Blood Machine
by Glenn Folkvord, Electronic Shadows
This is probably one of the best albums I've heard this year. First of all it's a real electronic album – not just music performed with electronic gear but it has that other-worldly atmosphere you can only get with "science fiction instruments". The songs are mostly upbeat rhythm structures with carefully placed special sound effects backed by space chord movements – and even though it sounds like a classic Berlin School album from this description, it's not. It is in fact as innovative as you can get nowadays if you want to produce something that appeals to both the classic electronic music crowd and the contemporary trance crowd at the same time. In spite of the dominating beats and rythms, it's not a dance album, however.
The sound effects – actually, they are not "effects" as such, they are integral parts of each track – seem to have been created with great attention and they sound as if they took weeks to make. I am impressed by the sounds and almost caught myself saying that Jean-Michel Jarre could have learned something from these guys.
There are no melodies, though. You may find the album repetitive and monotonous if you require Vangelis-ish smooth leads and celestial theme breaks. I am sure Roach and Unis could have cooked us something from that department too, if they wanted. I highly recommend this album to any serious electronic music listener.
by Glenn Folkvord, Electronic Shadows
This is probably one of the best albums I've heard this year. First of all it's a real electronic album – not just music performed with electronic gear but it has that other-worldly atmosphere you can only get with "science fiction instruments". The songs are mostly upbeat rhythm structures with carefully placed special sound effects backed by space chord movements – and even though it sounds like a classic Berlin School album from this description, it's not. It is in fact as innovative as you can get nowadays if you want to produce something that appeals to both the classic electronic music crowd and the contemporary trance crowd at the same time. In spite of the dominating beats and rythms, it's not a dance album, however.
The sound effects – actually, they are not "effects" as such, they are integral parts of each track – seem to have been created with great attention and they sound as if they took weeks to make. I am impressed by the sounds and almost caught myself saying that Jean-Michel Jarre could have learned something from these guys.
There are no melodies, though. You may find the album repetitive and monotonous if you require Vangelis-ish smooth leads and celestial theme breaks. I am sure Roach and Unis could have cooked us something from that department too, if they wanted. I highly recommend this album to any serious electronic music listener.
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Steve Roach, Vir Unis 2001 Green House Music GHM.01.01 (CD) Reviewed by Matt Borghi, Iulian Scutaru, Electronic Shadows, Sequences, Sonic Curiosity, Wind and Wire The evolution of Elegant Futurism... This is the next highly-anticipated chapter in the BODY ELECTRIC / LIGHT FANTASTIC story, except this time it's a new book altogether. This project has gone through several phases in its development over the past two years. Numerous pieces were created and set aside as the artists made new discoveries and continued pushed the envelope further than ever before. Roach and Vir Unis pulled out all the stops to create a music experience that flows with the natural precision of the body's life-blood, by way of a constant enfoldment of hyperstate fractal grooves and luminous soundworlds that are unique to their collaborative spirit.
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