Klaus Schulze

Goes Classic is a Schulze's adaption of masterworks by the old classical masters, done with his usual cosmic flair. The arrangements of the pieces don't sound updated or original. Except for a very few novel sounds, the synthesizer patches sound like basic programs and samples found on many mid- level synthesizers of the early nineties. The recordings sound too much like a synthesizer trying to replicate an orchestra, rather than reinterpret. The innovative sounds that made the seventies Schulze albums enjoyable are nowhere to be found. Nonetheless, the album makes good background music. While the synthesis does not capture the excitement of a live orchestra, Schulze manages to keep the recording from sounding robotic.

The Essential 72-93 is a makeshift best-of, piecing together some of Klaus Schulze's most alluring and interesting electronic offerings. With 14 tracks from over ten albums, this compilation is a generous retrospection into this former Tangerine Dream member's material. Many of his masterpieces are included on this double CD, like the swirling electronic breeze of "Wahnfried 1883" from 1975's Timewind, or the out-of-body atmospheric waves of "Floating" from Moondawn. Also breathtaking is the ten minute synthesized soup of "Ludwig II Von Bayern" off of the monumental X album, and the chilling glaze of "Freeze," a superb example of keyboard artistry as Schulze precipitates an icy climate from basic tonal applications…

This is Schulze's first attempt at opera, and it has yielded mixed results. Klaus Schulze has been deeply influenced by Richard Wagner and his music. So it is natural that he would compose, produce and perform (except the vocals) the world's first electronic opera. Totentag: Oper in 7 Bildern (roughly Death Day: An Opera in 7 Scenes) is a monumental achievement. Klaus, in keeping with a tradition started by Mozart, composed the opera in his native German. He recruited five virtuoso vocalists to play/sing the roles. The opera, again in the truest German tradition, is tragic. It tells the story of a young man and his drug induced hallucinations and visions.

Electronic music pioneer Klaus Schulze has released Silhouettes, his first album of new music in 5 years. “In the wake of your 70th birthday, you naturally find yourself looking back at the past,” notes Schulze. “So the result is a reorientation, a renewed awareness of what is really important.” With this album, Schulze says that he has tried to reduce his music to its essential elements. “No great distractions, nothing to force your attention in a certain direction, no major effects or gimmicks, no frills or dominant rhythms,” he explains. “ It was important to me to paint the pictures in the depth of the space, the sonic fields of tension and atmosphere.”

Volume Two (three CDs) in this series reissuing all the material found on the long out of print Ultimate Edition box sets (for more background on the series as a whole, see La Vie Electronique 1) is much more interesting than volume one, and the pick of the first six volumes. The music comes from 1972-1975 (but mostly 1972-1973), a rich period of experimentation, as Schulze was gradually forging what would be known as his "classic" sound, nearly palpable by "Blaue Stunde," the 38-minute piece from 1975 concluding the set. This second installment contains more finished works than the drafts-and-jams-packed volume one. "Das große Identifikationsspiel" (42 minutes) is a very good suite of rather experimental music written for a science fiction radio drama by Alfred Behrens. The 27-minute "Titanensee" was done with a ballet in mind, never to be produced; again, it is a strong work in Schulze's experimental vein. However, the undisputed highlight of volume two is a whole album's worth of collaborations with Hans-Jörg Stahlschmidt, a project that had been brought to completion, only to gather dust on a record company's shelves.

Klaus Schulze is a founding member of Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel, two seminal bands in the evolution of synthesizer-based electronic music. Big in Japan is the double CD plus DVD release by Klaus Schulze - drawn from his performances in Tokyo on the 20th and 21st of March 2010. This multi-disc set provides all the "playing in the moment" excitement listeners love in their live albums, yet also delivers the powerful and lasting listening experience one would expect from a musical legend.

Klaus Schulze is a founding member of Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel, two seminal bands in the evolution of synthesizer-based electronic music. Big in Japan is the double CD plus DVD release by Klaus Schulze - drawn from his performances in Tokyo on the 20th and 21st of March 2010. This multi-disc set provides all the "playing in the moment" excitement listeners love in their live albums, yet also delivers the powerful and lasting listening experience one would expect from a musical legend.

Beyond Recall is the twenty-third album by Klaus Schulze. He sticks to a tried-and-true formula and incorporates sequences, samples, atmospheres, riffs, and melodies into his sound design. And there is no theme that is particular to this CD. There are five pieces, and each piece has its own thematic integrity. This is the second of seven early-1990s Klaus Schulze albums not to be reissued by Revisited Records.

CD 1, on the one hand, contains the second part of the Oberhausen-concert, with "Schwanensee" on the other: two solo pieces which were recorded in 1976 in the studio in Hambühren.
"Fear at Madame Tussaud's" was recorded in April, 1977 in the London planetarium – at that time a novelty, for it was the first time that a concert was held in a planetarium …