Kagermann Keller Schonwalder & Friends
The Liquid Sessions
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(Excerpt from track 'Alle Wasser laufen ins Meer')
CD / 3 tracks / 55.41 mins

Now, if this had have been an AirSculpture album the title would have probably referred to the refreshments taken during the set but as the 'friends' this time comprise the usual Manikin label entourage plus one Thomas Kagermann this is not the case here. Instead it refers to the rather unique properties of the location, the watery Toskana Therme (same inspiration for the Liquid Sounds Vols 1&2 Various artists albums). Thomas Kagermann is a violinist who, on this album, tends to improvise around the lower end of the range of his instrument thus the overall effect is very much like that provided by Wolfgang Tiepold on some of Klaus Schulze's albums, particularly on the resent 'Contemporary Works' outings. Indeed even the electronic sounds chosen and the way they are used throughout the set make this a very Schulzian sounding album from beginning to end- but more of that later.

Deep drones mix with angelic pads creating a lovely serene setting. A delicate little melody is then added providing some focus. A sequence (or loop) enters in the sixth minute, Bas Broekhuis starting up a sympathetic rhythm alongside it. Just before the ten-minute mark Thomas can be heard for the first time, his violin weaving a melancholy spell. It is as we begin the second track however that some eyebrows will be raised as in enter two vocal lines, one male and one female. Now Klaus has also used vocals in his works from time to time and the effect of the male vocal here is indeed similar to some of his experiments. These utterances are fleeting however leaving the string sounds and electronics to meander over a slow four note percussive loop. They return for just a few seconds about five minutes later, the violin combining beautifully with lovely ethereal pads as they go. The female vocal can be heard very faintly again in the eleventh minute (wordless this time) mixing beautifully with the sonic backing.

It's on the bridge between the second and last track however where the vocals did remind me a little of Ernst Fuchs but they are gone before you know it, to be replaced by some more exquisite Tiepoldish backing. This is now incredibly Schulze like; beautiful, beautiful stuff. A little melody fits like a hand in glove with Thomas' playing forming a rhythmic quality all of its own then a synth flute lead line enters combining perfectly with the other instrumentation. In the twelfth minute we get some more light vocal effects, used in more of a percussive manner (looped maybe) than actually singing. Not all Keller & Schonwalder fans will like this album but if you are into Klaus Schulze's more experimental works, as described above, then go for it. It is an album that I personally have had on repeatedly as I work during the day. (DL)

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