Shulman - Endless Rhythms of the Beatless Heart

[abasio]

Bastards

Just when I have no money :pissed:

 

 

[Aleph Zero]

Check out the E-flyer with all info and samples!!!

 

http://www.aleph-zero.info/media/AlephZ08/...ulman4Flyer.htm

[Guest Amnesia]

Always have been like shulmans music and when i hear on the samples that this is a great ethnic influenced album

with among alot of cultures like arabian,greek such things of sounds. When i heard the track Transmissions in Bloom

fall in love directly & have this cd on my buying list!

 

 

Good work Alpha Zero

[Aleph Zero]

Hi All!

Check out this great clip from the Shulman band live show @ TAZ festival 2007!

 

http://www.aleph-zero.info/videos.html

 

or straight from youtube:

 

Enjoy!

[psygnus]

Great video!

Thanks!

[Charlie]

Is this out yet?

[abasio]

Saw it in the shops a few weeks ago

[Charlie]

Ahh, so it is out. Surprised no one here has posted a review yet.

[amphiton]

I wasn't too impressed by this album.

[Charlie]

Really? How come, amphition?

[amphiton]

Really? How come, amphiton?

I think Native State is doing a better job. Just look at his Aleph Zero label, their latest VA sounds just as minimal as Native State's 'Bioluminescnece' or 'Beneath the Surface' compilations and has half of people in the tracklist from them.

 

I mean Shulman is Shulman, why is he trying to sound like somebody else? Not only does Aleph Zero repeat other's ideas, but he also changed his style into more minimialistic and added his organic touch... and there you go - an album released.

 

On the other hand, I'd rather listen to this album than 90% of other chill/ambient, it's top quality for sure, but he definitely has more potential, that's why I wasn't blown away by it.

[Charlie]

I mean Shulman is Shulman, why is he trying to sound like somebody else?

Mmm. That doesn't sound too promising.

[psygnus]

Well i agree with amphiton...

This is not what i expected. Of course this could be, because i hate the sound of some arabian-mid eastern pipes (Don't know their english names ) and this album is full of them.

Of course their previous albums had alot of ethnic elements , but i think they were more carefully placed beneath the electronic surface.

Of course this is a top level album in general, but not a top shulman album like amphiton said.

 

Take it easy..

[psygnus]

Well i agree with amphiton...

This is not what i expected. Of course this could be, because i hate the sound of some arabian-mid eastern pipes (Don't know their english names ) and this album is full of them.

Of course their previous albums had alot of ethnic elements , but i think they were more carefully placed beneath the electronic surface.

Of course this is a top level album in general, but not a top shulman album like amphiton said.

 

Take it easy..

 

p.s. Double post by mistake...sorry, please mods delete one of those

[Aleph Zero]

A short update:

 

Check this amazing live video from Shulman's latest live show at the Comfort 13 club in Tel-Aviv, Israel (together with Ozric Tentacles). It'll give you a feel of the amazing new live show.

 

This is a live version of the remix to Ya Bouy by Omar Faruk Tekbilek & Steve Shehan.

 

 

Also check photos from the show at Shulman's myspace profile: http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?...albumID=1679794

 

 

 

Plus, here are some of quotes from the reviews on the album:

 

"[A] lush and beautiful soundscape that combines the rich natural sounds of traditional Semitic instruments with pure synthesis. Every second implants the listener with images of the most amazing natural wonders and emotions, enveloping them in an aural paradise. The disparate elements of the songs merge so seamlessly that you're left without question that the composers are true musical masters. ..Endless Rhythms of the Beatless Heart is what every ambient lover dreams of, with all of the emotion and intensity intact. ..It's the very soul of ambience, the musical embodiment of serenity and utter bliss." 5/5 stars - Ethnotechno.com

 

"The true measure of Shulman's success with Endless Rhythms of the Beatless Heart [is] in that he's synthesized the global experiences of the last thirty years into an endlessly evolving mix that ignores all borders. This is the soundtrack of the global citizen. " - Igloo Magazine (USA)

 

"Once again Shulman and Aleph Zero deliver more than what the expectative demanded. I have listened to this album many times, and still this attempt to review it seems quit poor compared to the complexity of the music presented here. Respect!... Definitely one of the must have releases of the year, something that I will still be listening to 10 years from now." - www.isratrance.com (Israel)

