Cosmic Hoffmann Electric Trick Play Sample:   56K Dialup   Broadband   Download Sample:   500K   1.5Mb (Excerpt from track(s) 'Carina Cygnus')

This is the latest album by Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock. He also records as Mind Over Matter but under that name, certainly recently, he has been delving into more ambient realms. Recordings under the Cosmic Hoffmann name tend to bridge the gap between exciting up tempo numbers and more, er well, Cosmic music! As is often the case he is joined here on five tracks by Stephen Parsick from Ramp. Gentle guitar licks float above tranquil electronic tones forming a very peaceful start to 'Timeshift'. It doesn't stay like that for long though as ball breaking sequences and wonderful guitar riffs take over. These subside and are replaced by more conventional, rather Berlin School, sequences accompanied by splashing percussive effects and an Eastern Influenced lead line.

The guitar can still be heard low in the mix from time to time but it is the leads and superb sequence along with excellent mellotron that are now doing the business. With a couple of minutes to go we return to a similar feel to how we opened. This track was first aired at Jodrell Bank. 'The Gate of Bihar' begins in rather dark ominous fashion as vast thick pads rise and fall. All rather dramatic stuff. The Mellotron is an instrument that Klaus loves and is quite famous for and it is used wonderfully here turning the mood from foreboding to one of melancholy longing with something of an ethereal edge. Simply beautiful. Sequences return once again for 'Sehr Mystisch', falling into place alongside a shuffling rhythm, lovely solar winds and other cosmic effects. It reminded me a little of early Tim Blake. It's another absolutely superb track. The Blake like sequencer comparison is also evident on the next track 'Indian' Bliss' as it wouldn't have been out of place on 'Crystal Machine'. Lovely deep analogue pulsations rumble forward over samples of a busy Indian street. The sequence rises and falls morphing as it goes and the backing changes gradually from the city to the country. By the sixth minute all has descended to a swirling atmospheric section with little guitar licks and it is from this point that we enter a more sedate middle section of the album. 'Space Pioneers' begins with some pre launch commentary of a real or imagined first manned launch. We then get the blast off itself accompanied by engine sounds and whooshing effects before a space flight section represented by a whole host of swirling psychedelic rhythms and effects including more mellotron.