Customer Reviews

Kontinuum

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2007 is a milestone year for German electronic music pioneer Klaus Schulze. He recently celebrated his 60th birthday on August 4th and has also released an excellent new solo album entitled "Kontinuum".
"Kontinuum" is 76 minutes of continuous music consisting of three long tracks that form one long piece of music. Musically, the album is journey into Klaus Schulze's past, present and future as a musician. Fans of his classic 70's style will definitely feel at home listening to this disc. There are also elements that will appeal to fans today's techno and trance music as well.
The entire "Kontiuum" journey begins with the appropriately title "Sequenzer (70 to 07)" with consists of the hynotic sequencer rhythms that harken back to the days of Schulze's classic "Mirage" album (notably the track "Crystal Lake"). Over the course of the track's 25-minutes, Schulze slowly adds different musical layers to the mix building the piece into a dynamic orchestral climax that only he can bring. As the main sequencer slowly fades out, we are left with nearly seven minutes of classic Schulze minor-key orchestrations that are once again reminiscent of his work in the mid-70s.
"Sequenzer" goes directly into the 20-minute "Euro Caravan" which begins with a dark low-key ambient note progression. As the music progresses, Schulze adds more chordal layers as well as a sample of woman's voice heard in the background. At around the nine minute mark, a dramatic sequencer rhythm slowly begins to fade in adding further depth to the music. Finally a techno-dance-like rhythm enters in and carries the piece the rest of the way.
As "Euro Carvan" fades out, the sound of thunder ushers in the third and final track, the nearly 32-minute "Thor (Thunder)". Echoes of Schulze's debut album "Irrlicht" are definitely apparent in the intro with long-held drones and strange ambient sounds. Once again, after several minutes, Schulze brings in the sequencers which this time, have more prominence and drive. The drum rhythms are also more agressive as well. At around the 23-minute mark, the rhythms fade into another trademark Schulze overture similar to the one that closed the "Sequenzer" piece alongside more thunder sounds and a brief ambient coda heard during the final minute of the piece.
Without a doubt, Klaus Schulze has definitely proven that he can still work magic through his electronics on "Kontinuum". This is an even more consistant effort than his previous disc "Moonlake" and is an excellent overview of the many styles he has done over the last 35 years displayed with modern technology. Besides the excellent music, the packaging of the album is also excellent with many photos of Klaus at work in his studio alongside two insightful liner-note essays by musician Georg Boskamp and Schulze's business manager Klaus Mueller respectfully. There are also a few photos of Schulze onstage during his classic 70s period as well.
With all this said, "Kontinuum" is highly recommended and is definitely a modern day classic from one of the legendary musicians who put electronic music on the map - the pioneering genius of Klaus Schulze.

there was a disparaging review that was taken off this page on klaus. it didn't address this release at all. if it was still here, my response to it would have been "big deal". i don't care about klaus' beliefs or views. i buy his cds for the music and how tremendously good and influencial the stuff is. this cd is his best in years. it brings me back to the days of "mirage" and "moondawn". some of the pictures of klaus from the booklet were from those releases too. if you are a bigger fan of his older material, you'll be very pleased with this release. buy it and enjoy your journey!

I got this disk via Amazon download. I had previously acquired Moonlake as well, and had really grooved out on Moonlake--digging its more beat-oriented electronica feel overlaid with the distinctive "world music" vocalizations going on in several of the Moonlake pieces.

Kontinuum, however, has a very different feel. No electronica beat vibe; not as much reliance on world music-esque vocalizations. In a way, I think it harkens back to earlier motifs in Schulze's 80's work, where there are recurring riffs onto which other layers are added--maybe a bit more "flowing" rather than "driving", if I can use these adjectives to separate the type of music on these two disks.

There's not any underlying drum beat, and no reliance on emphasized vocalizations--as is the case with Moonlake. There are some vocal elements in the piece titled "Euro Caravan", and a short swatch on "Thor", but they are really in the background, unlike the placement of vocalizations in pieces from Moonlake. It has a totally different feel, IMHO.

The pieces flow along, without reliance on a beat to drive them forward. I would classify this as more ambient in feel, not so much in the same sense as Steve Roach ambient, but I would say that its flowing character reminds me more of something from the 80s ambient genre than, say, beat-driven electronica of Tangerine Dream (as does Moonlake, Schulze's previous release). There are recurring melodies on the pieces, albeit sequenced or sustained, and not simply random ambience. There are long swatches of soundscape, reminiscient of some of Steve Roach's late 1980's work.

I really like the disk and enjoy the sensations that it evokes. I also really like the disk's cover design as well (although I bought the download version--which comes with no cover art...so I have to suffice with the image off of the Amazon product page.) Looking at the cover while listening to the disk (particularly the first piece, titled "Sequencer") added to my experience of the music. The cover is very 'deep' and evokes a certain mood in my mind that reinforces that of the music, IMHO. It appears to me to represent something of an encounter with an "other", an artifact of an alien civilization perhaps--something dark, slightly foreboding (particularly viewing the image while listening to "Sequencer (70 to 07)").

For someone just getting started with Klaus Schulze, I'd highly recommend this disk. It is very accessible and really evokes a certain reflective mood in the three extended pieces on this release.

Arguably Klaus Schulze's best recording of the millennium so far. Flawless from beginning to end. One long, gorgeous, continuous sonic journey as only "THE MASTER" can provide. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Those who loved "Timewind","Moondawn","Body Love" and especially "Mirage",this CD will be a welcome return to "good,old Klaus Schulze" of the 70-ies.Much better than "Moonlake",which was released in 2005(though it has its fine moments too).For me it is his best work since "Trancefer"(1981),since I didn't like K.S's later works that included a mixture of New Age and vocal parts in ethnic style ("Moonlake" still has strong traces of this)."Kontinuum" can easily stand next to his best records.Highly recomended.

This recording works nicely as ambience for daily activities. I seek out music that progresses gradually from one thought to another, layering previously stated themes along the way. Klaus' music is in this category and I recommend it for fans of this genre.

First of all, I must warn the reader that I stopped buying Klaus Schulze after X and I only tried again nearly 20 years after with this record. What I mean to say is that I don't know a lot of what he has done in the gap, I only listened to bits and pieces and nothing could persuade me to add something new to my old vintage Schulze records. Until I saw Kontinuum in a record shop and bought it on impulse. Before listening to it I made a point of reading some of teh reviews published by Amazon and were all more or less enthusiastic. Well, I guess I missed the progression from X to Kontinuum, because I find the record has little to do with the masterpieces (Cyborg and Mirage are my favourites) and it seems to me that it really reflects the fact that the author is 60. I have an opinion that most musicians out of the classical field usually give their best when young or at least before hitting 40 and it is sometimes even sad to witness the decline of unique talents. Not that Kontinuum is ugly or badly played, no, it is just boring, too repetitive and too new-agey for my liking and pales in comparison with even any average record he made in the '70s, so at the end of a couple of listening (I always give a second chance) I asked myself why would I want to listen to this again and not Moondawn or Timewind. The answer was obvious and I sold the cd as a matter of fact.