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CD
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BB 397CD
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"Hamburg synthesist Richard von der Schulenburg returns to Bureau B with the follow-up to last year's Moods & Dances 2021 (BB 365CD/LP, 2021), harnessing hardware crunch, cryptic found sounds, and field recordings on a mission for Cosmic Diversity. Taking inspiration from the haunting electronica of Boards of Canada and Plaid, refracted here through the half-life of a Zeiss lens, RVDS navigates the musical multiverse, simultaneously straddling electro, IDM, kosmische, and dub across eight exploratory compositions. Created during lockdown as an escape from the insular, this LP looks outward but reaches inwards with emotive melodies at every turn. Opening in adagio, 'Schoolyard Sweets' sets the scene in mournful monochrome, its dislocated vocal samples cascading over a snaking bassline while a gloomy waveform detunes through to the final resolution. 'Darkest Planet' latches on to a faltering radio broadcast before falling foul of a Möbius loop, the repeated vocal mutating endlessly within a maze of brittle percussion. A needling sequence suggests we're destined for the event horizon, where the synth wavers between a sigh and a scream. There's a brief glimpse of daylight via 'Daily Circles', though its birdsong slowly melts into bat calls as somber organ and back masked vocals soundtrack a black mass. Schulenburg takes us to the midpoint with stately synthscape 'Future Night', a tone poem which perfectly paves the way for the titular Cosmic Diversity. Blasting the pastoral vision of MHTRTC into orbit, this celestial bossa looks back on Planet Earth with some necessary perspective, its crystalline lead capturing the beauty and fragility of our planet perfectly. 'Reset My Brain' sees RVDS push the pace, pairing a snapping electro breakbeat with the low end rumble of a Sheffield bassline, tunnelling into the heart of the dancefloor before those golden tones begin to bloom. Shades of industrial dancehall and Detroit's originators color 'Dance Of The Plutos', an intergalactic raga-cum-ragga snarler which shows just enough restraint not to melt the wax. Schulenburg signs off with the pastoral beauty of 'Rain In Romance', a transcendental blend of wordless chanting, detuned bells, gentle rainfall and Berlin school electronics which brings Cosmic Diversity's stylistic journey full circle." --Patrick Ryder
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LP
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BB 397LP
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LP version. "Hamburg synthesist Richard von der Schulenburg returns to Bureau B with the follow-up to last year's Moods & Dances 2021 (BB 365CD/LP, 2021), harnessing hardware crunch, cryptic found sounds, and field recordings on a mission for Cosmic Diversity. Taking inspiration from the haunting electronica of Boards of Canada and Plaid, refracted here through the half-life of a Zeiss lens, RVDS navigates the musical multiverse, simultaneously straddling electro, IDM, kosmische, and dub across eight exploratory compositions. Created during lockdown as an escape from the insular, this LP looks outward but reaches inwards with emotive melodies at every turn. Opening in adagio, 'Schoolyard Sweets' sets the scene in mournful monochrome, its dislocated vocal samples cascading over a snaking bassline while a gloomy waveform detunes through to the final resolution. 'Darkest Planet' latches on to a faltering radio broadcast before falling foul of a Möbius loop, the repeated vocal mutating endlessly within a maze of brittle percussion. A needling sequence suggests we're destined for the event horizon, where the synth wavers between a sigh and a scream. There's a brief glimpse of daylight via 'Daily Circles', though its birdsong slowly melts into bat calls as somber organ and back masked vocals soundtrack a black mass. Schulenburg takes us to the midpoint with stately synthscape 'Future Night', a tone poem which perfectly paves the way for the titular Cosmic Diversity. Blasting the pastoral vision of MHTRTC into orbit, this celestial bossa looks back on Planet Earth with some necessary perspective, its crystalline lead capturing the beauty and fragility of our planet perfectly. 'Reset My Brain' sees RVDS push the pace, pairing a snapping electro breakbeat with the low end rumble of a Sheffield bassline, tunnelling into the heart of the dancefloor before those golden tones begin to bloom. Shades of industrial dancehall and Detroit's originators color 'Dance Of The Plutos', an intergalactic raga-cum-ragga snarler which shows just enough restraint not to melt the wax. Schulenburg signs off with the pastoral beauty of 'Rain In Romance', a transcendental blend of wordless chanting, detuned bells, gentle rainfall and Berlin school electronics which brings Cosmic Diversity's stylistic journey full circle." --Patrick Ryder
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Artist |
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CD
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BB 365CD
