La Vie Electronique 13 (3CD)

"Can it be possible that we've got to 2014 without me ever having heard a studio album by Lazuli? Yes, ladies and gents, that is possible, I can assure you. Whilst I vividly remember Lazuli live in Tilburg some years ago in 2007 at the Symforce Festival and actually finding them making a huge impression with their live performance, I simply never got around to either buying nor listening to their studio albums. Shame on me for not doing so. More so as I now fully realise what I have been missing in music for quite some years. What a joy it was to hear the Lazuli sound again and now on a new album as well.For days Tant Que L'Herbe Est Grasse has been spinning its rounds in many CD players, be it in the car, at work or on my home system. Opener Déraille with its environmentally engaged lyrics gets on its way with a fine rhythm and very varied sounds and immediately draws you deep, deep into the world that is Lazuli's. I must add that Dominique Leonetti's passionate singing and the way his vocal lines, to these ears, are almost an instrument in their own right set them apart from many other bands. It may just be that you get drawn to listening to the lyrics even more and try to understand them that much better.Une Pente Qu'On Devale has the slightest bit of a Marillion vibe that reminds me a wee bit of the feel of their semi-acoustic tracks like Man Of A Thousand Faces, yet this is more modern and Lazuli rock out towards the end. There's also some fine, fine soloing in there too.Homo Sapiens just grabs you. It's more ballsy and reminds a bit of Riverside whereas the second half of the song tips its hat to latter day Fish, that is before the band start again and we get a fine Léode solo. The Fish vibe also appears to shine through on Tristes Moitiés and L'Essence Des Odyssées, yet it is not that these songs make Lazuli sound a 100% like everyone's favourite Scotsman; not at all, yet there is a comparison in sound that, to me, flows back to the Raingods with Zippos days. Fish himself features on J'Ai Trouvé Ta Faille where he gets to sing in the second part of the song. Another fine song on this very fine album, but there is plenty more to hear before we actually get to that one, the eighth song on the album.What Lazuli have delivered here is an album rich in sound and where all band members get to shine, be it individually yet moreover in how much this album is a band effort. On first listen you might find that the songs are just songs, but their build has more to them than appears on first listen. This is an album that grows each and every time you hear it. There are parts that are prog, world music, folk rock, storming out and out rocking moments and they are all brought together in this album. As I once more listen to Tristes Moitiés Lazuli again fully draw me into their realm. What is it that makes albums present themselves as ever growing in beauty? The textures, the soloing, the intricate drum and percussion parts that get to you more and more with each and every listening session. I dare say that this album has all that and, as already mentioned, there is the great singing!Multicolèlere, a play on the words "multicoloured anger", speeds things up once more and shows a heavier Lazuli. This whole song very much gets to me and perhaps there's another bit of Riverside, but let's just cut to the chase; this band sounds every inch like Lazuli should. And there is only one way to find that out for the not yet initiated and that is to just go and listen to this fine gem of an album. Don't think you can do like me and miss out on one of the finest prog bands around - why should you? You'd be missing out on real beauty. And yes, listen to this album all the way through, you won’t find that hard at all as J'Ai Trouvé Ta Faille is another beauty as is the closing song, Les Courants Ascendants, the only song to reach beyond the 6 minute mark. But count that as an asset that Lazuli have to their songwriting; they succeed in writing compact songs that are all very varied throughout the album." - DPRP.net

Oh so you say you want to get fancy?  How about the CD/DVD digipak edition?  The bonus DVD comes with live footage from the recording of the album as well as interviews.Second studio album from what may be the ultimate chops band.  Guthrie Govan (guitars), Bryan Beller (bass), and Marco Minnemann (drums) turn it up an notch further.  Everything is set to 11 on this one. Lots of notes flying around and different styles as well - on "Louisville Stomp: I'm hearing some cool country style pickin' from Guthrie Govan that is welcome and unexpected.  He sounds like the second coming of Danny Gatton.  Other tracks are a non-stop shredfest - that's what the Aristocrats are all about.  Highly recommended.

"The time has finally come. With "La Vie Electronique Vol. 16" we have reached the final volume of our grand series. (LVE 1 - 4 were released on SPV – LVE 5 - 16 on MIG-Music). LVE 16 will be released in a digistack with 5 firmly filled CDs and a total of 385 minutes of Klaus Schulze. "Vol. 16" is not a "Best of…." Album but also not a "The Rest of….." as the material on these 5CDs is extremely remarkable. Even if some tracks may have rather historical importance, due to the fact that the recordings partially were not in best shape, Schulze's work always stays fascinating. On these 5 final CDs we were able to accommodate what we could not – due to technical reasons and/or what would contradict the chronological aspect of the series -- do on the 45 previous CDs."

