“It did not take long before Moonbooter drags us in his world of wild EDM built on strong roots to Berlin School”
1 Live in Peace 6:18
2 Analogyx 4:18
3 Core (First Mix) 6:05
4 Nelectrance 6:45
5 Another Rainy Day 3:32
6 Free From Dawn (Dynamic Version) 4:28
7 I Can (Live Mix) 5:05
8 Order 77 4:23
9 SFO the Beginning 3:48
10 Complexity 6:17
11 Power 4:46
12 Dark Wave 4:58
13 The Truth (Instrumental) 4:52
14 My Unknown Voice (Acid Battle Mix) 3:49
15 Das Leben 5:20
(CD-R/DDL 74:52) (V.F.)
(EDM, E-Rock, New Berlin School)
DEVIDED, because Moonbooter is divided! He who loves classical Electronic Music as much as House or Trance tries to combine his styles in an opus which seeks to conquer an audience as diverse as the styles that he launches at us here. What gives a very dynamic CD where the frenzied rhythms are twirling and rock the houses down between necessary atmospheric passages. The result is an album as much harmonious as Teralogica, but also more intense. In the end, it's 75 minutes of this new musical genre, EDM for Electronic Dance Music, that Bernd Scholl competes in skill in a mixing where he diversifies his palette of styles, his harmonies and sound effects on rhythms that cross this EDM of his with electronic rocks and Berlin School's hypnotic sequencing art.
After an ethereal opening, worthy of New Age, Live in Peace starts with a rhythm which hesitates to get rid of the sounds waves which rolled on its intro. It's done with a good circular and jerky structure which flows in a stroboscopic way that a synth envelops of its musical wings. The mellotron fills the moods with mellotron breezes, dropping in passing a layer of a pagan choir shining with the lights of Mike Oldfield in The Songs of Distant World or the melodious Robert Fox's world in Underworld. An excellent opening which is rich in sound textures. Order 77 and SFO The Beginning are other superb melodies with harmonious arrangements that we find on this album. We are entering the more animated spheres of DEVIDED with Analogyx. Dynamic and nervous, the rhythm swirls on tasty percussions which beat with intensity. It breaks the vibes and floats on an interlude where the instruments refuel of energy. We find these short ambient moments in vaporous atmospheres where the synth illuminates the horizons of enveloping layers and where heterogeneous sound effects sleep on the majority of the fifteen tracks on this album. Moonbooter likes to nuance the rhythms and create the appropriate floating atmospheric phases. Analogyx resumes its course on furious percussions and a very good a very juicy bass line as well as throbbing bass pulses. Respecting the same composition structure, Core embraces a techno beat as well as the intriguing and sensual Power, as does My Unknown Voice which is a very progressive dance track. Nelectrance continues this musical momentum towards more unbridled rhythms, more techno. The percussions are stunning on a pungent beat and a hypnotic bass line. This is a mix between Depeche Mode and Jean-Michel Jarre, just like with Free from Dawn for that matter.
Softer, and just as melodious, Another Rainy Day has a flowing, a slightly lounge tempo. If you like, Power is in the same vein but with a more hypnotic beat. I Can is an awesome track with a twisted vocal intro. The rhythm bursts on a very round, juicy and heavy bass line. The percussions wriggle and marry movements which mix with the chords of an equally nervous synth. Together they create the illusion of strands of harmonies. A powerful track which progresses on a good and sustained bass line and slamming percussions à la Jarre. Complexity is my favorite among this collection of fifteen titles. Pulsating chords, nervous and jumping sequences and a load of sounds effects, like bats in a cave, are making its decor rotating over a suave orchestral line where stringed instruments rock the unknown. This is a strange but very attractive track. Dark Wave is another gem for lovers of dance and hyperactive beats. On a full-bodied beat, the percussions slam and the chords are lost in an enveloping synth. Another line blows a dynamic movement. The title explodes with an unusual energy and falls on a melodious movement which hooks instantly. Definitely, the more the end approaches and the more the jewels accumulate. Because the Truth is another superb melody which opens with a synth wind and chords falling with a nostalgic radiance. A soft rhythm, as silky as its felted percussions, pierces this intro with notes of guitars on a flute with oriental flavor. An excellent passage which shows Moonbooter's skill as an arranger. Das Leben closes his second album on a powerful swirling rhythm, teeming with unleashed percussions.
If Moonbooter has given himself the mandate to combine the random atmospheres of the Berlin School with the wild rhythms of the pulsating dance floors, we can say; Mission accomplished. DEVIDED is 75 minutes of intense music where percussions play a catalyst role on harmonious arrangements and movements. Because here, percussion rules. They are the rhythms, the power and the depth of a CD packed with 15 titles of catchy harmonies. For lovers of Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk and Jean Michel Jarre.
Sylvain Lupari (August 11th, 2006) ***½**
Available at Mellow-Jet Records