Redshift - Ether (c) 1998 Champagne Lake Productions
Artist....: Redshift
Album.....: Ether
Type......: Album
Source....: CDDA
Tracks....: 04
Genre.....: Ambient
Label.....: Champagne Lake Productions
Catalogue#: CLPCD 013
Encoder...: LAME 3.97
Quality...: VBR kbps / 44.1KHz / Joint-Stereo
URL.......: http://www.discogs.com/release/408694
Tracklist:
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01 A Midnight Clear 23:59
02 Bombers In The Desert 08:23
03 Static 05:13
04 Ether 27:30
Total:89,7 MB / 65:05 min
Release Notes:
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http://www.redshift.biz/
Founded in 1996 by Mark Shreeve, the band's lineup currently consists
of Mark Shreeve, Julian Shreeve, and James Goddard. Rob Jenkins, a band
member for most of the group's existence, left prior to their seventh
album Redshift VII - Oblivion. The band's style ranges from Berlin
School to dark ambient. Their sound is largely dependent upon older
synthesiser technology, notably instruments such as the Moog 3C, which
they combine with more recent digital technology.
I've listened to electronic music albums for more years than I care to
remember, and in the time between acne and relatively slight but
noticeable greying hair the number of EM albums must rank in the
thousands. Having of course helped to organise the concert at which
large parts of this album were recorded I knew it was going to be one
of the great albums, but as I write this review the question I am
tussling with asks "is this the greatest of them all?" Before I
elaborate, letÆs briefly outline what we have here. Two of the four
tracks (A Midnight Clear and Ether), comprising over 50 minutes of the
album, were recorded at the Jodrell Bank Concert on 7.12.96. One of the
tracks, 'Bombers in the Desert, is a studio interpretation of another
piece performed on the night. Static is a short studio outing.
Stylistically the music could be termed "classic 70's Berlin School".
Three of the four musicians create the rich textural atmospherics and
thematics, while Mark Shreeve provides the ever shifting tapestry of
sequencing on the colossal Moog modular. OK, so what makes this album
so good? Well, I've often been quoted as saying that classic 70's EM
was abandoned far too prematurely and there was lots more to be
discovered. This album goes further than perhaps any I've heard to push
back the boundaries of this style. As a package it is nigh on
faultless, with plenty of dark mellotron and synth thematics to savour
and the added ingredient of guitar effects played to perfection. But
the trump card is the sequencing. In terms of sequencing it is quite
simply the best example of its kind I have ever heard. The rampant
dynamics of the Moog are harnessed in spectacular fashion, and the
complexity and variety of the sequencing is simply breathtaking. Every
angle in the book is covered, and whole new sections are written on the
fly. Sequence riffs barely stay still for a second. You think it can't
get any better, then the bass lines hit home. ItÆs like a thundering
roller coaster. A wall of sound which, to me, says everything about why
EM can affect me like no other music. On Bombers.. a drum loop is
thrown in for good measure - take care, this track could signal a China
Syndrome for your speakers. I think it was the "review of 96" article
where I said Redshift's music was so far up my street that it was
sitting in my living room with its feet up watching TV. Well, Ether is
actually wearing my slippers, drinking tea and eating biccies!
Seriously though, I consider this album a pinnacle in sequencing terms
and it has all the supplementary decorations to make it an outstanding
all round package. So, the greatest? I would say... (GG)