V/A 
593743
2CD
TURN CENTURY TURN 2-FLUORESCENT TUNNELVISION (2CD)

CONTEMPORARY (EURO-ROCK)

The second volume of the ‘Turn Century Turn’ project, and this one is a double disc set featuring 17 previously unreleased tracks that will delight anyone into contemporary instrumental music. It is firmly set in the sphere of Krautrock – A full on, non-stop variety of delights from an assemblage of guitar, synths/electronics, bass & drums driven bands that you don’t often encounter roaming in this pack-like manner… Circle, F/i, Pseudo Buddha, Zelany Rashoho, Oranj Climax, Djam Karet, Quarkspace, Melodic Energy Commission, Ektroverde, Faust, Volcano The Bear, Escapade, Tombstone Valentine, Mushroom, Tree Sine, 2012 and Subarachnoid Space all have exclusive tracks to offer on this attractively priced double album. 

Disc 1 starts with the ever impressive Circle doing a nine minute killer of a track and one of the most powerful they’ve laid down to date - Music with all guns blazing and as magical a blitz of Krautrock-inspired bass-drums, guitars-synths maelstrom as you’re likely to find this side of Acid Mothers Tempel. F/i do a superb track that is more languid than the material their first album, but it’s an absolute pearl in the instrumental space-rock-Floyd side of things with hints of Escapade, Floyd, with a decided Krautrock hue to the track’s layers and chords from guitars, bass, drums, Mellotron and more – absolutely superb. Pseudo Buddha gives us an initially quite foggy, cosmic track, before adding psychedelic guitar, assorted echoed voice samples and some really wicked lead guitar squalls. After a three minute slice of swirling flutes and droning electronics from the heavily seventies Krautrock-inspired Zelany Rashoho, comes an ocean of space, cosmic, swirling, and swooping multi-synths from the trio that is the magnificent Oranj Climax. A near nine minute Djam Karet track reveals a new angle to their already vast arsenal of soundscapes, with a piece that sounds way more contemporary than ever, with huge swathes of synths and some wicked electric guitar work that’s a bit like modern Richard Pinhas in many ways. Meanwhile Quarkspace fire up a veritable cauldron of sonic soup with guitars, synths, bass & drums, blazing one awesome vapour trail through the skies as layer after layer produces some of the finest instrumental contemporary space/kraut-rock on the planet. An even rarer event is an exclusive track from Melodic Energy Commission, their first new music since the early eighties, and they chose to follow an altogether multi-layered path with loads of instrumental work from an assortment of guitars, drums, gong, bass, keyboards and more. Ektroverde round off part 1 of the album in fine fashion with a nine minute sonic boom of a track where synths, guitars, electronics, drums and bass are all surging forward in a huge hail of space-rock – meets - kraut-rock. The result is one awesome instrumental wall of sound with the melody and rhythm layers struggling to break to the surface, and it sounds incredible. Disc 2 opens with Faust, the modern-day variety, enjoying the excuse to re-create the seventies version of the band, only making it even more obtuse than it was way back then. This eight-minute track moves through all sorts of atmospheres and structures, and the sound serves to testify that fact, but it’s all way bizarre with hardly a recognisable landmark in sight. Volcano The Bear provide five minutes of droning, almost free, Krautrock style electronics and more, but it’s not a particularly good track. Next, Escapade serves you up seven minutes of sheer magic, with a stunning piece of guitars-bass-drums-electronics-driven music that has all the hallmarks of classic 70’s Krautrock style jamming only this has recognisable rhythms and melodies, surging riffs, swooping space synths and a swirling bottom layer of electronics and effects, as the whole thing climbs and drives magnificently. Tombstone Valentine kind of does one of those cyclical pieces that used to be a staple part of the Gunther Schickert diet, with guitars and droning electronics/guitars giving a neat twist on a familiar method. The seven minute Mushroom track starts in slowly jazzy vein with subdued brass, gentle rhythms and clipped guitar figures, over which a spiky lead guitar and assorted electronic effects weave some peculiar spells over what is essentially a lurching rhythm base, and somehow it all manages to sound quite hypnotic. Tree Sine actually maintain this atmosphere and feel, but add a touch of classic early Can, with rolling drums, and distant squally keyboards/electronics - All quite stark but powerful stuff. The 2012 track is six minutes of multi-textured cosmic, space bliss, but the dark, forceful and rich-sounding variety. The CD ends with fourteen minutes of Subarachnoid Space on a slow-starting dual-guitar-led vintage seventies-sounding Ash Ra Tempel style jam type track that gradually builds and builds, by seven minutes having turned into a steaming example of classic guitars-driven Krautrock-influenced music, taking you on an ever spiralling, intensifying and sonically glorious trip.

Weight: 250.00 g