“This album is a fantastic musical journey, in time and genres”
1 The Warsaw Disaster
(Cheap Drum Mix) 1996 (11:36)
2 Sakrileg am Mittag
(High Noon Edit) 1996 (7:33)
3 Generatorenkonflikte
(Ramp vs. Antidot) 1997 (7:20)
4 Tribejagd (Tribal Edit) 1997 (5:36)
5 What's the Point of Eating Concrete? (Definite Edit) 1998 (6:54)
6 Looking Back in Anger
(The Real Huizen Finale Edit) 1999 (13:59)
7 So far ([´ramp] & Markus Reuter)
2000 (9:11)
8 Scissors (Short & Painful Edit)
2004 (13:53)
9 Nothing (Keep the Balance Right, Jhonn) 2006 (1:25)
(DDL 77:56) (V.F.)
(Dark Ambient Berlin School)
['ramp] is a rather particular EM band. Consisted of Frank Makowski and Stephen Parsick, this German duet produces a dark ambient music with lot of industrial sound effects. It's a unique mixture which sometimes sounds like Redshift, but I could name its style as a dark industrial ambient EM. LOOKING BACK IN ANGER is a retrospective which flies over 10 years of career with new unreleased material. All the music was remixed and remastered in order to obtain the maximum of its loud and tortuous sonority in a way that respect the exigences of today. You want to hear something different? Follow the guide.
Although that ['ramp] dislikes the stereotypes and comparisons we cannot avoid any form of association with the Berlin School style EM when we hear The Warsaw Disaster; a title that sounds a lot like Tangerine Dream, precisely the Poland era. It's a perfect start which hops on a bouncy sequencer and superb synth solos on a tempo well in rhythm with some good synth pads and lines which are coiling around a spiraled movement. The tempo slows down of much towards the 4th minute to take a more atmospheric tangent, the true nature of ['ramp]. Exploiting with tact the dark and gloomy sound effects, the duet releases fine percussions which coil up around ascending synth lines, boosting a rhythm on a very TD movement. The impulses vary on a gyratory movement which is coated of a superb symphonic synth and adorned by good percussions. I quite like it and I think that it's a superb piece of music. Sakrileg am Mittag, which is from the same area, is completely the opposite. It's a long incantation with vocal effects on a movement with moving intonations. Multicoloured of eclectic sound effects and of hoarse voices, this title, tied in an excellent atmosphere of terror, progresses on synth pads mixed with strange, with uncertain voices. I like less, but it's part of the ['ramp] style! Generatorenkonflikte offers an introduction to the very industrial sound textures with a metallically pulsating bass line that breaks the disturbing rhythm. The rhythm is fuzzy and revolves around steelworks percussion impulses, as if we would attend a concert of light machinery. An awesome title that has undoubtedly influenced some DJ of the techno scene.
Tribejagd plunges us into the heart of a steel abyss where tribal tam-tams filled of metallic resonances awaken a superb voice that emerges from the bowels of an underground world. The layers and squeaks in some synth pads are superb and inject a demonic dimension to a tempo that rolls to the limits of a chained horror. A buzzing sequence emerges from the depths of What's the Point of Eating Concrete? A second sequence with more clear chords doubles the movement that is ennobled by a superb synth solo. Separated by an atmospheric passage, What's the Point of Eating Concrete? resumes its heavy sequential movement with a zest of industrial sound. This is a great music piece, too short, that will appeal to Redshift fans. The title-track is simply too great! After a superb atmospheric intro where the rich strata float through circular pulsations, a line of sequences emerges to undertake a crazy sequential whirlwind. An infernal circle where streaks and synth lines cross an atmosphere with multiple exploratory reverberations. Great sequenced art as we hear too rarely. At full volume, the paint rises. Absolutely F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S. After such an intense movement, the very ambient So Far is welcome. It's an intense sound reflection built around slow but deep impulses that continue at the doors of Scissors. After the point of 3 minutes the rhythm gets livelier on somber and bass sequences, hiding a thin melody that tries to emerge from the claws of a drumbeat. A superb piece with the scent of a Redshift at the top of its art.
What an album! WoW! A musical experience to live from ['ramp]! Throughout this compilation, ['ramp] has never stop to surprise. Whether it's rhythms, percussions, swirling sequences and forays into an underground world with industrial roots, LOOKING BACK IN ANGER - A Decade of Misfits 1996-2006 is a fantastic musical journey, in time and genres.
Sylvain Lupari (January 27th, 2007) *****
Available at ['ramp] Bandcamp