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"Revered Hamburg musician, synthesist and DJ RVDS joins the Bureau B ranks with the meditative and mellifluous sounds of Moods & Dances 2021 -- a musical present from the future past. Inspired by the otherworldly exotica and imaginative electronics of library music's golden age, Richard von der Schulenberg conjures palm trees and pyramids, promenades, and portals, all observed from the heart of a Holodeck. Seven of nine tracks are named after the equipment used to create them, offering an additional journey through the patch bay-mayhem of the RVDS home studio, and paying homage to the tonal nuance among his collection. Now, whether he's atop Mt. Acid with a molten 303, caressing tender Fender keys through an improvised jazz set or live scoring some stage-based theatrics, Richard's music always offers an immersive experience, but perhaps never more directly than this latest opus. We wash up on the digital shoreline of 'Mrs Yamaha's Summer Tune', sparkling with salt water and the shimmer of polished mallets and subtle percussion. 'Caravan of the Pentamatics' heads inland through the tree line, carving a silk road through Ethiopian jazz tones and snaking rhythms until it encounters the mystical presence of "The Farfisa Sphinx". Cryptic melodies float a top a bed of spheric bass, intangible and irresistible until they fade into the sand storm. The gentle and jazzy 'Roland's Night Walk' provides a little rest from the desert deities, though distant gunshot and the unceasing cicadas add tension to the moonlit majesty of those delicate keys. The dawn brings heartbreak via the dewy melodies and tonal malady of Richard's DX7, but somewhere someone's dancing to the propulsive bassline, eerie vocals and Arabesque sounds of 'The Space Pentas', a little cosmic boogie which just builds and builds. But dervish whirls are thirsty business, so it follows you should take a drink break at the 'Wersimatic Space Bar', a sophisticated kind of cantina awash with exotica. Then the boogie is back for the penultimate track, a deranged, demented and diabolical bit of commune chaos brought back from 'Planet Dragon', and translated into a Radiophonic workout. Parting is such sweet sorrow on any planet, and 'The End (Lala)' captures the sentiment superbly, serving space sirens, somnolent bass sounds and bursts of static at a stately tempo. Though Library inspired, and undoubtedly indebted to the hardware in action, this intriguing intergalactic trip is more passionate than a pastiche; playful, poetic and enigmatic in true RVDS fashion." --Patrick Ryder
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Artist |
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Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
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LP
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BB 365LP
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LP version. "Revered Hamburg musician, synthesist and DJ RVDS joins the Bureau B ranks with the meditative and mellifluous sounds of Moods & Dances 2021 -- a musical present from the future past. Inspired by the otherworldly exotica and imaginative electronics of library music's golden age, Richard von der Schulenberg conjures palm trees and pyramids, promenades, and portals, all observed from the heart of a Holodeck. Seven of nine tracks are named after the equipment used to create them, offering an additional journey through the patch bay-mayhem of the RVDS home studio, and paying homage to the tonal nuance among his collection. Now, whether he's atop Mt. Acid with a molten 303, caressing tender Fender keys through an improvised jazz set or live scoring some stage-based theatrics, Richard's music always offers an immersive experience, but perhaps never more directly than this latest opus. We wash up on the digital shoreline of 'Mrs Yamaha's Summer Tune', sparkling with salt water and the shimmer of polished mallets and subtle percussion. 'Caravan of the Pentamatics' heads inland through the tree line, carving a silk road through Ethiopian jazz tones and snaking rhythms until it encounters the mystical presence of "The Farfisa Sphinx". Cryptic melodies float a top a bed of spheric bass, intangible and irresistible until they fade into the sand storm. The gentle and jazzy 'Roland's Night Walk' provides a little rest from the desert deities, though distant gunshot and the unceasing cicadas add tension to the moonlit majesty of those delicate keys. The dawn brings heartbreak via the dewy melodies and tonal malady of Richard's DX7, but somewhere someone's dancing to the propulsive bassline, eerie vocals and Arabesque sounds of 'The Space Pentas', a little cosmic boogie which just builds and builds. But dervish whirls are thirsty business, so it follows you should take a drink break at the 'Wersimatic Space Bar', a sophisticated kind of cantina awash with exotica. Then the boogie is back for the penultimate track, a deranged, demented and diabolical bit of commune chaos brought back from 'Planet Dragon', and translated into a Radiophonic workout. Parting is such sweet sorrow on any planet, and 'The End (Lala)' captures the sentiment superbly, serving space sirens, somnolent bass sounds and bursts of static at a stately tempo. Though Library inspired, and undoubtedly indebted to the hardware in action, this intriguing intergalactic trip is more passionate than a pastiche; playful, poetic and enigmatic in true RVDS fashion." --Patrick Ryder
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