Search - Klaus Schulze :: Blackdance

Difficult but Rewarding

Chromefreak | 02/13/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Blackdance, Schulze's exploration of ethnic sounds in a wholly electronic context, is a challenging and difficult listen, but extremely worthwhile. It's an album most have to listen to several times before it can be genuinely appreciated. Schulze's (rare) use of acoustic guitar, congas, tablas and piano give the pieces on Blackdance an earthy, organic feel. This is especially the case on the heavily percussive "Ways of Changes" where Klaus's congas provide a rhythmic pulse that anchors his synthesizer sweeps and electronic effects to terra firma. The eerie "Some Velvet Phasing" almost reminds one of a track from the previous year's Cyborg: a dark, surreal ambient soundtrack for somnambulists. And then there's the spiraling "Voices of Syn," which creates an atmosphere of trance-like stasis. Huge washes of VCS3 synth rise and fall like electromagnetic waves on the oceans of interstellar space. It's almost as if Terry Riley had composed "A Rainbow in Curved Air" on a synth instead of an organ. Blackdance isn't an easy listen, but if you give it time, you'll grow to appreciate it as one of Schulze's rare delights."