REMY: Exhibition of Dreams 10th Anniversary Edition (3CD) 2010
“More than 70 minutes of new music which fit with wonder with the original work in an enhanced sound envelope... what more do you want?”
CD1 71:47
1 Into the Dream 12:47
2 Mirage 25:06
3 Lost Forces 11:38
4 La Luna 16:32
5 The Fields of Infinity 5:44
CD2 59:12
1 Unidentified Dreaming Objects 42:49
2 Silent Voices 8:05
3 Out of The Dream 8:18
Bonus CD 72:46
1 Metroid 10:26
2 Silent Voices Part II 9:03
3 Waiting for Dusk 10:08
4 The Fields of Infinity 10:44
5 The Cave 7:28
6 Storm 24:58
(3 CD/DDL 203:46) (V.F.)
(New Berlin School)
Those who know me and who read me on Guts of Darkness know how I hate reissues, these innumerable boxes which exploit the same theme without really adding anything valuable to what has already been composed. I love EXHIBITION OF DREAMS as much as I love Remy's music! His music which is balanced between this period of analog / digital fusion of Klaus Schulze. And if the years Inter * Face, Dreams, En=Trance, Miditerranean Pads and even In Blue have nourished your ears, then this triple-box edition will nourish them even more. Melodious variations on the theme of dreams and of their night owls, EoD appeared in the late 90's. Its very first edition was on Mini-Disc, without overdubs and in very limited edition. It was at the very end of 1999 thought that the first edition of 2 CDs appeared on the label of Remy Stroomer (AKH Records). The impact was quite significant for those who discovered this musical universe of Remy, triggering a passion among fans who saw through his music that of a Klaus Schulze's disciple. Because this is where the music of the Dutch synthesist is located, but in a more poetic and especially more melancholic vision. Ten years later, in November 2009, Remy celebrated the 10th anniversary of this album with a first special edition and a bonus CD where he made a small selection from the 2 CD's while making a first new re-recording. It' this album that I reviewed in 2010. Two months later, the total! A triple CD box set including the 1st edition, remastered with today's recording technology, and a bonus CD comprising 6 musical pieces from the same era which exploits unexplained labyrinths and the vagaries of dreams with an incredible musical precision.
And like a gliding movement in a night which will be agitated by dreams with random divinations, Into the Dream takes us into a soft musical universe with hesitant bass chords which are surrounded by fine arpeggios ready to fly away in a night of a thousand torments. Those who, like me, have tasted the condensed work will find the sweet poetic lines of Entering the Dream with the hesitant approach of the drowsiness dance. A rhythm constantly retained by a synth with spectral breaths and a keyboard with chords which are located between an acoustic guitar and a harpsichord with limpid and plucked notes. The percussions fall, without ever smashing anything. A bit like not to disturb the tranquility of sleep, while the synth puts on its most beautiful oneiric approaches before moving us with this refrain so long buried in the lightness of sleep and which initiates this long night of dreams. Mirage attacks the night with more vigor. A long title with progressive rhythms which encloses in a sphere of nocturnal schizophrenia. This version is more ethereal and more poetic than that of the special edition, releasing a sweet fragrance of a sweet night owl madness. Lost Forces (Velocity) follows the rhythmic tangent that develops from the beginning with Into the Dream. Very similar to Mirage, the cadence is more frantic and pulsates nervously in a ghostly universe which is sculpted by a subtle bass line and its agonizing pulsations as well as a synth with nightmarish waves. La Luna (Lunascape) calms the game with a splendid sequenced spiral which swirls lasciviously, creating a hypnosis effect under a synth with multiple layers as disturbing as lyrical and where the rhythm beats slightly. Like an ode to the moon and its secrets! It's in thunder exploded by heavy and deafening percussions that The Fields of Infinity makes its chords dance on a xylophone. We hear in the distance a synth humming its absent tunes up until the arrival of an acoustic guitar and its fine harmonious chords. Obsessed that I am, I hardly notice this adorable fusion of these chords to a divinely charming synth which waves gently behind this harmonious duality which plunges towards a frantic final where we bitterly regret the short length of this title.
