Search - Klaus Schulze :: Body Love

Klaus does it again

Chet Fakir | DC | 01/23/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In the '70s Klaus Schulze was putting out his most groundbreaking and interesting work as well as some of the best exemplars of what used to be known as "Cosmic" music. Coming on the heels of what many people consider to be his masterpiece Moondawn, Body Love is another great album full of melody, odd timbres and a free floating spacy, yet rhythmically driven aesthetic. It's not quite as experimental as earlier works such as Irrlicht or Blackdance, rather Schulze has evolved by this point to a master melodicist and keyboard/synth player who uses melody as much as he used to use texture and atmosphere to create some very engaging electronic music. Synth lines float in and out of the rhythmic foundations laid down by drummer Harald Grosskopf in a consistantly interesting and dynamic way forming a sort of trance-like weave of sound. It's interesting despite, or perhaps because of the hypnotic insistance of the rhythms. Very nice, and this was the soundtrack to a porno. If you want to hear one of the great precursors or godfathers of modern techno and electronica, pick up some '70s era Klaus Schulze, turn off the lights and get lost."

An excellent album of moody electronica by Klaus Schulze

Jeffrey J.Park | Massachusetts, USA | 08/19/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Embarrassingly enough, this moody 1977 album was recorded as a soundtrack to a pornographic film. Evidently, Klaus was initially reluctant to record the music for "Body Love" but eventually decided to work with director Lasse Braun, who requested that he record something similar to Moondawn (1976). While perhaps not strictly similar to Moondawn, there are some of the percussive elements of that album, along with the pure synthesizer textures of albums like Timewind (1975). Like Moondawn, former Wallenstein drummer Harald Grosskopf joins Klaus (mellotron, mini moog, ARP Odyssey, ARP 2600, polymoog, "Big" moog etc.). Harald plays drums on Stardancer (13:38), part of P.T.O. (27:12), and generally does a good job of accompanying Klaus into the vacuum of outer space. His drums by the way are put down a bit in the overall mix and are not not obtrusive whatsoever - this is very much an "electronic" album. By far, my favorite tracks include Blanche (11:44) which recalls the spaciest moments on Timewind (1975) and features an unaccompanied Klaus on his banks of gloomy sounding synthesizers along with P.T.O. Also enjoyable are the tone colors that Klaus uses - they are very warm, yet evoke images of a grey and cold, windswept landscape. This fantastic sounding remastered album by InsideOut features pictures of Klaus along with detailed liner notes and a more "tasteful" cover than the original had. Oh and yes, various stills from the film have been included in the liner notes. The bonus track Lasse Braun (22:26) is excellent and works well with the original material. Both Harald and Klaus play on this track. All in all, this is yet another excellent album by electronica wizard Klaus Schulze and is highly recommended along with Timewind, Moondawn, Mirage (1977), and X (1978)."