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CD
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VISTA 011CD
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London-based producer Ulrich Schnauss and Danish guitarist and producer Jonas Munk have both unfolded their unique visions of electronic music over the past two decades, and they have been collaborating since the mid-2000s. Eight Fragments Of An Illusion is their first album in over four years, their third overall. The latest effort is ambient and introspective in nature, but with a kinetic, polyrhythmic energy pushing it forward. There's a floating quality to Ulrich's synthesizer washes and Munk's guitar patterns, yet the eight tracks are anchored by pulse and compositional direction. The duo brings their individual strengths to the table, yet the music transcends any of their previous work conceptually. There are echoes of blissed-out new age music and kosmische from the 1970s and 1980s, as well as traces of shoegaze-era abstraction and leftfield electronica. But ultimately there's no off-the-rack category that fits it. It exists in its own rarefied space. Pieced together from sessions spanning the course of three years, mostly in Ulrich's London studio -- a workspace packed with rare synthesizers and vintage outboard gear -- Eight Fragments Of An Illusion is a luxurious listen. Compared to the duos previous two releases there's more of a focus on texture and slowly evolving patterns, which naturally reflects the fact that Ulrich has spent a large portion of the last seven years as a full-time member of legendary synth group Tangerine Dream. Sonically, the tracks have a certain silky and shimmering characteristic, with Ulrich's mallet-like arpeggios and glittering analog synthesizer pads merging with Munk's melodic guitar lines as the most natural thing in the world. Throughout, the guitar is used both in a rather traditional manner, but often also as a vehicle for sonic exploration, processed into cloudy layers using outboard effects and software. This might be their most minimalist outing to date, but it still radiates that uplifting widescreen magic that both artists are known for. Eight Fragments Of An Illusion is their most focused collaborative musical statement to date, and arguably the most rewarding.
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VISTA 001LP
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LP version. Passage is the second collaborative album from London-based synth-wizard Ulrich Schnauss and Danish producer Jonas Munk. 11 tracks of breezy, blissed-out electronica and colorful ambient. As the album title denotes, there's a sense of movement in the music these two producers create together: a Schnauss and Munk composition starts one place and ends up someplace very different - something that can only rarely be said about electronic music, which traditionally has focused its energy on texture rather than composition. Sometimes their vivid, expansive soundscapes feels like the sonic equivalent of gliding towards the horizon through a panoramic landscape on a train. One's perspective changes slightly when in motion from one place to another - continuously approaching new things and leaving others behind. There's a prismatic, multi-dimensional quality to these 11 tracks, likely stemming from the fact that these two producers each have worked with a wide range of styles and musicians throughout their 15+ year careers: Ulrich cut his teeth as a drum and bass producer in Berlin, before releasing a string of highly influential neo-shoegazy records on labels such as Domino and City Centre Offices. Since moving to London in 2006, he's been a member of bands such as Engineers and Longview and remixed artists ranging from Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys to Mojave 3, and since 2013 he's been a member of legendary band Tangerine Dream. While Jonas Munk initially became known to the post-rock and electronica communities via his Manual albums on Morr Music and Darla Records, he's also had his hands in psychedelic rock (he's a noted producer in the European psych scene and is in the band Causa Sui) as well as film soundtracks and experimental minimalism. Both Ulrich and Jonas, however, have the skills of seasoned producers to weave the multitude of influences together in a well-defined sonic aesthetic. The result is a compelling set of melodic electronic music that echoes the past, yet feels fresh.
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CD
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VISTA 001CD
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Passage is the second collaborative album from London-based synth-wizard Ulrich Schnauss and Danish producer Jonas Munk. 11 tracks of breezy, blissed-out electronica and colorful ambient. As the album title denotes, there's a sense of movement in the music these two producers create together: a Schnauss and Munk composition starts one place and ends up someplace very different - something that can only rarely be said about electronic music, which traditionally has focused its energy on texture rather than composition. Sometimes their vivid, expansive soundscapes feels like the sonic equivalent of gliding towards the horizon through a panoramic landscape on a train. One's perspective changes slightly when in motion from one place to another - continuously approaching new things and leaving others behind. There's a prismatic, multi-dimensional quality to these 11 tracks, likely stemming from the fact that these two producers each have worked with a wide range of styles and musicians throughout their 15+ year careers: Ulrich cut his teeth as a drum and bass producer in Berlin, before releasing a string of highly influential neo-shoegazy records on labels such as Domino and City Centre Offices. Since moving to London in 2006, he's been a member of bands such as Engineers and Longview and remixed artists ranging from Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys to Mojave 3, and since 2013 he's been a member of legendary band Tangerine Dream. While Jonas Munk initially became known to the post-rock and electronica communities via his Manual albums on Morr Music and Darla Records, he's also had his hands in psychedelic rock (he's a noted producer in the European psych scene and is in the band Causa Sui) as well as film soundtracks and experimental minimalism. Both Ulrich and Jonas, however, have the skills of seasoned producers to weave the multitude of influences together in a well-defined sonic aesthetic. The result is a compelling set of melodic electronic music that echoes the past, yet feels fresh.
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