Frank Van Bogaert
Docking
Play: Lo-Fi   Mid-Fi   Hi-Fi   Download: Lo-Fi   Mid-Fi   Hi-Fi
(Excerpt from track 'Beauty')
Dark undulating drones overlaid by all sorts of effects and swirling sounds get the title track underway. At just under three minutes a jaunty sequence starts up and we get some brief snippets of heavily vocoded speech. The drums come in at the same time as a gorgeous melody played on plucked strings. The contrast between this beautiful optimistic music and the darkness of the first couple of minutes couldn't be more marked. Those that like a good almost lyrical tune will just love this. At six minutes the pace starts to quicken and the whole sound becomes even more powerful but still retaining the melodic quality of before. What a way to start an album!

'The Drift' gets straight into a hazy / lazy Sunday afternoon type of melody. The title of the track sums it up really. This isn't cosmic but instead just a slow paced tranquil number that caresses the senses even when it becomes a little more dramatic / euphoric towards the end. 'Home by the Sea' starts appropriately with the sound of waves breaking on the shore then various faintly ethnic sounds including flute and tabla type drums are introduced. The overall feel is a combination of East and West. Again. the lead lines are just irresistible. Even the rhythms are so damned catchy. The track builds and builds into quite a frenzy then come down to a gentle calm conclusion for the last minute. Its just like having a quiet brandy on the veranda at the end of a day of partying. 'A State of Mind' is slow paced but again jaunty and rhythmic. It has some spoken vocals low in the mix which work very well in the overall context of the piece. 'Where the stars shine bright' is basically a short piano number that wouldn't be out of place on a New Age album. Guess what instrument the next track 'Guitars' features heavily? Correct, well done! They are of the Spanish variety and its all rather happy dancey stuff. Very catchy. 'Churches' opens with heavily treated bell sounds which makes them sound rather mysterious. A slow melancholy melody begins to unfold.

Tabla rhythms start up providing quite a contrast to the lead line. More western rhythms are then introduced and it all seems to fit and work together beautifully. Its another one of those numbers where its hard to keep the body still whilst listening to it. From its melancholy beginning the track develops into an optimistic number which really rocks. My sort of Church I think! 'Hymn' starts with a slow sequence. Piano and what sounds like sampled wordless vocals then provide the melodies to another beautiful and uplifting track. Its the sort of thing that the Scottish tourist board might have used (sorry that will probably only mean something to UK readers) in one of their TV adds. 'Landfall' starts off slow and brooding but becomes much more optimistic when the plucked string lead enters. At under two minutes the rhythms come in and it transmutes into the most rocky number on the disc. 'Beauty' is a title that sums up this entire album and certainly applies to this piano number. He can sure tickle those ivories. 'Epilogue' is a short symphonic track, finishing the album in a rather grand manner.

All Frank's three albums are very different. This should be liked by those who enjoyed 'Geographic' but it is an even more melodic and emotional album. There are Electronic Musicians and there are musicians that happen to play on electronic instruments, Frank is most certainly the latter. He has proved here that he is the most accomplished 'tunesmith' in Electronic Music today. The cross- over potential of this album to the more mainstream market is enormous. (DL)

This page is part of a frame set. If you can't see the information strip to the left of the screen then click on the smd logo above.