“Kontinuum is a wonderful album where Klaus Schulze puts back in our ears his old fragrances to offer us what he has forget since years”
1 Sequenzer (From 70 to 07) 24:54
2 Euro Caravan 19:41
3 Thor (Thunder) 31:47
SPV | 49392 CD
(CD 76:22) (V.F.)
(Classical Berlin School)
There are 2 ways to hear and discuss of this latest work from our friend Klaus Schulze; with the ears of yesteryear and those more critical which are imbued with a more contemporary expectation. KONTINUUM sails between the two poles of Klaus Schulze. It's an album which embraces the nobility of yesteryear. In the days of Mirage, Blackdance and even Irrlicht. An album which also crosses the thorny digital dimension and which surfs on the forbidden delights of Moonlake while leaving the musical doors open for the musical playwright that KS can be when he begins to invest his darkness with sulphurous cosmic delusions.
Sequenzer (From 70 to 07) says it all! From the first chords to the tones of frozen prisms dancing with the winds of the void, the title embraces the phases of a superb and soft sequenced maelstrom which envelops us and makes us soar in a dance of limpid chords whirling in the whims of our dreams. These chords fluttering with a contained fervor form an element of sequences which twirl nervously and whose oval shapes cross another line of sequences which flutter tirelessly in an astonishing duel which caresses the arhythmical life. We float in this half ambient half rhythmic universe worthy of the analog collections of the Mirage years with this ode with a scent of yesteryear where this rhythm, divided by its chords and its sequences, jumps on the spot and is gradually allowed to be caressed by thin lines of voices and discreet orchestral arrangements. Dark strata envelop this torrential rhythm which swirls of intoxication by the soft velocity of isolated chords whose asymmetrical jumps end up forging an astonishing harmonious homogeneity and which a soft seraphine voice captures in order to bring it to the gates of time. It's beautiful, it's serene and it will undoubtedly please the fans of a Schulze of the 70's. Sequenzer (From 70 to 07) is dying in black winds which fail on the quiet opening of Euro Caravan.
An anonymous voice pushes its wounds of time on these black, hollow winds, casting a soaring introduction that quietly increases the pace around the 9th minute. The rhythm takes the shape of a cosmic gallop with a heavy bass line and chords with organic rubber tones which pulsate in the echoes of sober tom-toms. Stitching to the windy final which lulls to sleep the rhythm of Euro Caravan, Thor (Thunder) invades our ears with a long title of atmospheres which are reminiscent of Irrlicht's cosmic wanderings. Fluty breaths are singing in Orion breezes which at times marry the moans of cosmic choirs. But we are on familiar ground. These imperfect harmonies are the seal of Klaus Schulze who takes obvious pleasure in furnishing his plasmatic universe with iconoclastic tones which serenade in a world of confusion. Organic chords emerge and dance in tones of vaporous tom-toms while a synth line spits nasal harmonies that ooze in cosmic mists. And subtly, this ambiospheric intro immolates itself in a nervous rhythm, nourished by curt chords which throb in a fusion of mists and submissive choirs. And Thor (Thunder), which is only thunderous in its title, continues its minimalist progression in an ascent sprinkled here and there with soft more melodious lines and ambiospheric contrasts where the shadows of solos creak, are crying astral laments and is murmuring and stirring a quiet broth of keys forging evasive rhythms in this musical magma which refuses to explode, preferring the cozy comfort of its abstract approach.
KONTINUUM is a splendid album. This is some great Klaus Schulze who brings out his old fragrances to offer us what he had forbidden for a long time; an album in the purest traditions of X and the surrounding albums. It's therefore a pleasant surprise for us who are inundated with sublime reissues in Blackdance and Live (I will come back to this) and other albums with analog aromas offered by a host of emerging artists, copycat of the great master. I loved it as much, if not more, than Moonlake, although Playmate In Paradise… hum…! It's a journey back in time where the magnetism of analog sweets and its minimalist structures fed our daydreams and hallucinations in groups. It flows in our ears and our memories… like in the good old days. A must-have that hides in a wonderful artwork and an excellent KDM viewing. For a rare time, I fully agree with his writings.
Sylvain Lupari (March 8th, 2013) ****½*
Available at Groove