After a 10 year absence Enchant are back.  The band started in 1993 making them one of the earliest prog metal band.  Actually they are sort of an interesting band in that they seem to exist in both the prog rock and prog metal realms.  Some metal fans think of them as a bit lightweight and some prog rock fans think they are too heavy!  One thing is for sure they are wildly successful.  This is definitely prog but it never loses sight of the melody.  Fronted by the great Ted Leonard (who is now doing double duty with Spock's Beard) this one is a no-brainer - whether you are metal or prog head.  "irst impressions are the similarities to Spock’s Beard. Hardly surprising since Ted Leonard has been singing with them since 2011. He’s been with Enchant longer; their first CD came out in 1993. And familiarity doesn’t breed contempt here, fortunately.Bay area progressive rockers, they steer a straight course composing guitar-structured songs that they extemporise over. Guitarist Douglas A Ott is also the band’s main producer, with The Great Divide having been recorded at his own studio, but if in the past the band’s followed his direction they’re now more involved after a ten year gap working on other projects. Also, while integral, Ott doesn’t dominate Enchant’s sound but flows in and out adding a hard rock bias to their generic musical flavouring. Drummer/percussionist Sean Flanegan and bassist Ed Platt have the solidity of early Kansas and musically there are some pretty snazzy and often too brief keyboard solos from Bill Jenkins.A rolling cyclical bass line forms the basis of opening number ‘Circles’ with Leonard pondering life going round well, like a circle – while the lyrics aren’t profound they feel right and though this isn’t a concept album, despite the band stating otherwise, there are common themes concerning the human condition in a loosely existential manner. Mainly straight verse and choruses ‘Circles’ breaks out into more complicated time signatures before an acoustic comes to the fore, vocals return, an electric guitar take over and it concludes with a nicely warm keyboard solo. ‘Within An Inch’ follows with a steady rock backbeat over which Ott’s playing echoes Camel’s Andy Latimer interrupted briefly by some John Ellis punk-styled sirening. ‘The Great Divide’ follows suit in a more epic manner, the arrangement akin to Genesis in their golden period.Enchant don’t play with the fairies, despite what their name suggests. If anything they’re two steps removed from an AOR sound leaning in towards early Asia with some latter day Beatles thrown in, and a less grandiose take on Spock’s Beard. One might refer to them as technically proficient rather than emotionally overwrought, meaning there is a heartfelt flavour to their songs, and they tend to grow on you.The subdued opening to ‘Life In A Shadow’ throws a brief curveball echoing the Canterbury sound of Hatfield & The North before a heavy chorded chorus takes this into a rocking tune with soulful harmonies. ‘Deserve To Feel’ pours on the technical drumming and dribbling triplet bass figures with some flashy pyrotechnics predominantly on guitar but with keen keyboard flourishes, moving into a more intricate musical score as Jenkins and Ott trade inspired lines towards its conclusion. Likewise, ‘Here And Now’ builds reflectively moving towards emotional drama.Finely composed, played well, Enchant’s The Great Divide might not have you falling under its spell, but you may well be surprised how you find yourself being drawn to playing it." - The Midland Rocks

