TRACK LIST:
1. Floating Music 9:09
2. Divine My Future 5:09
3. Pastime 4:12
4. Visions 3:54
5. Meditation for the Next 1:10
6. Out of Control 1:54
7. Shadows in the Night 6:59
8. Rotary Motion 3:27
9. Floating in Slow Motion 23:09
LINE UP :
Robert Schroeder - all instruments
Prolusion.
German composer and musician Robert Schroeder started out as a recording artist towards the tail end of the 1970's, and has since established himself as a quality creator of music with 11 studio albums to his name, the most recent of which was released in 2020. "Floating Music" is his second album, and was first released in 1980. This production has now been given a remastering, and with one bonus track added this revised version of the album was reissued in 2023 through German label Spheric Music.
Analysis.
As one might suspect by the album title, progressive electronic music is what this album is all about. Schroeder is if not strictly a pioneer then at least among the earlier artists exploring this field, relatively speaking of course, as progressive electronic music hadn't been in existence for all that many years when he started to record and release music in this field.
The material on this production sounds really good also after more than 40 years. Some of the instrumentation choices does come with a bit of a time stamp, with a funky sounding keyboard used in many of the songs that comes with a vibe that automatically makes me think of the 1970's, and in general a lot of this album does come with a 1970's feel to it in my ears. Which is logical, given that this production was released in 1980.
While this at least to some extent is a product of its time and its era, the landscapes explored are compelling creations also today. The title track is perhaps the one composition here that stands out most for being a bit on the different sounding side of matters, in my mind at least reminding me of a possible love child of Tangerine Dream and Eloy. Otherwise this production stays put in more distinct progressive electronic music landscapes.
Schroeder appears to have a lot of fun playing around with sounds that combine tone and rhythm effects, and many of the pieces here will open with a relative sparse arrangement where different aspects of such sounds are explored before expanding and blooming out into landscapes with swirling, soaring and floating synthesizer sounds and textures assembled in a manner that comes with what for me sounds like a distinct Tangerine Dream inspired orientation.
We also get material that operates more inside of what might be described as an expressive manner of ambient music, with a tone and atmosphere with a darker and more mournful mood and orientation. The more cold cosmic landscapes explored here and the subtly more minimalist expression is one similar to music I've heard before, on Russian musician Igor Len's late 80's album "Here". It's probably a fairly safe bet to imagine that Schroeder's work on "Floating Music" was an influence on Igor Len's creations back in the late 80's.
The bonus track here is a massive creation clocking in at just over 23 minutes, and while it does feature an amalgam of different phases that includes pretty much all the landscapes, sounds and variations explored on the previous compositions it does perhaps focus a bit more on the darker and more ambient oriented parts of Schroeder's repertoire.
Conclusion.
"Floating Music" is a vintage journey through various aspects of progressive electronic music, with Tangerine Dream inspired landscapes, playful excursions into rhythm landscapes and expressive ambient constructions as the main contents. Besides the overall retro feel to this production, cosmic and futuristic sounds are defining features, with a little bit of symphonic progressive rock inspired landscapes added for good measure on the title track. An album for fans of progressive electronic music to seek out, and especially for those who enjoy a more vintage variety of this type of music.
Progmessor: January 2023
The Rating Room
