Ulrich Schnauss: ‘Far Away Trains Passing By’
July 12th, 2002 by freddie96
B I G C H I L L R E C O R D O F T H E W E E K
22/07/02
ULRICH SCHNAUSS
Far Away Trains Passing By
(City Centre Offices)
Having been alerted to the presence of a new musical force by my partner in crime Perry De Chico – who in turn had previously had his radar tweaked by Mr Tom Middleton – it was with great glee that I leapt upon this CD in the record shop at this year’s Enchanted Garden.
Ever since my soundscape requirements were remodelled by the seminal Global Communication and Another Fine Day releases in the mid-nineties, I have been searching for similar lush fields of tip-top tonal quality. Then suddenly there was a small but welcome taster of the Schnauss vibe on the final CD in Tom’s ‘Sound of the Cosmos’ trilogy. In fact, said track does not appear on this collection so completists will have to shell out for both discs (if you haven’t already of course).
Playing this on the Monday after the little party at the weekend was a complete (third) eye-opener. A simple seven-note piano motif at the top of the opening track ‘Knuddlemaus’ unveils that comparatively rare beast, a disc which grabs you right from the start. If you want great melodies, crisp and subtle beats, and an epic shiny backdrop all wrapped up in a sort of relaxed urgency (if you know what I mean), then buy this record. It twinkles and spangles all the way though and, so help me, you DJs out there are going to have big trouble working out which tunes to drop.
These six tracks seem to span an eighties to noughties history of electronic music, from the Cocteaus to the Boards and back (and beyond). What is astonishing is that all of the cuts are strong, memorable and compelling, so much so that I must have listened to them 20 times already in the last week. Think about how many ‘electronica’ records you’ve bought recently which have scored a 90 to 100% hit rate and you’ll get an idea about just how special this one might be.
Two stand-out pieces are ‘Passing By’ and ‘Molfsee’. Both are magnificent and emotional excursions, but it’s hard to choose favourites from this collection. About two minutes into ‘Nobody’s Home’, the drums and bass collide into a sublime moment which would put a permanent spring in the most recalcitrant step. Meanwhile ‘Blumenwiese Neben Autobahn’ glitches and squeaks along under a hovering keyboard refrain in a most mesmerising way. I’m not quite sure which tune Amba floated past us from the Sanctuary stage on Sunday at EG, but it caused much interest in the assembled throng. There are moments here to suit every mood, from euphoric beats to rainy introspection. A real all-rounder.
Like a lot of the best records, ‘Far Away Trains Passing By’, seems to have slipped in undercover from the left-field. Remember that bit when Massive Attack’s ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ starts to fade and the studio mic’s left on with Grantly or someone saying, ‘where did that one come from’? Well, Ulrich’s opus feels a bit like that.
The author appears to be an industrious studio engineer from Berlin, the CD was first released in 2001… very mysterious, but all will be revealed when some of these great musical moments are debuted live at The Big Chill at Eastnor Castle this August. Until then we must hold fast… and continue to rinse any digital artefacts which come our way.
AJ
See Ulrich Schnauss live at Eastnor Castle
