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review by Dene Bebbington Aquarius is a CD re-release of an electronic music album original released back in 1990 on cassette, plus it contains a bonus track "Dimona blues" recorded in 2003. Pepijn Courant -- the man behind Akikaze -- is another classically trained EM musician, and so sometimes one can hear classical influences as well as from some well known synthesiser artists. For me the album is hit and miss but I can say that it sounds kind of fresh even though it's fourteen years old and has influences going back to the likes of earlier Wavestar, Jean Michael Jarre, Vangelis, and Tangerine Dream. The track names make most sense when you know that the album was inspired by events during the 20th century, particularly in Eastern Europe during the late 1980s when communism collapsed in several countries. There are a lot of tracks too - seventeen including the bonus piece at the end. At first the album felt like a mishmash, however, after repeated listens I came to appreciate the way gliding synths, sequencing, or more classical and thematic elements have a purpose. Musically one of the best tracks in my opinion is "Crisis", after beginning with various unsettling effects it really gets going with whistling spacey synths stretching across the soundscape as snatches of sequencing and synthetic drums add a sense of drama - this is a piece very reminiscent of Wavestar's Moonwind. Rooted in EM territory there's enough variety of sounds and styles throughout the album, and on some tracks like "World at War" the subject is made clear by various effects - in this case the electronic sound of air raid sirens, guns etc. The five tracks near the end making up "Sunrise in Futuria" see the emphasis switch much more to sequencing, somewhat in the vein of 1980s Tangerine Dream. All very well if you like that kind of thing but I preferred the previous tracks which make more use of synths in a variety of modes including soaring spaceiness, gothic type chords, and pensive thoughts. On the whole Aquarius is pleasing and listenable, and one could also describe it as a concept album. Though a little dated in some respects it's worth checking out by EM fans who missed it the first time around. |
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