lunz - reinterpretations
full length album packaged with extra disc of remixes. wow. a few of these versions were put out recently as an ep, but this is the full deal.
but, before the music there is history. and whoa, what a history.
lunz comprises of two composers - hans joachim rodelius (germany) and tim story (usa). tim has been involved with the world of soundtracks and the like and so is well established, han's life story however is something from another era involving the worlds history in all its heavy detail. the man has lived the life so few of could ever imagine. an enforced member of the hitler youth, from which he escaped, child actor in several german films before he had reached 10 years of age, evacuated towards the russian border in 1943, living as a refugee selling fake jewellery, before finally settling down within the world of sonic exploration with krautrock heros kluster (a band i know i should hear more of !)
and that's just the start ..
and so to 2005 and the glorious masterpiece that the 2 have forged together - the album proper is a modern ambient trip. beautiful piano led melodies and rich atmospherics. parts of which will resurface in adverts/film scores and will fit perfectly. it's all wonderful and special and will provide total calm for that elusive blissed out sunday morning, but where things really lift off into new areas is on the so called 'reinterpretations'. with such an abstract collection of collaborations it's amazing just how varied yet solid the mixes flow. from the beat enhanced grooves of anticon's alias, epic song craft manipulation from adem and lloyd cole (!) , vangelis styled richness from ulrich schnauss (if they ever make a bladerunner sequel then this is exactly what the soundtrack could sound like). admittedly, not all of the updates work for me though, icarus's broken clicks and sticks becomes annoying and breaks the flow of the serenity of the album so is quickly skipped, thankfully the beauty is restored by the wonderful vocally enhanced 'dew climbs' by half cousin, where the piano loneliness and twisted vocal manipulation makes this one of the standout tracks. very special.
there are more by names that mean nothing to me (alquimia, munk, arkham) and in all manners they are all interesting and worthy of more attention.
so, with the 'normal' album being a gorgeous soundtrack for calm, and the extra disc being a dip into the leftfield world of warm human beat enhanced electronica then you really cannot go wrong with this one.