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review by Bill Binkelman Closer represents a slightly new direction from keyboard artist Frank Van Bogaert, as he moves into an even more accessible and more dramatic arena than his previous CD, Human. Personally, I miss some of the more overt EM elements that enriched Human, but I must admit that Closer has many moments that made me turn up the volume or hit the "repeat" button on my CD player. There is no denying this man has an incredible knack for crafting catchy instrumental music, full of a love for life and melody and a celebration of both. Nowhere is this more evident than in the revved up opening title track, with its propulsive rhythms, massed male and female chorales, and full on Vangelis-like keyboard assaults. If this song doesn't raise your blood pressure, or perhaps even make you feel like running a mile or two, you better check your pulse - you're probably dead! Throughout the remaining thirteen songs, Van Bogaert almost proudly displays his affection for Vangelis' dramatic instrumentation and style, but as he has done on previous albums (such as Human, Docking and Colors) he does not cross the line into outright imitation, but always finds ways to build on the Greek artist's foundations and add layer upon layer of his own magic, resulting in songs like "Coming up for air" which intermixes overt EM percussive textures with more "new agey" chorales and lush strings and romantic piano. Van Bogaert frequently shows his romantic side on his albums (both romantic in the soft sense and also in the classical sense, being concerned with major notes and chords in pleasing melodies) and Closer is no exception. Track length varies from not quite two minutes to the seven and a half minute long "Europe's Dawn." While Closer is not as varied as Human, it still holds interest throughout by having slow quasi-jazz tunes, such as "High Above" (on which a tenor sax floats amidst EM textures and flowing keyboards) and "A picture of you" (mellow bell tones and lush strings painting somewhat sad portraits of lost loves, accompanied by vocal effects and piano), mixed in with more dynamic tracks like the slow to develop but worth the wait "Caleidoscope" (a prog fusion piece that starts slowly but builds into a real treat, full of catchy funky rhythms, jazzy runs on keyboards, and some wailing sax). Most of what is on Closer will be well suited for driving music with the car stereo turned way up, such as the thunderous "Good Morning Song" or "Dans [da:ns]," another cut that starts slowly but builds into pounding bass and taiko-style drums underneath washes of keyboards and Berlin-esque retro synths. I'll admit not everything here was to my liking, e.g. "Sweetness" was anything but, as I found its mixture of EM beats with neo-classical dramatic crescendos somewhat chaotic and even grating after awhile, almost as if the track wasn't really finished yet. While Closer is atypical from most Groove Unltd. releases, it is still vintage Van Bogaert. He has always walked a slightly (or even more than slightly) different path than other artists on the label. While Germanic EM fans may find this not synth or sequence-driven enough, fans of dramatic and melodic keyboard music that never abandons accessibility but still takes some risk by blending disparate elements will find plenty here to please their ears. Even if it doesn't knock me out like Human did, I still recommend the disc, especially the first eight tracks, which shine the brightest to me. |
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