Unidentified Dreaming Objects is a long title that makes an attractive link between the ambiances of EXHIBITION OF DREAMS and those from the In Blue album. The flow remains lively with chords sounding like a false harpsichord which serve as a bed for a duel between stringed instruments; guitar and piano. The synth whistles joyful airs which fit with the lively and jerky cadence of these 45 minutes. Admittedly, there is a rhythmic evolution which gives airs of improvised jazz with good percussions, like there are these less dynamic moments which respect the frame of a more and more harmonious structure. I had a little impatience here, even if different dynamic impulses are putting life in this long mutating framework of Unidentified Dreaming Objects. Very different from Silent Conversations, Silent Voices is a wonder of solitude and of solicitude which blossoms in a vision of drama, of intensity. Its opening respects the harmonic limits of the album and progresses slowly towards a structure of effects with crystalline keyboard chords which succeed a sober piano. The richness of EXHIBITION OF DREAMS is this invasion of very clear tones, like icicles of sounds, including these wonderful percussions with luminous hooves hobbling on this strange harmony of a duality between sweetness and disturbing dreams. A superb title whose reminiscences drag far beyond the disorderly rhythms of Out of the Dream. A title that is as tasty like a duel between Steve Howe and Bill Bruford from Yes. You already have this edition and you hesitate to spend a few pesos on this new edition of EXHIBITION OF DREAMS? Besides the sound which is clearly stronger with a better division between the instruments, the rhythms and the ambiences, the 3rd CD contains new music which should interest you. It's some very good Remy which sails comfortably on all seas, as serene as hectic.
Metroid starts this collector's item with blowpipe flutes whose echoes of curt breaths stick to a synth with hesitant circular waves. These waves drift towards the ground, like leaves falling from a tree, and resonate among xylophone chords with always nervous strikes which mate with percussions of tam-tam's style reinforcing a pace of which the agitation bathes in a stationary movement. The structure becomes warmer with fluty layers which embrace symphonic breaths on a warm bass line which subtly nuances its rhythmic envelope. Darker, poetic and enigmatic, Silent Voices Part II progresses slowly with a wolf's eye on a structure more amber than its big sister. A sweet reverie on synth with dreamlike carillon sparkles. From strata to dense orchestrations that coexist under chords of pianos with heavy strikes, Waiting for Dusk takes us into a night of tormented dreams with a powerful piano and its notes crying under the charms of chimerical violins. These orchestral flights take a tangent where the dream flees the nightmare in a musical sphere filled with flute mellotrons and xylophone chords over a troubled structure. Musical drama! After a purpose where the duality of harmonies becomes more complex, The Fields of Infinity joins its first origin in a full version of the title. The Cave immerses us in an indecisive ambience with a rather intriguing approach. The atmosphere is corrosive and soaks in a world of ether where the madness of a night-owl awaits us at each heterogeneous sound. A strange title that seeks comfort with lost spirits. The Storm concludes this very good 3rd CD with a long minimalism procession where the intensity unfolds with nuance, respecting the origins of Klaus Schulze's works in a long structure evolving with ease and whose main harmonic line is the reflection of this duality between the dream and the nightmarish approach that is EXHIBITION OF DREAMS.
If you already own the first edition of 2 CD's of this work which will become timeless, know that this bonus CD is quite a find. As well as this improved and updated sound which gives a second breath to this work which has become a superb piece of anthology in the little universe of contemporary Berlin School. It's a powerful album which marks its time, and which will leave its traces there for years to come. The sound, the compositions, the sometimes dramatic approach and sometimes melodious on structures at the same time minimalism and disjointed make of this album a musical monument which explains in itself all the beauties and subtleties of the art in EM.
Sylvain Lupari (April 29th, 2010) *****
Available at Desert Island Music