Patrick Kosmos
Monuments Vol 1
All this music is from Patrick’s early cassette-only albums recorded before his works for the IC label. The first disc is made up of mainly shorter tracks (though four are around the ten minute mark) taken from various albums whilst the second disc is from just one early cassette plus a previously unreleased piece. After an atmospheric beginning ‘Edgerunner’ turns into a highly melodic and rhythmic track not unlike early Ian Boddy. Its a real foot tapper and the lead lines are first rate building to quite majestic proportions in its four minute duration. ‘Jetlag’ begins as a typical Berlin School sequencer outing but then some heavy drums enter giving the track a quite aggressive feel. A real corker! ‘Skylining’ gets straight into a sequencer line running alongside a rhythm. The main trump cards here though are the melodies which are of a quality rarely matched today, again Ian Boddy came to mind. ‘Snowwalking’ is much more laid back with a plodding rhythm. ‘Eruption’ builds slowly and again is another very enjoyable melodic / rhythmic outing, the lead lines could have come straight off one of John Dyson’s CDs. ‘Syncussion’ keeps up the high standard, developing from simple beginnings into a complex but hypnotic rhythmic groove which shifts subtly at the three minute mark to stop your mind wandering off too far. Next we get the short tranquil ‘Impro’ which takes us to ‘City of Dreams’. A wind blown landscape provides the backdrop for melancholy melodies. The rhythm holds off until just before the three minute mark but when it arrives its superbly effective. Could easily have accompanied the closing titles to some mega budget Hollywood epic. Wow, what a track!

‘Earthbound’ is darker than anything preceding it, lush synth pads providing a surface on which melodies come and go. I presume the guitar sound at the half way mark is real as I don’t think ‘virtual guitars’ were as realistic as this in the late 80s. Very effective it is though providing a harder edge to the melodies. ‘Nightview’ is a short track which brings the first disc to a close but is my least favourite number so far and I don’t really think it was necessary. So on to disc two. and ‘Lophophora Part A’ The first five minutes are mainly float and then we get a bizarre melody that would be more suited as theme music to a comical looking alien from a sci-fi film. The sequence that weaves around it though is much more appealing. At the eleven minute mark we return to the floating pads and a minute or so later the next sequence starts to build but then fades away again as another melody comes forth, but that too disappears and we are taken to deep space. ‘Part B’ begins with some odd (Muslim?) vocal samples though I must admit they do create a rather unique atmosphere that becomes very uneasy around the six minute mark with a slow beat, almost like that of a heart, which is joined with what sounds like a marching drum as the pads begin to swell and become more intense. ‘Part C’ is a short but much jollier flute dominated track. ‘The Final Lophophora’ is initially gently rhythmic with piano melody. A third of the way in the pace quickens considerably and for me makes this section the highlight of the second CD. At eight minutes things calm down again. Another laid back rhythm comes in and the piano returns to finish proceedings in a tranquil manor.

So there we have it, two very different discs, the first being made up of melodic rhythmic numbers sounding very British at times but the second being more of a concept where the tracks are much moodier and atmospheric. At times the source material does show its age recording quality wise but a much appreciated release never the less and it certainly introduced me to a completely new side of Patrick Kosmos. (DL)

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