“This is a powerful work of EDM from Moonbooter which is enhanced of those flavors of Berlin School analog style”
1 First Encounter 1:38 2 Ground Control 8:50 3 Lucid Dream 5:27 4 The end of Eternity 6:15 5 Train de L'espace 5:01 6 Moondust 5:14 7 Beyond the Black Door 7:41 8 Particles (Bridge) 3:17 9 Dance with Captain F 6:14 10 Infinite State of Mind 6:34 11 Come with Me 5:11 12 The Victory of Mankind 6:32 13 Last Encounter 1:38 MellowJet Records | cdr-mb1802
(CD-r 69:09) (V.F.) (EDM, Berlin School)
A reverberant shadow cut into small parts bring First Encounter to a world of distortions and of unknown dialects. Welcome to the new Moonbooter's bend! In a sound envelope fortified by a 24-bit presence, Bernd Scholl offers an album of unheard-of power. Musical and animated by rhythms of lead which order our feet to move, GROUNDCONTROL AND THE VICTORY OF THE MANKIND is not really different from the previous albums of Moonbooter in terms of the compositions' structure. It is rather its sound envelope, strongly embellished by analog synths and sequences, which brings us to another level of listening definitely more enjoyable for the ears. The EDM now has a soul in this last album, very impressive I must admit, from Moonbooter. If you like loud, precise and incisive sounds and tones, you're in the right place here!
Ground Control pleases from the start my ears. Theatrical, its introduction is fixed in layers of anesthetic violins. If percussions dance gently, a line of bass pulsations is pulsating with tremolos in its echo. Arpeggios hatch like twigs in flames and forge a fragile line of invading melody that glitters with arrangements a bit Arabian. And then after the point of 2:22 minutes, the rhythm of Ground Control becomes slow, heavy and powerful with an intense bludgeoning from the percussions as well as the addition of dense and opaque layers whose slow movements caress a violence repressed in the oneiric approach of these cinematic arrangements. Intense and delicious! Lucid Dream puts us immediately in the aim of this new album of Moonbooter, either a powerful EDM with an analog flavor whose influences stem from the Berlin School. It's at the level of the spasmodic dance of the sequences that the Berliner style jumps to the ears. Subsequently, our friend Bernd envelopes this convulsive rhythm of a series of reverberations in the shape of floating and guttural S, adding so a Mephistophelic vision to a music which becomes heavy, powerful and catchy like an EDM sculpted in analog flavors. The end of Eternity is a down-tempo supported by a bass line which throbs sneakily with a threat of explosion somewhere. In fact, it's these fat and resonant chords which create this climate of possible overflow. Synth lines try to add a harmonious vision which blurs in this musical indecision. Its 1st part is more honeyed with a nice swarm of sound effects, while the 2nd one is heavier and pounded by percussions that crack the eardrums. This is a very different down-tempo from the Moonbooter repertoire. Train de L'espace is really like that it should sounds. The rhythm, and the melody while being there, are doing very Jean-Michel Jarre, Magnetic Fields Pt. 2, in a more boosted way. The sequences twirl with spasmodic jolts and, together with the percussions, they draw the race of a train that is even more realistic with these synth pads colored of charcoal mist. The rhythmic modification is seductive in its fluid and melodic approach. A very good title that combines dance music from the French and Düsseldorf Schools.
Moondust follows with a very good slow tempo well framed by the echo effects of the slamming percussions and a bass line which throbs like in the most lascivious moments of Massive Attack or Sigur Ros. The synth layers are snoring in this rather suggestive pattern and the bass fills the pores of our skin in a decor filled of orchestrations which turn into beautiful dreamlike solos. NASA voices remind us of the purpose of the title. Each album of Moonbooter hides a beautiful pearl; Moondust is that of GROUNDCONTROL AND THE VICTORY OF THE MANKIND. Beyond the Black Door is another solid track which evolves from its heavy shell of mid-tempo for hypnotized Zombies to ambient and cosmic Berlin School-inspired phases, while Particles (Bridge) navigates in purely in those ambio-cosmic spheres. Dance with Captain F is a very dance style track which is filled by Arcade games sounds effects and by succulent percussion effects which blow like gas bags bursting sharply. The rhythm is super-catchy with jerky jolts from the sequencer and a nervous flow of electronic percussions, whereas some Kraftwerk-like synth riffs hook a smile of astonishment with this a Break-Dance-like structure that breathes the Dance Music of the 90's. Come with Me is very intense at this level. A true hymn of dance that forces our legs to activate. Infinite State of Mind offers a two-step structure. If the movement of the sequencer activates a rippling rhythm roll, the synth pads give some slack to the body. The percussions are as good as the arrangements are deliciously slowing. In the end, it gives a half-slow and heavy rhythm loaded with a bank of sound effects which arouse the pleasures of listening. The Victory of Mankind revives the absolute charms of GROUNDCONTROL AND THE VICTORY OF THE MANKIND with a rhythmic structure that hops like a cavalry in harmony with its victory of the music. The synth creates zones of breathtaking melodies with airs that can be whistled easily. It's beautiful and extremely catchy. This earworm overhangs grave chords which add a titanic dimension to the cosmic ambiences whose stroboscopic tweeting effects are no less addictive and seductive. A powerful title announcing a final, Last Encounter, modeled on the opening of this powerful work of EDM from Moonbooter which is enhanced of those flavors of Berlin School analog style.
Sylvain Lupari (November 25th, 2018) *****
Available at MellowJet Records