Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classical music is the teacher: Deutsche-Amerikanische rapsodie , 2 Nov 2008
This record is the perfect soundtrack for the long dark winter nights. To call it a remix of Ravel: Boléro, Rapsodie espagnole / Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, though factually correct, would be doing it a massive disservice.
Not since the Factory Classical label has anyone succeeded in turning fans of contemporary music on to classical music, however this release might do just that...
The parallels between classical and techno were there from the beginning (no pun intended) of course, when Derrick May used samples of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on "It Is What It Is". More recently the emphasis has been on classical interpretations of electronic music - for example Warp's London Sinfonietta collaboration (a little on the worthy-but-dull side) and Jeff Mills "Blue Potential" (entertaining, but unlikely to appeal to anyone outside the techno fan-base). "Recomposed" then, is an attempt to look through the looking glass the other way, as it were, i.e. make a techno version of classical music (make no mistake this IS a techno record) using two of the genre's foremost producers and rubber-stamped by the heavyweight classical label Deutsche Grammophon.
Here's a review from viewpoint of a techno fan (and one who doesn't really know the original works):
The amazing opening piece, "Intro", is Kraftwerk's "Franz Schubert" with a touch of "Low"-era Brian Eno thrown in for good measure, a winter soundscape. "Movement 1" and then "Movement 2", follow on directly (all the tracks on the LP are run together as one continuous piece of music) which are both based on Ravel's Bolero. You'll recognise the time signature (easily) but fortunately no sign of Torvill and Dean. The overall effect is like a classical "E2E4" with Christmassy-sounding horns.
Things take even more of a techno turn with "Movement 3", and we're back on Kraftwerk territory - this time late period - "Tour de France Soundtracks" rhythm merging in to something sounding a bit like (Moritz's/Basic Channel's) own "Inversion". "Movement 4" is the least orchestral-sounding track: straight up techno-house - but whereas on his previous releases MvO would use hisses and crackles by way of background noise (attention to background noise being a Basic Channel trademark, in common with fellow studio-engineer band The Blue Nile), here he appears to be using sampled snippets of the orchestra instead.
Next, the "Interlude"...sounds like "Kometenmelodie" (Kraftwerk again) meets BC's "Radiance iii" plus orchestral backing - another very strong piece (and not unlike the first track).
On "Movement 5", the production is credited solely to Carl Craig. This is the most classical sounding piece here and shows C2's talent for absorbing virtually any style of music into a techno framework - more Kraftwerkian tones, once again harking back to "Franz Schubert" from their Trans Europe Express LP.
The LP ends with the most experimental piece of all (James Murphy once said something along the lines that all the best albums end with a track that sounds nothing like the rest). This time it's von Oswald's turn to go it alone with the more menacing "Movement 6".
This immaculate production is also immaculately well-presented, in a thick card gatefold sleeve, like a miniature version of an LP, with informative, if not very well translated, blurb (C-). Perhaps most astonishing of all, you get something on this LP that is not present on any other Basic Channel-related release - a photograph, in fact several photographs, of the legend that is Moritz von Oswald!
The end result? It sounds as if Kraftwerk had been asked to soundtrack "The Snowman" (as surreal as that may seem)...here comes the techno Santa Claus. My second favourite album of the year.
PS Classical music fans (not sure if "fans" is what you call yourselves?) please post your reviews or comments here.
PPS "April" by Sun Kil Moon, in case you were wondering (which of course you weren't).
|
|
|
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great for testing your Hi-Fi separates, shame about those annoying horns near the beginning though!, 9 Mar 2009
I was very intrigued when I heard about this album, so I had to pre-order myself a copy. The content is very unusual, but great for testing out those expensive Hi-Fi separates systems.
The intro is very slow and mellow and sets the tone for the build up that is to follow, which blends into Movement 1 and a loop of the distinctive beginning of Ravel's Bolero. With great promise, we're then onto Movement 2. Sadly the composition loses its way for me as I then had to endure 10 minutes of an extremely annoying 'trumpet/horns' loop, which continues into part of Movement 3 and unfortunately ruins things slightly - this is why it only gets 4 instead of 5 stars. I wouldn't be surprised if many turned it off at this point, but please stick with it as things do pick up eventually. The horns eventually fade out and we're onto a kind of chill out/techno/electronica sound, which goes nicely into Movement 4. If you have a good set of speakers, this is where you will start to appreciate them! Then comes the Interlude, which gives an excellent build up to Movement 5, which in my opinion is the best part of this composition and the most "Classical" sounding part in my opinion. Movement 6 provides a mellow ending with the haunting sound of churchbells in the background and various synth sounds.
Overall I would say this isn't really for people who enjoy and appreciate classical music. Its more for people who appreciate the techno side. This isn't "Techno" in the sense of what William Orbit did a few years back with classical pieces, but a more a mellowed "Lounge" type sound. If you appreciate hints of classical with synth music, similar to the likes of Jean Michel-Jarre or Vangelis, then this could be for you.
|
|
|
3.0 out of 5 stars
A let down, 11 Oct 2009
Going by the other reviews on this page I thought I was in for a treat. Being a large Kraftwerk fan - and Tangerine Dream, and Klaus Schultze, and Tomita etc etc - I thought this was going to be more than it is.
OK, so the synth trumpets are a pain, and there is too much use of them in the early Movements (hiding the subtle Bolero rhythms), but the flatness and lack of life in the music (although Movement 4 is very Schultze) is a shame. Maybe I'm getting old, but classical music and synth stuff are normally more vibrant, where this is just wallpaper. It livens up later on, but it's a long wait...
Yes, I accept that this is a very subjective album to listen to - and opinions will vary wildly - but for me the album just takes too long to get into its stride. Maybe after a few more listens my opinion will change, but for now it's a let down - and those blasted trumpets over the early bits grate like a repeated foghorn blast!
Oh, and if you are burning this on to a CD (no gaps between tracks on this album folks!) then the gaps at the beginning and end of the MP3s will cause an audible click when the track changes even though the music doesn't stop and start. I converted the MP3s to Wave files, then chopped off the tiny fraction of a second of non-music, and then finally burned the disc - result, one smoothly flowing, click free, piece of music. Thanks for letting me have a non-protected MP3 so I can do this, Amazon, it is much appreciated. I like to listen to my music from a CD player, rather than a computer.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
~ Moritz von Oswald Trio
~ Harmonic 313
~ Carl Craig
~ Various Artists
~ Joris Voorn
