“This is a nice gift to EM fans of vintage Berlin School which has no minute lost within it”
1 Miniatur I 3:07
2 March 2001 16:41
3 Miniatur II 4:55
4 Rendevous im Theatre 13:10
5 Miniatur III 2:44
6 The trees turn Tangerine (Live) 6:53
7 Miniatur IV 1:34
8 Electronic Mirrors Part III 15:10
9 Miniatur V 1:48
10 Slow Polymorph 12:04
(DDL 78:10) (V.F.)
(Berlin School)
On October 22, Thomas Fanger and Mario Schönwälder presented their first concert in England. To underline this event, the German duo unveiled a special CD released in 222 units; ANALOG OVERDOSE 0.9. A CD which retraces the first steps of the duo, both in studio and in concert, with new material. Besides, the very explicit title of 0.9 explains that the titles offered here were composed and played before and during the period of Analog Overdose Volume 1.
A delicate hopping line makes Miniatur I's first chords rocking. Choirs, with very celestial harmonies, dress this movement which undulates on a beautiful bass pulse before ending in breaths of virtual thunders. Persistent, this breath crosses the limits of March 2001 with metallic rumblings before mutating for a melancholy violin. It's on this breath of sadness that an impassive bass animates the hypnotic and fluid movement of March 2001. A fusion of limpid and crystalline chords flutter and seem to multiply their echoes to create a harmonious ambience. The tempo thrills on a nice playing of the violin and an austere synth which lets pass its choirs and which blows multi sonic layers with varied intonations. A good title, superbly hypnotic which pours into the heterogeneous universe of Miniatur II where a line flows on light pulsations and a synth is sailing towards the unknown. Rendevous im Theater deploys a feverish line of sequences which aligns very corded keys meandering towards a hypnotically harmonious line. Minimalism, the rhythm evolves surrounded by distorted cymbals on a cadence which increases in speed and in strength. The synths multiply melodious strata which intersect while aligning sounds worthy of a busy highway with metallic streaks and tortuous solos. Another good track which tempers its aggressiveness with the fluty and floating mellotron of Miniatur III. The Tree Turns to Tangerine is a superb title starting with an oriental flute sound which captivates and inspires a deep relaxation mode, but which is quickly disturbed by a sequence which goes into a spin. The movement is jerky and covered with hoarse robotic voices whose intonations are lost in a percussive sequenced line and percussions which hammer the rhythm with violence. Another superb moment which is enveloped by a harmonious and fluty mellotron, as well as gluey and enveloping layers. After a short atmospheric escapade in Miniatur IV, Electronic Mirrors Part III takes again the road of the rhythm with good percussions which hammer a heavy minimalist rhythm of EDM style. A technoïd musical fiesta that is filled with superb synth solos whose lines and layers merge into a highly creative synthesized fest. Slow, Polymorphe ends this opus, which will quickly become a collector's item, with a slow and floating movement. A sensual bass sways among streaks of synths that float in a bewitching ambience. The sequence amplifies the rhythm by adding sinuous layers to give more depth to a slowly developing title.
ANALOG OVERDOSE 0.9 is a nice gift from Fanger & Schonwalder to this mass of fans, EM lovers of the time when digital synths were just the dream of worthless musicians. There are no slack minutes in this album. Even the Miniatur saga flows with ease while assuming its role on this deliciously hypnotic opus, which captivates with its melodious approach. Manikin decided to put on the market only 222 copies of this CD which went like hot cakes. That's very little for an album of this caliber! One of the good albums of the genre that I have heard this year and it easily makes it into the top 10 of 2006, still in the Berlin School of what is the most beautiful.
Sylvain Lupari (November 14th, 2006) *****
Available at Manikin Bandcamp