Remy Different Shades of Dust Play: Lo-Fi   Mid-Fi   Hi-Fi   Download: Lo-Fi   Mid-Fi   Hi-Fi (Excerpt from track 'Following Differences')

OK, not the most inspiring of titles for an album, the dull slipcard casing and artwork also purveying a sense of doom and gloom even before the disc hits the CD player, but you never know. I am hoping for great things from this, an artist whose work l have only ever heard once before, and as such cannot profess to be that familiar with. 'Following Differences' opens the ball.

Listening to the CD l soon I find that l have stopped writing the review, the music commanding my attention. I hear real invention and imagination at work here. From its simplistic beginnings the track rapidly evolves into something very deep and complex, projecting a sense of pace and urgency. I check the time on the CD player only to find that l have been completely transfixed for the first ten minutes of the piece listening to a steady build up of sequences interacting with one another in such a way that you just know this guy knows exactly what he's doing. I have to admit that this sounds like the music of a real composer whose contemplation of the piece allows him to steer it effortlessly to wherever he chooses to go next. The arbitory Mellotron strings make their presence felt at the twelve minute mark, (Tron choirs following along shortly).

This is a truly superb piece of electronica with all the weight, mood and suggestion of a classic! He lends a feel to the music that l can only describe as that human element, something that very few electronic synth artistes seem to be able to convey. At 18+ minutes this is an extended piece, but that is not to say that it has been protracted in any way. There are no elaborate solos, no extended improvisations, just musicality. There is nothing in this piece that really doesn't need to be there for a purpose. Remy has been likened to Schulze's late 80's/90's work, but to hear the closing minutes of this first track as it winds down you'll soon come to realise that even Schulze never managed to bring things together this well!! Devastatingly brilliant stuff right to the very last note!!

Track two, 'Shades in the Darkness' and, oh no, the mood is broken immediately with a contemporary drum pattern and resonant bass, sounding mildly like early 80's fusion. There are still many synth layers at work here cycling around, when at the halfway mark a more aggressive, busier bass kicks in, but it's predominantly the drums which rule the day.

'Moving through Dust' is the third and final instalment on the CD. With a quirky start this 21 minuter, with it's very obvious Schulzian leanings and simple A/B/A structure, rattles through variations on a theme. Gradually it builds, with a peppering of counter-point riding high on the musical agenda. A distorted synth solo kicks in and we are carried along on a 10 minute break of heady space rock. The piece continues into its conclusion breaking down the layers of instrumentation, leaving us with Mellotron choir to wrap things up.