 

"Endless Rhythms Of The Beatless Heart" is [like a] beautiful eclectic collection of flowers picked up from the meadow called the art of the music and... proudly presented to us by Omri Harpaz and Yaniv Shulman." 5/5 stars. - psybient.net (Poland)

 

"..arguably [shulman's] most accomplished album to date... New listeners & fans of Shulman alike will not be disappointed." - BPM Magazine (South Africa)

 

"Shulman is back with more spaced-out big beats over which sounds of fracturing crystals and mournful laser beams sum up our surreal, deep and harmonious lives. ...Give yourself a... treat and pick up this album."- Haight Ashbury Beat (USA)

 

“All this fusion created one of the most interesting albums made here.” - Layla Magazine (Israel)

 

 

E-flyer: http://www.aleph-zero.info/media/AlephZ08/...ulman4Flyer.htm

[CyclotronMajesty]

I wrote this review a long time ago and never posted it becuase i never finished the whole review - however I thought I would put it up now nonetheless seeing as i'm not going to finish it...

 

 

 

 

Tracklisting:

1 Retroscape (11:32)

Arranged By [bass] - Danny Shnaiderman

Arranged By [Rhodes] - Yakir Ben-Tov

2 Transmissions In Bloom (12:50)

Composed By, Guitar [Electric] - Ariel Mann

3 Odd Reflections (10:17)

Arranged By [bass] - Danny Shnaiderman

Composed By, Violin - Fadel Mana

4 One Step Closer (8:49)

Composed By, Saxophone [soprano] - Giyora Arbiser

5 After Silence (6:46)

6 Invention (11:13)

Composed By, Saxophone [shahnai And Soprano] - Amir Gvirtzman

7 Mia Nihta Mono Den Ftani (10:07)

Composed By - Panos Kamelis , Sotis Volanis

Composed By [Additional], Guitar [Electric] - Yonatan Galila

Composed By [Additional], Other [Zorna And Ney] - Amir Gvirtzman

8 Eternal Bliss Of The Grateful Souls (4:59)

 

Retroscape - starts off with a slow beat and goes into the shulmanesqe sound has acoustic and electronic sounds mixed, string instruments, and lots of ethnic mixes. There is few samples female and male. At least one of them is a very common and i would say way WAY over used sample in psybient aka psychill. Then there is a sample of a female voice speaking alluding to meditation practice or somthing... that one is original... then more of the worn out indian ethnic or whatever sample that is so antiquated it basically ruins the whole vibe, reminds me of all the many many other psybient tracks that have used this sample: entheogenic, makyo probably, who knows who else... OH this time it has a disco-like overtone on it wow, how distict. If they dropped the use of that sample. It would be a totally original track, but since I've heard this riff so many times... I will just stop talking and wait for the next one and hope I haven't heard parts of it used in countless other tracks.

 

Transmissions in Bloom - starts out with etheric synthetic ooh aah soundz, then goes into breaks that are a little faster than the previous. An asian, folk instrument (india, china), sounds like string or wind (I dunno the name). Then some synthetic strings, and piano overlaid. So far no annoying middle eastern or asian raggedy samples from sample.com ... (I guess I just got a thing against re-used samples) The electro bass is present, we have some ambient breakdowns that seem to open up to a atmosphere or an enchanted dreamscape. It kind of gets interrupted by that old Asian folk instrument, that Shulman seems to love. But then it makes it in and rests neatly together into the sound nicely. Synthetic High frequency Organs, and you feel like your gliding through a empyrean dream. Beautiful. Then some hints of shaman songs in the whistling echosphere. Then an industrial sounding breaks comes in (reminds me of NIN personally). Then some Etheric Ooh Aahs fade in. And a break beat finnaly takes hold. As our synths and melodic blooping arpeggios augment the cascading percussion stutters and dribbles. A harp now, with a compementary duet, and again the Asian Obo or whatever it is. A high pitched filter sweep, and the gentle air of Transmission in Bloom dissipates into a feminine emptiness.

