Forty one albums...yep, you heard that right. Shadowlands is the 41st release for electronic/synthesized music pioneer Klaus Schulze (though he's appeared on hundreds of releases), and first new studio offering from him since 2007's Kontinuum. Through his early work with Ash Ra Temple and Tangerine Dream all the way up to his more recent solo material, Schulze has created some groundbreaking music that ranks as some of the best this genre has to offer. Shadowlands contains just five tracks over 2 CDs, and as we've come to expect from Schulze, look for plenty of mind expanding explorations into space and loads of calming tranquility. The near 57 minute "The Rhodes Violin" offers up soothing, at times fluttering synth washes, brief spoken word vocals, and a myriad of ethnic Middle Eastern instruments. The epic title track opts for more menace, and will remind some of the early Tangerine Dream material, complete with ominous synth & Mellotron sounds plus those Middle Eastern influences. You'll even find some intriguing space rock mixed with programmed dance rhythms on the intriguing "In Between", but I can't say I enjoyed the odd chanting and bleak atmosphere of "Tibetan Loop" much, which is easily the weakest track here.
With well over 2 hours of material on Shadowlands, there's a lot too digest, and unless you are a real fan of electronic/ambient/space rock, some of this will wear out its welcome pretty quickly, but for those who have followed Schulze throughout this career and don't mind some well executed exploratory sounds, there's plenty to dig into here.
Track Listing
Disc 1
1.
"Shadowlights"
41:12
2.
"In Between"
17:07
3.
"Licht und Schatten"
17:23
Disc 2
1.
"The Rhodes Violin"
55:24
2.
"Tibetan Loop"
17:50
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