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review by Bill Binkelman Gert Emmens' type of EM reminds me of progressive fusion/prog rock from the late '60s or early '70s (e.g. Yes, King Crimson, and Rush, to name a few). I don't make this comparison in a musical sense, but rather because of how he structures his long compositions. A popular convention back then for the aforementioned groups was to compose long pieces and give them separately titled "movements" in which different musical themes would be explored, yet still retaining a certain signature sound so the artist/group was identifiable. An excellent example would the multi-part classic from Yes, "Close to the Edge," which had three movements: "The Solid Time of Change," "Total Mass Retain," "I Get Up, I Get Down." As Messrs. Howe, Wakeman, et al. wove a musical statement throughout diverse stages of a song, so too does Emmens allow his tracks to migrate across different musical landscapes, although in his case, there is much more variety between the movements. Plus, of course, the music itself bears no resemblance to the progressive rock of that era. On the opening piece, "After the Rain," the listener is treated to a brief "sunshower" of twinkling synth notes before echoed retro Berlin sequences delightfully pepper the soundfield, seeming to bounce back and forth, up and down, cushioned by flowing chorales. Before long, a dark strain of mellotron swirls heralds a change of pace, combined with cyber-organic semi-tribal rhythms over a lush bed of keyboards (this is a very moody part of the song and is decidedly un-Germanic in character). He's still not done yet, eventually yielding to a classic rapid pulsing of sequenced beats and twinkling tones over warm washes of synths (very Germanic in nature), with majestic chorales and irregular skitch-type beats brought in for good measure. This is how Emmens differs from many other EM artists today. He not only exercises supreme control over all these separate types of electronic music, but finds brilliant ways to integrate them into cohesive tracks in a way that is not just amazing from a technical standpoint but also yields a satisfying emotional payoff. There are six more songs (all over ten minutes long) on the CD, so serving up details on the others would require a novelette-length review. Suffice it to say Emmens wields his analog and digital keyboards, his mellotrons, Moogs and MiniMoogs, with equal parts dexterity and passion. "Another Time, Another Space" unites whistling vibrating analog spacemusic with percolating sequencers and later thumping Berlin-esque pulses. The title track starts amidst ominous drones and rumbles, with some dissonant tonalities as well, but moves into much more accessible and friendlier territory with somber and beautiful synth strings and echoed (and nicely panned!) chirping sequenced notes. The addition of operatic female vocals takes the beauty of the song up even higher, soaring into the ethereal heights, before a rapid-fire synth sequence and dramatic snare-beats bring everything back to earth, propelling the song at the pace of a bullet train. You want to know what the rest of the album sounds like? Well, go out and buy it, because if you liked what I've described so far, you won't be disappointed. I didn't think this artist would be able to top last year's obscure movements in twilight shades but Gert Emmens obviously means to not stand still when it comes to making superlative EM, and that's what Waves of Dreams is, with the emphasis on "superlative." Easily, this is one of the best releases in years from Groove Unltd. -- and that's saying something! |
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