Search - Roedelius :: Snapshots/Sidesteps

Wire Magazine Review

B. Reid | Ireland | 06/13/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Roedelius & Friends

Snapshots/Sidesteps

PSYCHONAVIGATION cd





In a career that spans more than 40 switched-on years,Hans-Joachim Roedelius has taken the opportunity to make many friends,and Snapshots/Sidesteps,from Dublin label Psychonavigation, is a testimony to some of them.Marking ten years of collaborations and remixes made between 1995-2005,this album's ten unreleased tracks are drawn from projects with artists including Seiichi Suzuki,David Bickley and the Orb's Alex Paterson and Thomas Fehlmann.



In the history of post-war electronica,Roedelius is one of the great linking figures, joining Fluxus to Eno and the post-Acid House era.If this is a big territory to fill,possibly the best angle on Roedelius is as a musician most interested in process,and this is certainly demonstrated by the vignettes - some sketchy ideas,others more fully formed - released here."Ad Honerem" (2003) with Suzuki falls into the former category; a sparse drum track with uncertain elements unfolding into the ether; so too "Claire Obscura" (2005) with Patrick Pulsinger and Werner Dafeldecker.This isn't to denigrate the tracks as on "Juste Milieu",a 1995 offering made with Fabio Capanni,these are moments of imaginative observation,often inspired by organic sounds such as water,birdsong and air currents.As one might expect on a track with The Orb,2002's "Elektrum" takes on a more dynamic format,as does "Fait Accompli", a 2002 track made with Cluster comrade Werner Moebius and littered with tiny explosive electro-beats and skittery piano.But it is 2003's "Hoc Vola" that carries the album.Made with Timothy O'Keefe,the track sets up an accoustic folk riff with some Aeolian atmospherics to reiterate what it is that Roedelius does best.Lovely .



LOUISE GRAY

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