Der Laborant Kontakt (Download CDR) 6 tracks / 73.19 mins Play Sample:   56K Dialup   Broadband Download Sample:   500K   1.5Mb (Excerpt from track(s) 'Kontakt')

Der Laborant is Gerd Wienekamp who is one half of the superb Rainbow Serpent. If you are into that band this CD will be an absolute delight. The closest comparison would be their album 'Voyager' but he certainly has put his own individual stamp to the music. 'Excelsis Dei' begins as if you are walking down a long corridor in some futuristic space ship, cosmic shimmers and electric beeps on the edge of hearing surround you. Then deep synth pads flesh out the sound and a feeling of openness prevails. A solo Gregorian chant makes a brief appearance then more cosmic warblings come to the surface. A lovely lead line plays underneath and the Gregorian chant returns. I know that chants are becoming very over used in EM but the subtlety and brevity of their introduction here is such that they act as colour rather than the main focus. We are four minutes into the piece, drifting beautifully, before the first sequence emerges. Its pace quickens slightly and a rhythm is added. The effect is really quite stunning, not blistering but amazingly successful. Had me moving around the room anyway. Laid back dynamism! What a start to the CD! 'Gefallener Engel' makes use of string stabs, cosmic effects and a very quirky rhythm to produce a piece the like of which I certainly haven't heard before. Very inventive.

'Die Maschine' initially makes use of a beautiful solo lead line but it isn't long before a superb sequence appears. As on the first track this is devastatingly effective without resorting to going at a hundred miles per hour. The sequence changes at just the right times and the lead lines are pin sharp rather than aimless as can sometimes happen on this sort of album. 'Kontakt' starts as a drifting piece but as we get five minutes in the sequences start to bubble then an insistent beat drives things along to its close. 'Lazarus' shows us how subtle Gerd Wienekamp can be. There are some vocoded vocals very low in the mix that provide colour to the synth pads. The sequence becomes very hypnotic and trance like. It is the sort of thing that you just float to and let your mind wander. The final track 'Verwandlungen' gets straight underway with a driving beat which mutates and increases in pace at about the two minute mark. All is change again after another couple of minutes as a rumbling sequence appears underneath. This combination of rhythm and sequence continues to the end of the track and finishes the album in a very pleasing fashion.