Pete Namlook & Klaus Schulze Dark Side of the Moog 8 (AW)

Superb cosmic bleeps and otherworldly effects shimmer from speaker to speaker for the first few seconds then a very (late 80's?) Klaus Schulze sequence / drum pattern starts to rumble away. Faint vocoded voices whisper underneath. Close your eyes and the music will draw you in, the sequence hypnotizing and intriguing you at the same time. It isn't unusual on a Namlook / Schulze collaboration for certain sections to be easily attributable to one of the artists. This section sounds 100% Schulze. You wouldn't need a credit on the sleeve to be certain of his involvement. Half way in to the twenty five minute opening section the pace quickens and the sequence becomes louder, the drums really start to kick and another typically Schulzian sequence is tossed into the pot, incredible! Turn up loud. This must have got the audience in raptures, absolutely amazing!

Eighteen minutes in and a fantastic lead floats like a ghost over the top and the intensity of the main sequence builds still further. All good things must come to an end however and we return to the cosmos (the audience being heard showing their enthusiastic appreciation) for a very short spaced out section. On Part Three synth pads and vocoded vocals make it seem as though you are on the edge of some strange dream which gets still weirder as deep drones and non human cries intrude on what would otherwise be a calm scene.

Part Four gets us back to a sequence ('train' type) and sounds much more Namlook than Schulze, still pretty damned brilliant though. The sequence / drum patterns become increasingly complex and wild, causing the body to move and shudder in unison to the beat. Things moderate in the second half and all is calm again by the time we enter Part Five which is another gentle interlude taking us to Part Six. This sequencer based offering isn't as dynamic as the previous blasts but the best is saved for the second half where some stonking Klaus Schulze lead lines (early 80's?) are let rip.

Part Seven doesn't waste much time before getting into the rhythm but so many different sounds and patterns are used that it is very easy to get lost in a vast mesh of syncopation and cosmic twitters.