M-Sphere - Electronic Relaxation

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M-Sphere - Electronic Relaxation

M-Sphere

Electronic Relaxation

Isolation Chilling

2003

 

Tracklist

 

1. In the Sea (9.33)

2. Pulsar (7.53)

3. Eyes of Blue (7.31)

4. An Old Dream (9.34)

5. In the Heat (8.50)

6. Melancholic Senses (10.25)

7. Paraglider (6.23)

8. Pulsar II (Noisy Rain Mix) (15.55)

 

This album basically does exactly what it says on the tin. It's dark, atmospheric, chilled and melancholic. I bought this album randomly and it is one of my favourite nice surprises. Still always near the top of my CD pile after a couple of years and I don't really own or have heard much else in this style. So relaxed and dark and sad. Very emotive stuff by Markus Kaiser.

 

 

1. In the Sea

A nice dark, opener to the album here. It has a lot of atmosphere created by some very electronic sounds. A long intro topped of by a sample of a self destruct warning leads into a nice slow, solid beat. The beat gets more intricate as it progresses as do the back ground noises. A melancholic melody and similar sounding synths kick this tune and give it more energy around 6 minutes. It's a great opener and it's pretty varied so doesn't get boring even after 9 and a half minutes.

 

2. Pulsar

Birds tweeting give this intro a very natural feel as do wave sounds so that when the electronic sounds come in they somehow sound natural with it. I think this is an aptly named track as a Pulsar emits electronic radiation and is natural. It takes a while for the beat to kick in. It keeps threatening but when it does it sounds quite tribal. Once again the atmosphere is dark as in night time (not scary). There are some quite upbeat funky sounds but underlying everything is a very drawn out, sad sounding melody. Nice Stuff.

 

3 Eyes of Blue

A very disappointed intro (not disappointing, I think it's great but the feeling I get from the start is like it's trying to portray failure). The melody in this one too has that feeling for me. The beat is slower and I can picture a beaten athlete with his head in his hands while this track is playing in the background. As the track progresses it feels more like it's striving to succeed, whatever it's aim after the initial failure. The track builds, and while the bpm stays the same it gains energy and momentum until... it ultimately fails again. Should be on a soundtrack to something.

 

4 An Old Dream

His father Plays the trumpet on this track and while the trumpet is usually an instrument I can't stand to here the sound of, it is used expertly here to help create a masterpiece of a tune. The intro starts and you can here children playing

far in the background. Very spacey, dreamy sounds are all around and then the beat and then the trumpet comes in. The melody on the trumpet is very simple and so it fits in really well to tell you a sad tale. A little chimney melody runs along side it, supporting it really well. This is my Favourite on the album.

 

5. In the Heat

"Dance out to your Soul" The sample sounds a little to cheesy for this album but not overly cheesy as to ruin it. It actually begins to sound quite dark. The voice changes gradually and the melody is quite nice. While still pretty melancholic this track seems less melancholic than those before it with a much softer beat. Like happy melancholy, a much more upbeat sounding track.

 

6. Melancholic Senses

There we go, back into deep melancholy. Much deeper sounds echo really nicely during the intro with a really ethereal background covering everything. The beat is more prominent again when it finally kicks in. What sounds like a somewhat twisted single cord on the electric guitar is one of many really rough sounding electronic sounds used to give this a very strange junk yard atmosphere from a bleak future. An interesting track with a very cool, dark atmosphere.

 

7. Paraglider

Instantly has a wide open feel. The beat comes in much sooner and is quite a lot quicker than all the previous tracks. Long soft synths seem to float around the track, the melody is great and nice little sounds punctuate the air. It really does feel like flying free like a bird, as the title suggests, and looking down on the world from high above. Even though the beat is faster than the others the track has the same slow sad feeling to it.

 

8. Pulsar II (Noisy Rain Mix)

A remix of track two, it has the same bird sounds opening it but the tune itself is slower and even more natural sounding. It's a long time before there is anything like a beat (nearly 5 minutes) and when it arrives it's a nice slow, lightly kicking one. It's a long track at nearly 16 minutes but for me it moves really well and the evolution of the track is good enough to keep it interesting all the way through when you are properly listening to it. The melody is slow, sad and quite intricate at times, simple at other times. The melody disappears to be replaced by slow but short synths and watery sounds sounds with a simple but effective bassline behind it. A simplified version of the melody attempts to weave it's way back in before the full thing comes back but a slightly different tune and higher pitch.

 

 

So to some this album up. It's Great, it's chilled, it's quite dubby in parts, it's dark and it's sad! Most of the tunes conjure up images in my head of a landscape or a story and that's what I really love about good music. Good journey music that tells a sad tale throughout the album.

The weakest track is #5 as the feel is just slightly not in keeping with the album.

If you like melancholic but not depressing chill out music then you should definately give this a try.

 

Favourites 1, 2, 4! & 7