Into The River

Bruce Springsteen’s fifth album gushes forth with the fury of a burst dam, delivering torrents of despair, inspiration, heartbreak, and joy. The Ties That Bind: The River Collection expands the original 20-song double album to a 4xCD set.

Paul Ellis' Into The Liquid Unknown is as close to classic Berlin-school electronic music (i.e., Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze) as one can get without actually being from the Berlin school. The mechanical sounds of classic analog synthesizers and sequences pulsates on this recording from the beginning until the end. Fans of Steve Roach's early rhythmic- and sequencer-based work, such as Empetus and Now/Traveler, will verily enjoy Ellis' Into The Liquid Unknown. Ellis has crafted this recording into a long-running and cohesive work that drips of electronic music nostalgia, while at the same time creating a work that is truly representative of his own voice. This is a fine recording, and certainly a time-worthy disc for those who have a thirst for German electronic music that longs to be quenched.

Projekt re-releases Vidna Obmana’s classic the River of Appearance with a bonus disc, the entire album performed by Oregon’s Dreams in Exile. River was a high point of Obmana’s early compositional style, presenting a minimal and serene flow utilizing sparse piano lines which intermingle with drifting keyboard loops and organic rainstick sounds. There is an overall harmonic unity on these 8 pieces, stripping dense walls back to reveal a slowly changing sound configuration. The 2nd disc is not merely bonus tracks, but a complete re-creation of the original on traditional instruments. Re-experience the everlasting melancholy of the River of Appearance on this exceptional 10th anniversary 2-CD release.