Current Music Fixation: Ulrich Schnauss

Does it get any better than this?
Sun shining, cool breeze, and the warm blanket that is "Synthgaze"

At the moment, this is all it takes for me.

Although I "had" this CD on my former ipod (again, stolen by some Russians at a Queen East Vodka bar) I have recently had the pleasure of getting reacquainted with a CD that I had on constant play about a year ago. Ulrich Schnauss' "A Strangely Isolated Place."

Born in 1977 in Kiel, Germany, Schnauss (then younger than 20 years old) took his love of Shoegaze and Electronic music and relocated to the much bigger and more accepting city of Berlin. It is here that Schnauss began his mastery of forging an alliance between British Shoegaze influences (My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive etc...) and Electronic and break beat tracks.

Like fellow "Synthgaze" artist M83, Schnauss seems to have found the perfect marriage between introducing shoegaze, Ambient, and electronic music to the masses in a way that makes it feel as though the genres were always destined to be combined.

With a total of 8 tracks, A Strangely Isolated Place is full of epic waves of soft ambiance and up tempo beats and instrumentals. Add the whisper delivery of lyrics from Shoegaze era past and you will feel you find yourself anywhere but "A Strangely Isolated Place" (bad play on words. I'm Human so cram it.)

There are a few standout tracks on this album that should appeal to people not familiar with the genre (On My Own, Clear Day, Gone Forever) but as a rule, the album works best from start to finish to get a full appreciation of the scope of his vision and talent.

If you add the fact that he sounds like he could be a descendant of a Nazi war criminal, you have struck gold. And this my dear friends, Is why Murphy recommended him in the first place.

Concert Review - The Appleseed Cast.

A little late on this one but I haven't been able to come up with an accurate review of this particular concert.

So, to the best of my ability, here it is.

On Tuesday April 21st, Murphy and I took in an appearance at the Horseshoe tavern by Kansas based Indie Rock band "The Appleseed Cast." Introduced to me roughly 6 years ago by Murph (give or take) I was starting to get the faint impression that this particular band would be an elusive show for me to experience. After checking the Rotate site a couple months ago (I do this obsessive compulsively) I came across the show and grabbed some tickets for the two of us to attend.

Although the wait was a little on the painful side (I had the tickets a little over a month in advance) by the time the date came around I was anticipating this show like no other in recent memory. We situated ourselves at the seats we always occupy at the Horseshoe and prepared for the opening band to take the stage. Typically I would give a little blurb on thoughts of the opening bands performance. However, this particular post will be without as not only were they sub-par, but they were forgettable. Seriously, I have no recollection of them whatsoever.

The group, although not the original line up (only two of the founding members remain: Chris Crisci and Aaron Pillar) took the stage in front of a surprisingly dense crowd. With 7 albums under their belt (8 if you consider double album “Low Level Owl 1 & 2 as individuals) they have fairly deep pockets of material to choose from. As Murph is a huge fan of the band and is in ownership of their entire catalogue, I am only familiar with a couple of their releases. With this being said, I was optimistic that they would reach back and play some of the tracks from the 2001 “Low Level Owl” series and from their prior release “Mare Vitalis.” Both of these albums came at the pinnacle of the bands creativity and in my opinion are by far their strongest releases.

The band, an unassuming quartet of bearded/non bearded regular looking guys, wasted little time in ripping into their set and sounded very much as I had hoped they would. Clean sound, articulate guitar and drum work, and singer/guitarist Chris Crisci delivering vocals not far from what you would hear on a finished album.

At only the 2^nd track into their set, the band dropped the opening drum beat from “Steps and Numbers.” Being arguably one of the best and most recognizable Appleseed Cast tracks, the first hit of stick against drum skin had the crowd at their feet applauding in appreciation. Needless to say, I was thankful that the track made the set list and easily made the show an early success. Although I was hoping for more material from the two albums I mentioned earlier, the set list consisted of equal parts new and old releases and were far from disappointing. Standout tracks like "Steps and Numbers" and "Forever Longing the Golden Sunsets" from Mare Vitalis alone could easily push this show into my top 3 for the year. Mind you, we are almost half way through.

***I should mention that this was my first Appleseed Cast show and if I am correct, Murphy's 6th (For The Appleseed Cast, Murphy is on par with one of those Tragically Hip type fanboys who go to great geographical lengths to see their favourite band)

Random I.M Conversation # 3 (Again without permission)

dorsay20: you know today is Star Wars day? Michael: no...no i didn't. Says who? dorsay20: it's May 4 Michael: i just read that on Geekologie dorsay20: ah I didn't know either, until I read that Now I feel lower than bantha poop sliding down a Hoth ice cavern Michael: wow dorsay20: (killing myself laughing over my own joke, btw. But really, when you make a Star Wars joke, social faux pa's like laughing at your own jokes aren't a big deal) Michael: neither is hanging yourself ha! dorsay20: hang myself? To represent how disappointed I was to be left "hanging" at the end of Episode 5? how apt I need to be shot Michael: I'll get the noose ready. Meet me back at the elevator shaft in 5