“Loom is maybe the only and really one alternative to the sudden departure of our dear and regretted Edgar Froese”
1 Below the Playfield 6:54 2 Bit Byter 4:23 3 Time Scanner 4:44 Moon LTDCD-005
(Spotify 16:01) (V.F.) (E-Rock)
After an absence of 2 years, Loom makes comeback both on stage, March 5th for a concert in the UFA Fabrik in Berlin, and in music. For the occasion of this concert, the Loom machine puts on sale a 3rd E.P. soberly entitled 300 003. And as 200 002, this E.P. was only available in limited edition of 500 copies which were almost all sold at this concert. I was fortunate, my friend Vic had a copy for me! Fortunate because I was so capable of noticing the progress of Loom whose Johannes Schmoelling's imprint transcends the ardor of our dear Jerome. And we hear this as soon as the first measures of Below the Playfield, a very good title with an almost electronic tribal mood, starts
Tiny chords stroll on the shadows of a heavy woosh before that a carousel of sequenced keys swirl with the delicacies of the harmonies which remind us as much Flashpoint than Le Parc. A synth throws whistled harmonies which roll in loops on this bed of jumpy sequences. Percussions join in a background of bass, bringing Below the Playfield in a phase of electronic rock whereas the synth charms us just as much with its harmonies which are now distant. From Flashpoint to Mars Polaris, Below the Playfield makes working our sense of hearing with a package of references on Tangerine Dream, from the Schmoelling years to those of Jerome Froese, which follow the evolutionary bends of a track which exploits at the most its 7 minutes.
In particular when a line of sequences skips on a conveyor, structuring a slightly spasmodic rhythmic phase along with the fiery percussions pattern which remind the TD with Iris Camaa. The synths spit as many harmonies that are weavers of earworms as twisted solos and long sighs of distress which make duel with the fragmented guitar solos of Jerome. Very good track! As much heavy than Below the Playfield, Bit Byter begins with sequenced waves which lose their undulations in tablecloths of synths which spatter like astral choirs. The sound envelope is very dense with very good arrangements and a very catchy electronic tune which fits the rather jerky structure of percussions and sequences. It's OK! The curt rhythm and the melody remain stuck to our eardrums for a while. Time Scanner changes of so many forms, like Below the Playfield. If the beginning is sculpted in an approach of gloomy ballad which swivels on a boiling bed of percussions, the music goes for a good symphonic rock after a small ambient passage. Johannes Schmoelling's claw is glued on this track which spits harmonies of the Logos era on a structure of rhythm which is not so far from it.
300 003 has all the ingredients to satisfy the fans of Tangerine Dream and Loom. This is some good and well elaborated electronic rock full of sonic flashes which give us to smile and make us say that Loom is maybe the only and really one alternative to the sudden departure of our dear and regretted Edgar Froese.
Sylvain Lupari (April 25th, 2016) *****