The Electronic Thread

Klaus Schulze - "Timewind" (1975)

Schulze's fifth full-length has been a long-time favourite of mine & I think it was his best work to the time. It sees him fully defining the Berlin School sound with the lengthy 30-minute opener "Bayreuth Return" being a very solid example of that movement. It's the 29-minute B-side "Wahnfried 1883" that really nails me though as it epitomizes the space ambient subgenre in all its glory, effortlessly transporting me to the outer reaches of the universe. It's truly amazing that Klaus was able to produce stuff like this in his bedroom in a single take.

For fans of Tangerine Dream, Steve Roach & Bernd Kistenmacher.

4.5/5

Depressive Silence - "Depressive Silence [II]" (1996)

One of the more highly regarded dungeon synth releases on the market, German duo Depressive Silence offer up a demo tape that spans five reasonably lengthy instrumental pieces. I have to admit that I went into this expecting something a lot darker than what I ended up receiving though because this is hardly an appropriate soundtrack for a dank & dreary dungeon. The majority of the 37-minute run time sounds much more positive than that which doesn't sit as comfortably with me. It doesn't fit as nicely with the cheap keyboard tones utilized here either to be honest.

For fans of Secret Stairways, Solanum & Gothmog.

3/5

Scorn - "Deliverance" E.P. (1992)

"Deliverance" saw Mick Harris (Napalm Death/Defecation/Doom/Extreme Noise Terror/PainKiller/Pigface/Unseen Terror) & Nick Bullen (Napalm Death) pulling away from the Godflesh-style industrial metal sound of Scorn's "Vae Solis" debut album from earlier that year &, in doing so, single-handedly creating a new subgenre in "illbient", a sound that combines elements of ambient, hip hop & dub. There's still a lot of industrial included here though which makes these five tracks a fairly abrasive listen. The title track is easily the best of them with the other four coming across more as remixes of it than they do as fresh creative statements. The opening three songs are all enjoyable but things go off the rails towards the end of the release with the last couple of tracks being largely redundant but there's still enough quality here for me to enjoy, even if Scorn would undoubtably do much better in the near future.

For fans of Necro Deathmort, Techno Animal & The Third Eye Foundation.

3.5/5

Autechre - "Incunabula" (1993)

The debut full-length from this Manchester duo was a huge influence on the early IDM/ambient techno scene & made a lasting impact on me when I first discovered Autechre in the late 1990's. "Incunabula" may not be their best album overall but it certainly set the tone for a wonderful career that's seen them sitting amongst the absolute elite electronic music artists on the planet for nearly four decades now.

For fans of Aphex Twin, Squarepusher & Clark.

4.5/5