TRACK LIST:
1. Hollow 4:16
2. All That Razz 5:48
3. Levels 3:15
4. M Is for Moog 7:20
5. Jazzmorphis 5:00
6. Dream Suite 20:09
LINE UP :
Robert Evan Schindler - all instruments
Prolusion.
US artist Robert Schindler is the creative mind behind the moniker Robeone, and he has made six studio albums under this moniker so far. "Dream Suite" is the most recent of these, and that album was released in the fall of 2022 on the Transglobal label.
Analysis.
The music explored on this production is a curious one as far as placing it inside a specific style orientation, but as all the sounds here have been produced by keyboards I guess that progressive electronic music is the most proper description here. It is also a purebred instrumental album. Both aspects of which aren't as limiting in form and function as one might perhaps expect.
A feature throughout this album is how the keyboards are used to provide the voices and timbres also of other instruments. More to replicate their roles than their actual sounds though, so those with a desire to hear a rock band replicated by keyboards will not quite get what they are after here. But if there is a curiosity on how keyboards can be used to fill up the role of rock instruments, on the other hand, this is an album that demonstrates just that.
I see that my notes on the different compositions aren't quite in line with what the creator had in mind when writing the different compositions here, which for me at least is a strong indicator of the music here being of a nature that will give quite a few different associations depending quite a lot on the individual listeners, how much and what kind of music they have listened to as well as what artists have made most of an impression and in what specific manner.
Hence I find the more dramatic opening song 'Hollow' to have a bit of an ELP flavor to it, while the jazz and blues undertones and playful moods of 'All That Razz' made me think about the more expressive side of an artist like Vangelis. The following 'Levels' is the second track that gave me associations towards the late, great Greek composer, but now towards his score music work and more atmospheric laden ventures. 'M Is for Moog' is a creation that for me came across as a meeting of minds between Tangerine Dream and the instrumental keys and synth oriented aspects of Hawkwind with it's sequencer drive and cosmic surges, while 'Jazzmorphis' for me comes across as a positive and playful electronic jazz creation of the kind where I don't have any distinct associations as such. The album concludes with the mammoth epic 'Dream Suite', a composition of the kind that you probably can throw out a dozen names or more as possible points of reference, with Vangelis, Isao Tomita and ELP being the first names I dropped on the block when assembling my notes for this one.
As my descriptions may indicate, this isn't an album you can listen to with half an ear, at least not if you have some knowledge about music and you enjoy thinking about the music you listen to. Some of the compositions can be rather challenging creations too, music that moves about so much that it will grab your attention whether you want that to happen or not. It is also a production that I suspect will demand a certain fascination with keyboards and synthesizers to be able to enjoy the contents, listeners able to appreciate the strong sides as well as the weak sides that will be present when everything is performed by way of tangents.
Conclusion.
"Dream Suite" strikes me as an album that probably will have a more defined and niche appeal, with keyboard and synthesizer enthusiasts as the key audience here. That the album is sold exclusively through The Bob Moog Association and that all the revenue from the album sales will go towards that organization is also something I see as a bit of an indication about who the main target audience for this album is. But in general summary: People who consider themselves keyboard and synthesizer enthusiasts and who enjoy progressive electronic music and progressive rock should find this to be quite the rewarding album to get familiar with.
Progmessor: January 2023
The Rating Room
