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The Berlin-School of Spacemusic was born out of several LPs by just a few innovative 1970s German groups. For decades this genre has existed in a separate world outside the mainstream. Yet, there are always some that, once they come in contact with this music, find that they can never leave it. With musicians such as Gert Emmens & Ruud Heij, we can almost hear the electronics buzzing within their souls. On Echoes From Future Memories (75'24"), Emmens & Heij concentrate on the emblematic feature of the Spacemusic style; the seemingly self-propelled force of motoric ostinato electronic tone patterns. If we focus on the continuous variations on the possibilities of this machine-music precision, the four tracks on Echoes From Future Memories seem to have been realized as an unconscious exercise in arithmetical timing. Emmens & Heij do dole out dense servings of corrosive drones and unique modulations, but it is the contrast between the fixed framework of syncopated, repeating riffs and the free display of melodic imagination in the upper parts that constitutes the particular charm of this work. In long held notes above the sequencer's rhythmic purr, this duo builds their own sonic glossary - experiencing a personal revelation beyond the measures, notes and beats of their work. Retaining the ethereal affiliations of the past, this kind of music hopes to be an aural manifestation of the cosmic order. Through creativity and then re-creativity, music builds on the past - as only from the entirely old can the entirely new be born. From electricity, to sound, to musical representation, to listener resonance, this musical project is not about finding meaning - it is about creating conditions in which a wealth of diverse meaning is possible.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 23 April 2015 |
