This 11 track, fantasy concept album picks up where the first (‘Solar Moon’) left off – The track times still range from short to long with more features having been added in the way of string-synths and electric guitars, plus even more textures and layers are included from piano, electronic percussion and sequencer rhythms, which have now become much more like Schulze/Wahnfried sounds, going on the opening track at least. But on this album, there’s a change – and it’s quite a big one! For, while it’s still accessible, the ‘commercial’ angle has been watered down somewhat, so that now we are in real synth territory to stand alongside that of, particularly, Ash Ra, and also John Dyson, Software, Klaus Schulze and similar. It’s still very much melodic, but with tracks from three to nearly sixteen-minutes long and over seventy-two minutes of richly textured, full sounding, melodic/rhythmic, multi-synths/guitars music to go at, this has to be one of the unsung heroes of its genre.

771489
Weight: 150.00 g

OK – imagine John Dyson fronting ‘New Age Of Earth’-era Ash Ra; put a shuffling percussive rhythm behind it and – bingo! - You have the first nine-minute track on this album, where waves of string-synths, electric guitar, gentle percussion, deep bass and lead synth melodies combine to create a most pleasant musical journey. ‘Ticket To Light’ is a sort of commercial Teutonic track with fast sequencers allied to real a tune with a hum-able melody and acres of string-synths. It drops down to just an acoustic guitar mid-section only to pick up pace again with choral keyboard sounds, water effects, string-synths and more. The nine-minute ‘Enter The Moonlight Gate’ is a bit like a Moroccan answer to Wavestar, with suitable angelic choir and occasional chanting over strings, sequencers and flowing melodies. By now you get the picture – the rest of the album, from thirteen-minute tracks downwards, is built on multiple layers of string synths, rolling bass synths, sequencers, lead synth melodies, occasional electric guitar runs, all presented in crystal clear sound with an unashamedly commercial approach, but not one that is going to make you wince – It’s all very like the best synth stuff on the old IC label from artists such as Software and similar.

505957
Weight: 150.00 g

UK space music that rivals anything that the Americans can throw our way, exquisitely taking them on at their own game, and winning hands down! This CD is superbly packaged in a special DVD style case, and features just one seventy-two minute track that is unadulterated, rhythm/melody free space music, that simply oozes warmth, comfort, atmosphere and effect. The slowly travelling soundscapes capture your attention and make the ideal combination of serious listening and a backdrop to other activities. It’s the sort of thing you put on anytime you want something relaxing that isn’t too sickly sweet on one hand, and isn’t going to drive you insane, or bore a hole in your skull on the other. This is a gem – UK Space music as Mike Brooks (remember him?) used to play it in the 80’s, only a lot longer and a good deal more spacious. A most enjoyable trip no matter how many times you take it!

489812
Weight: 150.00 g

UK space music that rivals anything that the Americans can throw our way, exquisitely taking them on at their own game, and winning hands down! This CD is superbly packaged in a special DVD style case, and features just one seventy-two minute track that is unadulterated, rhythm/melody free space music, that simply oozes warmth, comfort, atmosphere and effect. The slowly travelling soundscapes capture your attention and make the ideal combination of serious listening and a backdrop to other activities. It’s the sort of thing you put on anytime you want something relaxing that isn’t too sickly sweet on one hand, and isn’t going to drive you insane, or bore a hole in your skull on the other. This is a gem – UK Space music as Mike Brooks (remember him?) used to play it in the 80’s, only a lot longer and a good deal more spacious. A most enjoyable trip no matter how many times you take it!

489820
Weight: 150.00 g

This really is a sensational album if you are into melodic synth/prog instrumental crossover stuff! It comes from a core line-up of keyboards, synths and electric guitars, it is 100% instrumental symphonic music we would describe as residing in the same musical territory as Vangelis, The Enid, Steve Hackett, Camel and Nick Magnus. ‘Aliens’ is a very ‘musical’ album of a type that reaches inside and touch that magical chord within us all - Our emotions! Instrumental albums that can do this can be few and far between, but when one like ‘Aliens’ comes along, it is usually an extremely rewarding experience. Vangelis influences are at their strongest on the opening tracks and during some of the more reflective, thematic, cinematic and atmospheric passages. Just check-out the majestic, six-minute ‘Sea Dragons’ for a descriptive piece full of glorious colourful themes and melodies, evoking thoughts of Vangelis at his grandest, with a main theme being carried by piano played over a veritable orchestra of Mellotrons, string-synths, poly-synths, midi-synths etc. Think of the best Vangelis film music, or multi-layered keyboard/synth style intros from epic prog tracks like Floyd’s ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ / the singing guitar/synth epic ‘Ice’ from Camel’s ‘I Can See Your House From Here’ / the instrumental bits out of the Moody Blues early LP’s, passages like Wakeman’s Mellotron sequence in the Yes epic ‘And You And I’ or perhaps instrumental parts from The Enid’s’ huge keyboard extravaganzas, then you will get some idea of what to expect from the music on this superb instrumental CD. Put the fantastic keyboard work alongside some really beautiful electric guitar and powerful layers of percussion, and you have a real music fest for those who love it keyboard driven and melodic, ranging from sombre reflective moods to moments of real beauty, with some that close with huge grandiose themes that soar into the heavens in grandiose fashion.

