PETE NAMLOOK/KLAUS SCHULZE, featuring BILL LASWELL

I'm not too familiar with a lot of Klaus Schulze's work, and I know there's plenty of it out there (including a disc of Klaus remixes by Namlook), but I found it more difficult then usual to sort which band member was responsible for which aspects of the music showcased here. Surely Klaus controls much of the analog keyboard progressions, while Laswell brings his own experience as a well-seasoned producer, always armed with his trusty bass. Namlook I envision to be involved with most aspects of the project of course, but in particular his sound is identifiable in the spectacular glowing guitar texture-melodies and some of the percussive patterning. Beyond these basic assumptions, all of the musicians seem to be responsible to some degree for the conceptual groundwork this album seems to be built upon. Many features of previous Dark Sides are here, but updated or enhanced in one way or another. As I was writing this one up I had an email conversation with fellow a listmember regarding who was responsiblefor which components of the recording. His hypothesis is that allthree musicians are pretty much evenly mixed with no one particularperson overshadowing the others, making DSOTM4 a little unusual in that respect. This makes sense to me, and certainly would at least partly explain the smooth mingling of techniques. Overall, this album is quite varied, often fluctuating from quieter, beatless passages into harder beat- oriented ones in the blink of an eye. Should take you by surprise several times before it's finished!

Part 1 - The instruments are warming up, much in the same manner an orchestra does. Keyboards and drum machines are doing this too, an echoing bass thump, some synthy zipper textures. This continues for the initial moments, the disparate elements wandering any which way. Atmospherics eventually overtake the warm-ups, floating unanchored, ready to start the story.[...]

Part 2 - After the launch, a lone arpeggiating bassline sets the backbone for the next 15 minutes or so, occasionally changing key. These minutes are filled with voices and occasional bass guitar sourced funk shapes that float by and balance the persistent alternation of the kick and shakers and rides. Some whistling there in the background puts your questions about pipers to rest. This type of music makes for great highway driving. Put your seat in recline position, this track takes time to work it's magic. Things come in stages, like the fretless bass announcing the resurfacing of the rhythm somewhere in the middle there.[...]

Part 6 - This part contains one of the most soulful guitar solos I've heard from Namlook yet. The Floydian flavor is now here in full force with a heart wrenching blend of despondent melancholy, yet the melody also manages to be encouraging and even comforting. The solo cuts across a distant warehouse wash of reverberant background sounds that fill it out. I've heard objections to Namlook's guitar playing, but here I think it's easily one of the high points of the album. It's nice to hear this kind of mood well-integrated into the predominantly electronic surroundings.

Part 8 - Ambushed! The structures from Part 5 are now presented in full. The sounds bombard you immediately following the drones. The heavy rhythm checks in around 140 bpm, and is decorated with chirps, hihats, and Namlook's wiggly electronic pulses. The piece develops over the shifting reverberant background from Part 6. At 4:25, the beats cut out and regroup while the rhythmic machinery lumbers onward. The pulses are reintroduced first, and then a flock of high-frequency waves takes flight while the beats are thrown back in.

Part 9 - A reprise finishes the album out. First a modulating pulse sequence and then one more drone-thump from Part 7.