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Each generation of Electronic Musicians dream bigger than the one that came before - on the sparks of technology certainly, but also in accordance with this field's demand that its actors constantly extend their reach further. Illumination Cycle (58'09") by Martin Stürtzer clearly meets this call. In tightly worked performances of sequencer command he portrays sonic realms somewhere outside of ours. Closely aligned with the forward-thinking promise of Spacemusic, Illumination Cycle is an album which peers hopefully into the vacant future - where somewhere shines our tomorrow. Moving with determined speed each track opens carefully, breathing clean, clear sounds into reverberant space. Lines of rhythm advance. Compositions build out. Tone patterns motor on steadily about their course. Within a latticework synthesizer whirl echoing notes dance up and down minor key scales - as the neatly raised patterns arrange themselves comfortably throughout the listening zone. With these wondrous broken chords retreating into our thoughts, the ebb and flow of stasis and change carry us along. Across eight electronic expressions Illumination Cycle moves outward by Stürtzer's design. With the directness of a dream we feel as much as listen to his arrangements. Cloaked in a nocturnal mood his effortless electrical currents encompass the breadth of the listening mind. Our consciousness is the medium through which this music passes, dramatically unfolding, slowly revealing its energy and complexity - and transforming the listener in its living moment of music.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 20 May 2021 |
