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Recording:
  Quicksand Memory  
 
Artist:
  Ulrich Schnauss  
 
Label:
 

Independiente UK

 
 
Release Date:
 

22.May.2007

 
 
Reviewed by:
  PostLibyan  
         
 
Rating:
   
         
 
Review:
 

Ulrich Schnauss is not the most productive of musicians, preferring the mantra of quality over quantity. This EP is only his third release in the past six years. However, it is a sampler for his upcoming album, so i guess that he sort of has 4 releases in 6 years…

At any rate, this EP is a fascinating taste of what is to come. Nowadays Schnauss has, apparently, teamed up with Judith Beck full-time, since she is listed on the MySpace page as a "band member". I thought she was a guest musician when she sang with him on Blue Skied an Clear. Well, their collaboration really works for me. Adding vocals to Schnauss's otherworldly synths is a good thing, i think. At any rate, there are four tracks here, so let's look at each

The EP starts off with the Rob McVey Version of Look at the Sky. This is a straight up shoegazer tune. No, really. Guitars whirl in feedbacking layers, drums and bass thunder along, and Ms. Beck sings disenchantedly. It's gloriously loud and thick, and hearkens back to those swirling, shoegazing days of the mid 90s.

The second track, Medusa [Edit] sounds like what would have happened had Casino vs. Japan chosen to work with a female vocalist. The keyboards that Schnauss uses here are dense and thick, with a high-pitched tingling over layer that reminds me a lot of the final (?) Casino vs. Japan disc. Ms. Becks' vocals are buried in the general haze of the song, to great effect. If this is the edit, i wonder what more the full version will add.

And then come two songs that i have been waiting over a year for: Gone Forever and On My Own, both tunes here in "versions" featuring none other than Robin Guthrie. No shit. When Guthrie posted about this on the Cocteau Twins Fan Forum, i was dying to hear them, but i had to wait until the EP was released. Well, it was worth the wait. These two tracks are everything that i would have thought a Guthrie/Schnauss collaboration would be.

Gone Forever starts with Guthrie strumming lightly on his guitar through layers of echo, while Schnauss builds a keyboard drone in the background. Eventually a drum machine kicks in, and Ms. Beck starts singing over Guthrie's guitar and Schnauss's keys. It builds to a real Blue Bell Knoll-esque frenzy. Wow.

On My Own follows pretty much the same structure: slow, quiet droning guitar and synths intro, addition of drums and voice. General loudness and really thick sounds. But the pattern is different, with this being a slower and yet noisier song. More Cico Buff i guess. Still, wonderful.

All i can say is, wow.

Anyone who enjoys shoegaze needs to hear those last two songs. And the rest of the EP is really good too, and bodes well for Schnauss's upcoming full-length. He might make us wait a long time between releases, but Schnauss does make it worth the while.

 
         
 
Related Links:
 

Label Site: http://www.independiente.co.uk/
Band MySpace: http://www.mysapce.com/ulrichschnauss
Ulrich Schnauss on EvilSponge:
     Album: Far Away Trains Passing By
     Compilation appearance: Blue Skied an' Clear
     Festival Performance: South by SouthWest 2005 - Day 2
Robin Guthrie on EvilSponge:
     Album: Imperial
     Soundtrack (with Harold Budd): Mysterious Skin

 
         

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