The Liquid Session

www.manikin.de Liquid Session is a "jam" between Thomas Kagermann,on violin; Detlef Keller , Chris Lang, Mario Schonwalder,and Gerd Wienekamp,on synths; Bas Broekhuis on percussion, and Andrea Syphire Leonhardi on voice. The session took place at the Liquid Sound Festival and is a live recording.The music is divided into three sections, the shortest of which runs at just over sixteen minutes. The sleeve notes say that the synths were all played live without the use of sequencers, so this is a bona-fide jam session with no overdubs. My overall impression of the music is a blend of "space synths" combined with eastrern tinged world music (this definately the influence of the superb violin playing of Thomas Kagermann), and the ocasional burst of drumming that is not unlike some of the percussive elements that appear on earlier Klaus Schulze albums. Although the album has three tracks it is basically one piece of music that is divided into three movements. The session features spacious synth backdrops overlaid with eastern violin, synth leads, female wordless vocals (adding a Sheila Chandra feel to some parts), the occasional guitar texture (the sleeve notes don't mention anybody playing guitar so it could be real or synthetic, though it sounds quite real to me), and the occasional drum and percussion layer. There is also a bell or chime-like sequence present throughout much of the jam, though according to the CD notes no-one used any sequencers so it may have been played by hand on a synth or by Bas Broekhuis the percussionist. This is an excellent CD and, being a heady brew of synth and mellotron-style layers and backdrops, coupled with some great but subtle synth leads, some of which have an almost Vangelis feel and sound to them,and of course the omnipresent "eastern" violin playing. This combined with the female voices, drums and other ethnic textures combines in an album of "space-music" that is sufficiently different from the norm, in that it has a world music feel to much of it, whilst still maintaining some common ground, the rhythms being wrapped in a cosmic blanket of synths and mellotrons,If you like the music of Vangelis, Steve Roach, Vidna Obmana, or the violin playing of Hawkwinds' Simon House then you will probably find much to enjoy on this release. Mick Garlick, Sequences