Michael Rother - Süssherz und Tiefenschärfe '1985; 2020

Tracks list

On his sixth album, Michael Rother entered deeply into the ambient side of his
music. Released in 1985, Suessherz and Tiefenschärfe is the first solid,
intentional release of Rothers in the ambient trance realm, even though it wasnt
being called that yet. His signature use of synthesizers to texturize spaces and
silence with long, looping grooves, his trademark guitar style now slowed to a
crawl to wring the maximum atmosphere from every note, and his pacing and
hypnotic repetition are all evident. Perhaps the most startling thing about this
recording is how much it echoes the earlier intentions of Rothers former band,
Kraftwerk, by getting the very sounds that they had been striving for years
before and abandoning because they were too warm, too amniotic, too human. The
masterpiece track here is the 13-minute Tiefenschärfe. With bubbling sounds,
warm, glissando keyboards, a steady pulse that is mixed into the backdrop of the
soundscape, and a purposeful five-note pulsing melody that weaves and loops
through the glissandos, drops in seemingly found sounds form the ether, and
pushes the beat through the middle so seductively, its as if the listener is
brain dancing and not even aware until she or he is halfway through. There is a
slight break in the movement with Glitzerglanz, a spare, minimal soundscape of
keyboard layers without a rhythmic pulse. This small dreamscape is short-lived,
however, in that it is followed by the careening Euro-trance of Rapido, which
pits guitars and keyboards against a steady but quickening motorik beat to
create the illusion of quickly paced mind travel. The album ends two tracks
later with the beautiful ambient soundscape called Blaues Licht. Its a haunting
keyboard drone interwoven with a minimal set of notes covering its frame with
grace and elegance; its almost an electronic hymn. The CD reissue is added to
with two excellent tracks from 1994 called Weserwellen and Weltes Land.

Tracklisting:
01. Michael Rother - Süssherz (5:41)
02. Michael Rother - Tiefenschärfe (13:37)
03. Michael Rother - Glitzerglanz (4:54)
04. Michael Rother - Rapido (7:03)
05. Michael Rother - Daisy (6:41)
06. Michael Rother - Blaues Licht (5:37)

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