Search - Klaus Schulze :: Moondawn

Klaus Schulze in all his prog-rock glory.

Louie Bourland | Garden Grove CA | 05/12/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After his phenominal 1975 breakthrough "Timewind", Klaus Schulze went a step further with his next release "Moondawn". With the assistance of drummer Harald Grosskopf, Klaus ventures into a hybrid of his trademark sequencer style with elements of progressive rock. I found this album to sound the most like his former band Tangerine Dream (especially their "Green Desert" album). Like many of his albums at the time, "Moondawn" consists of only two tracks. The first track "Floating" is built in a musical arc beginning with fluttering cosmic sounds along with a German recitation of The Lords Prayer. Waves of synthetic strings and tolling bells dominate the opening section of this piece. A sequencer pulse begins to emerge after several minutes followed by Grosskopf's drumming. The interplay between Schulze's keyboards and Grosskopf's drums is superb. The piece builds with intensity as it runs its course and by the end, Schulze and Grosskopf are fully rocking out.
The second and last track "Mindphaser" begins with the crashing of ocean waves which leads into a soothing sections of string-synths with an oboe-like lead playing over the top. This piece maintains a sereen mood for its first 10 minutes but then does a complete about-face. With a heavy swoosh, Harald Grosskopf's drums and Schulze's electric organ take over in a full-on space rock jam. The two really let loose here especially Schulze when he improvises on his MiniMoog. After 25 minutes, the piece finally hangs itself up as Grosskopf bangs out a grand finale and Schulze finishes off with some dynamic synth-string chords. This is surely some breathtaking music.
It should be mentioned that all CD versions of this album (except for one) DO NOT contain the original mix. When this album was first released on CD, Klaus remixed the tracks due to flaws in the original master tapes. Also, both pieces had several seconds edited off of them. It wasn't until late 1995 that the original mixes as they were released in 1976 made it onto CD. This CD is entitled "Moondawn-The Original Master" on Manikin Records in Germany. The Original Master version also includes a bonus track entitled "Supplement" which is an early version of "Mindphaser". If you've never owned "Moondawn" on CD, the Original Master version is the one to get because you get the original mix plus a bonus cut.
"Moondawn" is still a favorite amongst Schulze fans. Many consider this to be his peak in the 1970's. It's worth every minute of ones listening pleasure. On a personal note, it was one of the first Klaus Schulze releases I ever owned (A used LP nonetheless)."

One of his finest albums

Jeffrey J.Park | Massachusetts, USA | 06/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 1976 album is excellent and is somewhat similar in texture to Timewind (1975). The most noticeable difference however, is that drummer Harald Grosskopf (Wallenstein, Cosmic Jokers) plays a full drum kit on Moondawn, and with great results.



In general, the two tracks are very moody and long (27'13 and 25'35 respectively) and consist simply of long drones on the moog synthesizer and string synthesizer (or the Hammond organ as used on Mindphaser) and sequenced synthesizer lines on the "big" moog. This music is largely static, with loads of bubbling and fizzing synthesizer sounds and only subtle changes in key and tempo. I should note that Harald's drumming is excellent and really breaks things up a bit - in fact, Klaus seems to loosen up a bit during the passages that include drumming and solos on the moog. The best example of this is on Mindphaser.



This remastered version is absolutely superb and features incredible sound quality, restored artwork, a ton of pictures of Klaus playing his banks of synthesizers, and detailed liner notes. The real treat however, is the addition of the excellent bonus track Floating Sequence (21'11"), which was taken from the Moondawn recording session. This version of Floating Sequence is a stereo mix that is completely different from the version included on the 1995 release of Moondawn.



This album is very highly recommended to all electronica fans along with Timewind (1975), Body Love (1977), Mirage (1977), and X (1978)."

Music you should hear

Cruising through the ether | Arica / Chile | 04/28/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Taking into account that Klaus Schulze on his first two records 'Irrlicht' and Cyborg performed an array of vast organ drone experiments, which resulted in some of the best music recorded on earth, the 1976 Moondawn sees Schulze further into his electronic music making.There are albums that came after Moondawn, that for some reason or another, I don t find much interest in them (i,e, Mirage). MIrage was a record which Schulze dedicated to his passing father. It is beautiful. Two tracks, 20 + minute3s each. But for my taste, too much synthesizer. Felt like it needed something else, aside form the nice synthesizer work.It simply bored me.Now that I made my comparison to Mirage, let me tell you what I think of this awesome record 'Moondawn'. Well, it was 1 year before the former, and it is brilliant. Klaus creates a sort of symphonic orchestra type of feeling when you hear the first tune, 'floating'. It is simply brilliant and full of talent, how he can make 25 minutes go by, and have you at the edge of your seat for the full ride. Amazing, w out words.The next tune Mindphaser is a bit less than the first, but interesting nonetheless.I could 've abstained at writing a review on this album, but my love for this genre of music and for K Schulze's music in particular left me nothing else but to give my best and honest opinion.Not all his records are 5 star jobs, but part of a serious music collector's journey through music is finding music he/she likes and music he also doesn t like. In the case of 'Moondawn', it is one that I recommend to anyone with a good ear for quality music."