Look what turned up in someone's attic! Archival live recording from Nottingham University on 1/24/76. Nothing unusual about the set but its a fine recording and a good representation of the band at their peak."Well, it is 2006 and here we have a new release by Renaissance, a band central to the first wave of Prog music in the 1970s with their classically orientated arrangements, distinctive orchestrated sound, and of course, the unmistakeable vocal talents of Annie Haslam. This single CD is from a recording made on Saturday 24th January 1976 by Realsound Mobile at a concert in the University of Nottingham, England and features just 6 of their best known songs played by the prime 70s line-up.It should be noted that this gig was played just seven months after their triumphant 3 night stint at the Carnegie Hall, complete with orchestra, which resulted in the highly respected 2CD set 'Live At Carnegie Hall' - all of these 6 tracks are also on that Carnegie Hall set, but this time they are played without an orchestra. This is what makes this CD so interesting - to hear how the same songs sound within a contemporary timeframe but without the orchestral arrangements.The origin of this recording has not been divulged other than what I have already mentioned. Clearly these are tapes that have been lying around for 30 years, but we are not told whether this CD has been mixed from original professionally recorded multi-track tapes or some other source. I suspect the latter, because the sound quality isn't great, specifically it has a stereo sound stage compressed toward the centre, something which would have been fixed had it been mixed from multi-track. The sound isn't bad - I have heard much much worse - but it could be a lot better, and it doesn't approach the clarity of the Carnegie Hall set. While the mid and upper registers are clear enough with good separation though somewhat subject to acoustic echo (especially some 'double hits' on snare drum), the lower frequencies wallow around in a muddiness that tends to swamp any intricate delicacies of bass guitar and drum kit when playing in ensemble. [I am reminded of a bootleg - a very high quality one maybe - but the sound and ambience is reminiscent of an audience recording, except there is not the usual amount of audience noise you would expect with a bootleg.]The quality of recording is excellent: there is no distortion; no drop-outs or glitches; noise (hiss) is only apparent during the very quietest passages; and all the instruments and voices sound solid. Audience noise is kept to a minimum with just the usual respectful applause: the exception being during a couple of very quiet moments when you can hear some distant chatter (maybe at the bar?), but this is not enough to interfere in any way. Generally, the mix is good, though in addition to the already mentioned problems, the piano (the main lead instrument) is a little too forward for my liking (and in any case sounds a bit odd) while the guitar and drumkit are often lost in the murk. Compared to the lush professional smoothness of the Carnegie set this album feels much more rough and raw, a more intimate recording from a smaller venue.The performers do their jobs well as always. Annie sounds wonderful, with just a little processing to give her voice more presence. She certainly hits all those high notes easily - I wouldn't have liked to stand next to her when belting out that final ear-shattering note near the end of Ashes Are Burning! John Tout on keyboards is the lead instrumentallist here, mainly on piano which works well where the part was created for piano (eg Prologue) but falls a little flat otherwise (eg Ashes Are Burning). He copes with the Song Of Scheherazade surprisingly well - by which I mean he does a good job of persuading the listener that you don't really miss the full orchestra backing! Jon Camp is an important and often overlooked ingredient in the classic Renaissance sound, and sadly he doesn't get enough opportunities to shine, but his bass playing is as faultless as always. Terry Sullivan's drumming and percussion is too often swamped in the mud, but he seems to be as much of a rock as usual. Michael Dunford tends to come and go: his delicate acoustic guitar is all too often swamped during the louder sections, which is a pity, but it is nice to hear his voice so clearly, both while singing solo and in harmony with Annie.The performances are what you might expect - imagine these songs on the Carnegie set but in an intimate setting without orchestra and you won't go far wrong as they are performed much the same, but with Tout filling in some of the empty spaces with synth washes and pads. Playing this album in isolation gives a great deal of pleasure and the songs sound natural and right in this environment. Even the Song Of Scheherazade, their orchestrated magnum opus, comes across very well indeed as the band pull together to generate a moving experience ........ that is, until you then hear the same song in all its orchestrated glory from Carnegie Hall (or, indeed, the original studio version) and suddenly you get the goose-bumps and realise there is no comparison! Good as this album is, it will inevitably be fated to be compared unfavourably to the Carnegie Hall performances. A particular example is the final track - Ashes Are Burning. The Carnegie Hall version is sublime and has me writhing is ecstacy - sadly this new version only has me writhing in .... well, almost boredom actually. From the mid-song instrumental jam onwards it is uninspired with a bit of bass, some synth and piano noodling, and, what is worse, there is no Hammond on this version! I am a sucker for that 3-note descending motif but without the Hammond it sounds quite ordinary, and Tout seems to have run out of ideas.This is not to say that this is a bad album. Far from it, it is a welcome and enjoyable addition to the collection of the Renaissance afficianado which gives a different slant on the material, and in much better quality than some of the extremely rough unauthorised recordings I have heard from this period. But neither is it essential, especially for those new to the band.One final point: it is nice to report that, for once, the record company - Major League Productions - have done a good job with the packaging. The inner booklet contains lots of photos of the band and tour memorabilia, proper credits, and some notes by Annie in which she reminisces on 'the old days' (eg how they used to stop off at a 'greasy spoon' motorway cafe in the middle of the night and she would always eat egg and chips etc)." - ProgArchives

Part 12 of the required series of rare tracks of the German electronics pioneer!!DISC 1: "Picasso..."  is Klaus' longest composition so far. Originally it were various 1992-'93 recordings for a film soundtrack, but the film producer could not pay for it and accordingly Klaus withdrew his collaboration and his music. For the Silver Edition release I put the music in logical order. It continues on the Disc 2.The denomination of "Picasso geht spazieren" was "Picture Music in Three Movements" due to the fact that twenty years earlier Klaus invented the term "Picture Music" for one of his earliest albums. This description and name did still fit in 1993 ...especially with the variety of sampling pictures you'll hear while dear old "Picasso Takes a Walk".DISC 2: In 1995, '96, '97, '98, '99 and also in the year 2000 the more than two and a half hours long (!) "Picasso geht spazieren" was elected by the members of "The KS Circle" among the top ten of the most popular of the many KS titles, the highest position was number 3 in 1997.Words from the booklet of the original release: In terms of time, the history of Electronic Music is essentially limited to the twentieth century -in terms of a successful work inside this genre just to a handful. In terms of struggle for the new and unknown to a few, if not to just one. Though Klaus Schulze may not have the trained piano playing craft that other players outside his genre have, he gives, I think, far more poignancy, tenderness, and feeling, yes I dare to say: Soul. The truth of an artist is as simple as that: He puts his soul into his work. DISC 3: The original tape of "The Music Box" had the working title "Meditation I" first. Klaus recorded it in 1993 and gave it for free to the "Guttemplers", an institution that helps alcoholics. For the first release in Silver Edition I had given it the full title "The Music Box -Tongemälde in fis-moll" (Sound picture in F sharp minor). PS: Of course I had the famous movie in mind when I invented the title "The Music Box", yes I speak of Laurel and Hardy's only Oscar winning epos (the one with the piano up (and down) the many many steps). I did put some other Laurel and Hardy titles and references in Silver Edition. Not just KS believes that the two (and also W.C. Fields) were true geniuses, they put their souls into their work.