“Like it or not, Indra is a phenomenon like Klaus Schulze and like him, his albums always have something attractive to put between the ears”
CD 22
1 Meteor 29:20 2 From Beyond 31:11 3 In the Sky (excerpt) 16:12
Indra Music (CD-R/DDL 76:44)
(Roumanian School)
Unlike Platinum One, whose music dates back to 2005, this PLATINUM TWO is an album that brings us closer and closer to the contemporary musical visions of the Romanian synthesist who offers a music composed and recorded around 2013. This album offers 3 long evolutionary intra-sensory journeys with minimalist structures which are mature to welcome the fruits of Indra's creativity. "Meteor" begins with the chant of a nightingale stuck inside a synth which makes cooing its harmonious circles into hypnotic loops. Percussive elements make rattling their metal tone which resonates among cosmic effects and other effects with tones a bit organic. This introduction is full of a very diverse sound fauna, a new element of tonal richness in Indra's contemporary universe. A line of bass sequences pulsates its keys which jump with a tonal gradation that intensifies more and more with the company of a huge mass of atmospheric layers, worthy of the beautiful years of ether of Klaus Schulze. Deaf knocks modify the harmonic race of the cooing while the latter disappear more and more, leaving the way to cicadas playing castanets. This staging serves the cause of synths which extend as many veils of mists as faded voices, as well as good solos that sound like in the In Blue era. The rhythm is ambient and circular, and each muted knock brings a new element in the progression of Meteor. The electronic drum structures a morphic electronic rock that is covered with pads of voices and of ether. Strangely, the chant of the electronic nightingale reappears, as does an elven voice that spreads its murmurings in the axes of clinking hoops and on the bed of seductive other percussive effects. Sequence lines are working like flights of bees preparing to leave the hive. And Meteor flies on a spasmodic movement where the sequences are buzzing around a rhythm always well surrounded by a good creativity at the level of percussions. The effect is of rhythmic jerks with percussions that sound like anvils and a stroboscopic aura that links the lines of rhythms into a convulsive swarm. The solos are radiating over this rhythm, which also changes its nuances after other dull knocks to exile towards a hymn of rock dance decorated with a pretty beautiful melody that hums like hummingbirds excited in unison. The movement is calm and offers a good Berlin School where nestle this opening melody that has so often change of octaves and of skins in this seductive evolution of Meteor. A wide layer of serenity unrolls the first moments of From Beyond which multiplies its celestial waves and whose pile draws a dense sonic veil flagellated by whistling shooting stars. Opaque and frozen in its status as ambient music, the structure begins to give signs of life with jerky lines which float with sparkles in what is now described as a large lake in suspension and whose water is poured in strata of fine orchestrations. The sound effects annoy a little, because the movement, and its lunar orchestrations, is of a tenderness to cry the stars which is watching over it. But they are not there for nothing! They awaken the percussions by infusing tones and musicality to an amphibian song that uses percussion to modulate its creepy charms. This strange fusion gives strong moments, like those synth tunes which multiply the chills while gently From Beyond awakes to flee its torpor in powerful arrangements and a soft rhythm well chewed by percussions. The orchestrations are dominant and incredibly enveloping throughout the 31 minutes of this title which has managed to evolve effectively in its slow awakening but very well calculated. A very big title of Indra! After a slow Pharaonic intro, In the Sky (excerpt) starts with a rhythm sculpted by sequences linked in series of riffs. Sumptuous orchestral pads, present from the first moments, encapsulate this ambient rhythm designed for neurons, but not bad for the fingers, until percussive sequences jump from one ear to another. This rhythm without really destiny moves our fingers a little, until it is swallowed by an area of effects and shimmers. It returns to finish In the Sky (excerpt), of which we only hear an excerpt. I would like to hear more ... Like it or not, Indra is a phenomenon like Klaus Schulze! The differences are the era for one, the Romanian musician arrived on the chessboard in the early 90's while the use of hardware synths was in full swing, and the commercial vision clearly deficient in Romania where the artist began exporting of his works a dozen years later. But for the rest, Indra is a ball of creativity as was Klaus Schulze in his good years. A ball that contracts a bit and seems to dry out of its energy since the end of this series, apart from a last album in 2017, Kamalatmika, from the Tantric Celebration series where we can expect a continuation very soon. Where am I going? Nowhere! I just said that Indra is a phenomenon like Klaus Schulze and as with the latter, his albums always have something attractive to put between the ears.
Sylvain Lupari (April 14th, 2019) ***¼**
Available at Indra's Bandcamp