Harald Grosskopf Yeti Society Play Sample:   56K Dialup   Broadband   Download Sample:   500K   1.5Mb (Excerpt from track(s) 'Circumspection') Please go to the Store to buy this item.

Having now listened to 'Yeti Society' four or five times now l can confirm that we're firmly in 'Mars Polaris' Tangerine Dream territory with a strong hint of Chicane and the lightest smattering of the Deep Forest sound thrown in for good measure. That pretty much nails it l think!!! So the big question – is it Berlin School or is it ambient? Well the truth is…….neither. It is however an eclectic mix of pure spacified bliss interspersed with dancified synth riffs and drum loops. Though what all this has to do with any kind of 'Yeti Society' has me at a loss,( we're not painting any great sonic pictures here folks!!!) the album's concept actually being based rather vaguely upon Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton's ill fated South Pole attempt, 1914.

Grosskopf has produced an album, assisted by long time collaborator Steve Baltes, which carries on in a rather schizophrenic manner skipping with surprising ease between its rather spacey roots and out and out euphoric techno beats. 'Circumspection'(7.20) setting the scene for the entire album with World Music type chants leading to a huge nasally sounding pad. A drum loop stutters its way into the piece and three minutes in a theme reveals itself in a very modern day Schulzian fashion which really kicks to life, dominating the track to its close when a sub harmonic bassline joins forces creating something quite memorable and fantastic!!! Certainly a track you need to hear on a big speaker setup to get the most from it.

The drum loops are back, as too is the sub harmonic bass as 'Bravery'(5.22) gets going in a Drum n' Bass style that would normally seem completely out of place leaving the SMD crowd running for cover, but Harald and Steve make this one work just fine. The percussion leads the way with a sonic backdrop of synth FX and subliminal voices. A simple theme is played out as the track gently modulates pushed along by a simple bassline, coming out sounding not unlike Paul Nagles live efforts with Binar. The track doesn't really appear to have any kind of a conclusion though, that outlandish Drum n' Bass sound also being unintentionally sterilized in a clinical European hi-tech kind of way instead of being more low–fi and grungy.

Track three,' Elephant Island'(6.34) is a real standout track on the album; for the first time on this outing a piece that really breathes. Not exactly my most favourite of style's drifting in with a mystical air and tribal colourings. Strong hand drumming patterns emerge from the sonic melange playing against more drum loops and a rather sharp resonant bass. All very World Music orientated, but none the less a very cohesive track, worthy of note.

As 'Endurance'(5.42) springs to life it seems pretty obvious to me that we've just entered Synthetik, Intelligentsia styled uptemponess. A nice organ sound bounces around the mix prior to a deep space swathe of synths taking us back to the beginning's of the track only this time strongly augmented by a choppy synth sound acting as counter rhythm, the track just takes off brilliantly in a 100% Chicane trance house mode. This is great, if not alittle misplaced, enjoy it for what it is!!! Synthwise we're really into that Mars Polaris sound on this track more than any other as 'South Georgia'(5.30) strikes home. Again like the previous track it takes until the halfway mark to find its feet, heavily processed guitar and Hammond organ picking out the tempo in a metronomic way. A wave sequence unfortunately introduces some slight digital clipping on this track, an artefact not too noticeable though thankfully.

Track six and 'Broad Liquids'(5.25) see's the sub harmonic bassline return together with a pacey drum loop sounding rather like the System 7/ Steve Hillage ramblings of about a decade ago. All alittle simplistic seeming like a mere filler track, sounding constructed rather than composed. A thoroughly forgettable piece.

The very cosmic 'Endeavourance'(8.11) announces itself with the chants returning once more over a deep space soundbed of synths. Voices almost buried in the huge soup of electronicness chatter away. This a piece with all the trappings of an epic Vangelis inspired workout. Huge shifting synth pads drifting over light intermittent percussion. All excellent stuff which see's the album to its close as the chanting returns.

The album also features extra data tracks which playback as QuickTime movies on your PC/Mac for the tracks 'Bravery' and 'Endurance'. The visual foray for 'Bravery' should go down well as its typical of the sort of video fly throughs that we can experience at NSC shows as we buzz over lakes and mountains in an otherworldly digital landscape. The video, not unlike the audio track failing to find its conclusion. The 'Endurance' visual takes a very different approach to video production,( apparently having been first screened at the 2004 E-Live festival). It's just as valid an artistic statement as the other track visual, this one asking some big questions along the way about mundane everyday life but doesn't really serve to help answer them.