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review by Bill Binkelman While not as endearing as his last release on Real Music, Journey to the Heart, this latest effort from Bernward Koch still provides enough soothing romantic music to please fans of his previous albums. Once again dominated by his trademark deeply echoed piano, as well as some electronic keyboards (e.g. synth strings) for coloring and texture, Koch also shares the spotlight with two accompanists on some tracks (flute by Christiane Boehm and percussion and guitar on two tracks by Christoph Koch). In addition, Bernward himself plays bass, guitar and glockenspiel(!). If you've heard any of Koch's music, you'll know what to expect on Walking Through Clouds as he doesn't throw any significant curves at you. Patient relaxed subtle rhythms on "Childhood Hour" are the bedrock over which synth strings float and a plaintive and nostalgic piano melody delicately plays. "Walking Through Clouds" picks up the pace from a slow walk just a tad, and also injects some wistfulness. Koch's own guitar playing adds a subtle Spanish spice to "Deep Green Summer" while "Flight Being" marks the first use of overt synthesizers (used at the track's beginning) although that echoed piano soon takes the reins. "Following Stars" is the first of two tracks featuring Christoph Koch's guitar and the piece offers a nice change of pace, with an almost sprightly feel and a more pronounced presence of guitar in the mix. With sixteen tracks on the CD, you might grow a little tired of the album's "formula" before its conclusion, unless you played the recording in the background where its charms work best, in my opinion. The predominance of Koch's echoed piano on almost every song might prove wearisome if one were to simply listen to this attentively for the whole duration, although, on the other hand, if you're looking for lush, romantic and gentle major key melodies, you might find this to be one hundred percent appealing if not even completely enchanting. The album sure "sounds" great, which is no surprise for a Real Music recording. Overall, while (as stated previously) I prefer Journey to the Heart over this CD, Walking Through Clouds is still a fine and worthy release from one of the premier new age music labels operating today. |
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