Quaeschning & Schnauss - Synthwaves (2017)

Pure Berlin-school bliss from synthmeisters Thorsten Quaeschning and Ulrich Schnauss. Synthwaves pays homage to the masters of the past, yet feels fresh and enchanting. Crisp, interlocking patterns are modulated and mutated with mathematical precision into eight pieces of pristine, post-kosmische sounds to float away to.

During two intense weeks in Berlin, Quaeschning and Schnauss – both students of the great, late maestro Edgar Froese – locked themselves in a studio full of vintage synthesizers, analog sequencers and drum machines, and the result is a gorgeous set of purely electronic music. As the title suggests, a bit of tongue-in-cheek playfullness was allowed during the process – however, all of these pieces sparkle with real emotion and warmth.

As with the finest Tangerine Dream soundtracks it's the kind of music that paints vivid pictures on the canvas of the listeners mind: synth plucks hang in the air like glaring neon in metropolitan dusk, and zero-gravity pads hover like ghostly morning mist travelling over empty coastlines. Poly-rhythmic patterns are allowed to build - slowly but
steadily - bar after bar, until synth-Satori is reached. By the time the last track on this album runs out, it's obvious these two producers have themselves become masters of their craft.