461376
Weight: 150.00 g

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T-Bass UK are a four-piece unit that place melody, structure and a strong feeling of atmosphere ahead of anything else – and the result is 11 strong tracks in the four to seven minute time-scale. Their music has potentially wide appeal in that fans of melodic synth music (Andy Pickford / John Dyson / Wavestar / Mark Shreeve & later Tangerine Dream) and tuneful fantasy prog-rock (Gandalf / Steve Hackett / Nick Magnus etc.,) will all get something from it. It is a multi-dimensional instrumental album that opens with a title track performance made of true grit, blowing away others in a playing field where there are many who aspire to… but never quite make it. Synths, electric guitars, bass and powerful percussion and the ability to reproduce big infectious themes and evocative melodies and really make them count in terms of pure enjoyment are all the elements that make this four-piece unit tick – This is music that can blaze and rock at one minute and take you into a trance like state the next - You can dream to some with beautifully arranged choral keyboard textures, tap your feet to others, and revel in the glories of dramatic, progressive, grandiose thematic passages that feature all the soaring synth and electric guitar work that this style of music usually offers. Some keyboard passages can bring Tangerine Dream mind and others might provoke images of instrumental Genesis – that is the diversity of what we call quality crossover instrumental music, in that you don’t have to be a fan of any one genre to get into it. You can play this in the car, or on the hi-fi at home – the effect is the same – musical escapism that brings nothing but pure enjoyment!

531099
Weight: 150.00 g

Now, how many of you have always wanted to hear an album by a new musician that actually, genuinely, no-word-of-a-lie, mixes classic Mark Shreeve with early 80’s Tangerine Dream – Be honest; it’s most of you, isn’t it? Well, now you can drool with expectation at the prospect of just that with this album, and be astounded at the actual product itself, for this is a remarkable work from start to finish. Before I go on, I would like to point out that the ideal track running order for this album, in my humble opinion, is: 4-1-5-2-6-3-7-8-9. OK – got that – good! You only need to know that, with soaring lead melodies and sky-high synth soundscapes mixed with fantastic sequencer–driven rhythms, rich layers of dreamy keyboard textures and powerfully solid electro-percussive additions, this album is already giving you what you’ve pleaded for! As it plays on you quickly realise that most of the album is going to be as powerful and tasty as the opening tracks, and that you are in for one of the best treats you could imagine. The music perfectly avoids the retro-tag by being pure early 80’s fare, and thus sounds as clear and fresh as a cool summer’s morning. But it’s so powerful, too, with rhythmic bases that set the adrenaline flowing and searing melodies that get the blood racing, while all the time the spirits of Tangerine Dream and Mark Shreeve are tapping on your shoulder and threatening to slap you in the face. It’s just one sensational track after another (played in the order I fancied), and then final three tracks are of such a high standard that they will leave you both open-mouthed and dumbstruck! We’ve had the original 80’s stars like Shreeve, Dyson and Boddy, and then came the second wave that started all the ‘retro-seventies’ stuff led by RMI and Air Sculpture. This is the start of the ‘third coming of UK synth musicians’ – A new breed telling us that there’s more out there than 70’s retro - There’s tunes, melodies, new atmospheres, simplicity, power and more – and some of the most explosive is on this album.

786474
Weight: 150.00 g

Radio Massacre International, Air Sculpture, Under The Dome, Free System Project, Headshock – the top names in the field of 70’s style, ‘Berlin School’, sequencer-dominated, Tangerine Dream sound-alike music – and they are all on this one mighty double album that has excellent sound quality and all previously unreleased tracks. Recorded at the first ‘Hampshire Jam’ festival in 2001, this is one astonishingly good album from start to finish. If you want to hear over two hours of long, extended tracks that can transport back to that period in ‘Electronic Music’ history when it was all really starting to happen, with all the instruments associated with that Teutonic style, then this is a great value double disc set that will do that for you, but you will be in the hands of some of the leading exponents of the style in the world today. Just put disc 1 in you player and take you seat in the audience for the first part of the concert, and absorb the ambience being created by all your favourite sounds as they generate an array of atmospheres, rhythms and melodies from bank upon bank of soaring synths, loads of pulsing sequencers, massed Mellotron choirs & strings, spiralling cosmic layers & textures and soaring guitar riffs & solos, all based around the sounds and styles of 70’s-era bands like Tangerine Dream / Ash Ra Tempel.

810739
Weight: 250.00 g

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This musician is often likened to Vangelis and while the 12 tracks that are on this excellent album often support that theory in no uncertain terms, there are also other strong influences at work too. The album’s sixty-two minute playing time is split up into tracks that clock in at something between four to seven minutes a piece, and there is a concept running though the pieces with packaging that is designed to accommodate the story, and it looks brilliant, but so is the music - It is thematic, symphonic, Celtic, richly textured, exotic, colourful, reflective, upbeat, rhythmic, dynamic, dramatic in places and a damn good listen too. With all that, and influences ranging from Vangelis (in the main) to Jean Michel Jarre, Enigma, Deep Forest, and Tangerine Dream, it would be fair to say that there is a quite a bit of variety going on in this music, but variety is the spice of life and there’s plenty of life running through this album, I can tell you, so read on…

991920
Weight: 150.00 g

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