“A great E.P. of vintage EM which completes marvelously the first album of this stunning unknown guy”
1 Der Schattenjäger 7:23 2 Die Halle der Monumente 4:40 3 Der Rattenkönig 7:32 4 Die grüne Ruhe 8:05 SynGate Records
(DDL 27:40) (V.F.) (Vintage Berlin School)
You haven't bought this brilliant discovery which is nesting at Syngate? Here is a way to catch up and to feed on this Wolfgang Nachahmer's very vintage EM mini album. But you have to hurry because this E.P. of at least of 30 minutes is available in bonus with the purchase of an album from the ultimate supplier of Berliner EM for a limited time. If you have read my review about Hexenkessel, then you have a pretty good idea of the nature of this mysterious musician whose secret identity is sarcastically maintained with this nom de plume; Wolfgang Nachahmer which wants to say more or less this, imitators of Wolfgang!
The music of SCHATTENJÄGER compares with the great moments of the 70's EM by creating a delicious link between Tangerine Dream's universes, for the superb Der Schattenjäger and its fragrances of Encore, and Ashra's for the bubbling and savage track Der Rattenkönig which is going to nail you at the wall! In a mixture of sequences and of electronic percussions, the music shows heavy, lively and sometimes even violent structures in ambiences which bring us near to those psychedelic universes terribly opposite of two of the most iconic figures of the vintage years. A little quieter, but not less intriguing for all that, Die Halle der Monumente is the theater of the old monuments of Berlin School. The atmospheres are more or less lugubrious with a very active Mellotron which disperses metallic mist and fluty harmonies in evolution. The rhythm is in the ambient kind with sequences which snore and breathe slowly. A real small vintage delight! Die grüne Ruhe is also a quiet title but with a good dosage between the ambiences and mature fluty harmonies on a structure of rhythm which takes out limbs to skip of a light step.
I always remain fascinated by these artists who revisit the past with a touch of originality. If we cannot reinvent the past, the technology of today facilitates a review of it. And, with a zest of creativity, some artists manage to polish tones or structures with a contemporary vision which goes along great with the vintage years. Like here, with this Wolfgang Nachahmer's superb mini album, SCHATTENJÄGER. I still don't who is behind this character, behind this nom de plume, but I am frankly amazed and totally seduced. A must for the aficionados of the genre!
Sylvain Lupari (December 30th, 2017) ****½*
Available at SynGate's Bandcamp