Klaus Schulze Trancefer (Reissue) CD / 4 tracks / 75.05 mins Please go to the Store to buy this item.

The original album contained just two extended pieces, now presented here with an additional two bonus tracks from the IC labels archive at a time when they dabbled with different LP playback speeds, an idea that l never really understood which always left me with a feeling that the musical merit of a piece was somehow devalued and expendable. All told,'Trancefer' is a pretty underrated album that see's the eclectic trio working well together, producing some astoundingly good music between them which never for one moment looses direction. In places it almost seem's like a blueprint of what was to come on the next legendary release; those same three player's again all taking part in that recording. Critics have said time and again that 'Trancefer' was just another harsh, cold and teutonic/industrial strength album from Schulze. Doubtless these would be the same reviewers that preferred their Mellotronic choirs and swashes of analogue strings, but that wasn't where Klaus was heading back in the early eighties with his all new digital approach, using equipment that was precise and reliable that could provide real clarity on his recordings. Fans may have been clinging onto the past, but things had moved on for Klaus, they had to; he had no desire to sit still and stagnate. Surely the fans didn't want him to stay put, playing that which was familiar only to become a long forgotten relic of the seventies with a notable back catalogue, but no future worth a mention. It was musical and technological evolution that changed events and Klaus was in no mood to be left behind. Some fans made the leap with him, some didn't – simple as that.

'Trancefer' marked the way forward with a style that grew throughout the eighties. It now comes to us in the standard issue double gatefolded card clip case with front cover transfers of the original art. This time around the 20 page accompanying booklet has footnotes from Klaus regarding the bonus track playback speed experiments and also alittle about the seventies 'Go' sessions with Michael Shrieve. Klaus D Mueller further adding to the speed experiment information on the last page and the reasoning behind adding these rare remixes to this disc.

Play commences with 'A Few Minutes After Trancefer'(18.23) from the original album. Klaus has setup a squelchy sounding sequencer rhythm blighted only by some big sampled digital slams. Wolfgang very cautiously enters the play undiscernibly fitting himself into the background working around the synth string sound of Schulze. Four minutes in and the tangoesque snare drumming of Shrieve is with us and all players seem to have found some common ground. The big digital slams return suddenly breaking everything up in a rather more aggressive way and we're straight into 'Audentity' type territory,( not that we ever really stray that far from it!!!). Light electronic percussion comes into the picture for Shrieve to play against and things are really moving now, each player playing off the other to perfection. Schulze's sonic slams interrupt the out and out jamming session finally returning order to the increasingly disjointed good time that everyone is having. Dissonant Cello and synth string tones drift peacefully by as Shrieve's strict time signature returns on the snare. The piece fading away with more light soloing from Schulze.

Track 2, 'Silent Running'(18.58) taken from the original album is an inspired and thought provoking piece still capable of making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up with its super eerie introduction. The Cello is bowed rapidly creating a rhythm of sorts interspersed with drum strikes from Shrieve as the tension builds and builds in this high drama track. This really is superb stuff rarely bettered by Schulze when in atmospheric mode. The single big pad chord is held throughout the entire duration of the piece as the three musicians chip away at the track keeping things good and edgy for not just some of the track, but all of it!!! Layers build up gradually here surfacing from the dense synthesised background. This is a fine cohesive track that grabs you from the outset, Schulze creating an extended piece here from a single solitary idea. It's up to the other players as much as Klaus himself to make this one work, which is something they do brilliantly. I'd have to say that this was a decidedly daring experiment to have tried out on an album back then. There is pace and dynamics which at it's very heart see's the trio frenetically working away to keep in control of every nuance of the music. It's flawless and perhaps more experimental than most anything attempted in the previous decade!!!