 

Odd Reflections - Starts off with a fly-by sound and a bouncing or dribbling ball of mercury bouncing in a big echoing room. Some arcade like laser bolts rythams, and then a gentle Ooh ahh sound comes in. Then a sound of someone cooking greesy breakfast with scrambled eggs or something is digesting. Then the old Asian Obo, and shortly after a synthetic sine wave takes it over. Then some old 303s adornment, percussion is going steady... and the asian obo is back to do it's thing. Then the 303 reminds me of the old golden sounds. A break... The percussion goes on but it's a break in the melodies. And then the percussion is gone. And now it's just soundscapes. Then it slowly builds back up with some arcade like laser bolts, A nice organ chord or two, and the asian obo is back with percussion. 303s return for a short march. And then a duet between the Asian Obo and a synthetic Bowawhywhwywhyah sound, and it the two sort of condense into a peak experience or somthing while the falling echos of dropped plastic cups in hyperspace cover it out.

 

One Step Closer - Starts off with a deep bellowing under water cavern sound. And a electronic panel is nearby - oh it's the side of a android's neural net. On second thought the android is the cavern itself and it is filled with warm plasma charged liquid, probably pink or fluorescent color. The percussion breaks come in, with a cadence of Insects providing the secondary flank. And a amphibious 303 starts it's happy frog song. We have some nice steady work on the percussion cymbals... and a profound intriguing sense of suspense comes with the rolling cascade of a supporting melody in a synthetic string with deep pedal. The Saxaphone is here and it is telling you it's a strange and funky place but it warm and welcoming even though it's so funky you can feel the smile of the man behind the saxaphone. No sound assumes dominance everything rolls through like the experience of life itself, nothing lasts and there is no abrupt beginning or end for any sound. Everything seems to simply scroll by the lady of fate. Wind in the grass. And it naturally goes out without any loss of dignity.

 

After Silence - Starts out with a swift short xylophone scale, and a ambient line with a rain stick or chimes. Synth line sweeps in and builds, with digital watch or clicks about. The beat seems to come in, now everything reaches a kind of order, a violin, a organ, a deep synth, the sounds are almost watery. And suddenly a shimmering bell synth, and the beat breaks, synthetic ooh-aahs fade through, and there is a sense of being in a sentient artificial intelligence or being in the room with a alien intelligence, vast and expansive. Then a sound that seems out of phase, a kind of rumbling treading, or mechanical turning, of a rubber or gel part of a machine or perhaps a organic organism. The beat returns, a industrial vibe. Ambient eastern vocals and the chimes return and now a piano, with a synth electric string bass, a underwater watery jet stream sound, and the track fades quickly out.

 

Invention - This one starts out jazzy, hm, a contrast with the rest. Creaky sounds and then in comes a obo or something, piano soon after. The percussion goes on, and we have a almost Thievery Corporation kind of vibe or sound. Then comes the saxophone, and the whole thing gets classy, wonder if it's live sax. Anyway now comes in a simple synth chord to replace the sax, and we got the obo back. Again the sax... some nice Goa style beeps and blips. It goes on, and there its a break...

 

Starts out with high hats, quietly and fades in with that tropical reggee sound and is quickly accompanined by a obo that has a very happy gay melody. Makes you want to skip and laugh. Then it goes into a dreamy soft synth tones blue... the loyal feminine element... and were back with the obo melody that is so catchy. It goes on and the breaks down into a tribal middle eastern belly dance riff. Very intelligent switch here, impressive. Flutes quickly adorn the line and the whole thing takes you back in time. The gay melody returns and is now mixed in with the middle eastern sound from before, the summertime reggee sound takes on a new dimension. And it goes on untill a graceful fadeout of the obo which has taken us around the world through time. The flute finalizes the piece.

 

 

Eternal Bliss of the Grateful Souls - The shortest track of all. Starts out with a primordial ocean of life sound in the deeps of the sea. And then is graced with a

 

 

(... all I wrote)

 

 

 

Recoup:

 

 

This music trips me out, Shulman is telling us about a place, it is a message, about another place, it is not even really music, but a experience brought back from this place which the song describes. This is a mysterious place, which Shulman has the honor of the muse to allow the description thereof.

 

Wonderful album i'd give it a 9 out of 10.

[soundmute]

This release is just perfect! So perfect!