates itself from its ethereal phase to offer a heavy and slow rhythm that gains in intensity. The guitar is still carrying solos that disembowel indifference.
An Evening (Live) is a live performance at Ledigenheim Dinslaken, Germany, in May 2014. A 30-minute video is available on You Tube. It's a good incursion into the cosmic universe of Jean-Michel Jarre and in the patterns of lively sequences that revolutionized the art of electronic rhythms with Stratosfear by Tangerine Dream. There's a lot of nods to Oxygene's music here, and Frank Dorittke shows that he's as comfortable with his synths and sequencer as with his guitar. This guitar that has opened the doors to this tasty merger between Mike Oldfield's Celtic approach and the very Berlin School and / or cosmic EM. A very nice album and a great surprise, TIMELESS II found his niche on my list of 2016's the top 10!
Sylvain Lupari (December 19th, 2016) ****¾*
Available at FD Project Bandcamp