Search - Delia Gonzalez, Gavin Russom :: Days of Mars

Mehr als krautrock

Jules | W. Hollywood | 10/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yeah, I have to say this album pretty much rules. The opening track is absolutely hypnotic and, like the previous reviewer suggested, the entire album is very 'warm' throughout. I feel compelled to add, though, that all these Edgar Froese/Manuel Goettsching comparisons I've been hearing only go so far...



Clearly any such comparison, particularly when it spans three decades, falls short at a certain point -- but at this very point, it is NOT that the ascendancy of the earlier groups comes into focus, thus overriding the novelty and quality of "Days of Mars"; rather, it is at this point that one realizes one is listening to truly original and exciting music, with a texture all its own that I can't help but admit is much more compelling than most of the Tangerine Dream/Ash Ra Tempel stuff out there (excepting of course "Atem," "Phaedra," "Schwingungen," and Klaus Schulze's "Moondawn", all of which are pretty much infallible, monumental eruptions from the heady soil of 'Das Land der Dichter und Denker').



No, Delia and Gavin aren't German, but when the only substantial liner note refers to the fact that they custom-built many of the instruments used in the recording, it's clear that they've poked up their fingers into some sort of Teutonic tradewind. What makes "Days of Mars" unique and, frankly, much more inviting that your average T. D. album, is that this duo has taken a much-worn, much-abused template, and reshaped it so as to cut out the dorkiness, pretension, and boredom that almost inevitably gravitate towards this genre. They have made an inviting, engaging, rewarding record. More than that even, there is a contemporaneity to this music that is subtle at first but becomes increasingly pronounced, to the point at which I can see clearly why it is on the DFA label. I almost hate to say it, but this record is more even on the whole than the LCD Soundsystem album, even if it's completely different music that I imagine suits far fewer tastes than James Murphy & gang.



So, that said, I'm a little disturbed at how many used copies of this album are available, but ultimately I'm not much surprised. If you're not one to set aside the time sit down and allow your mind to connect with the music; if you expect your pleasure nodes to be immediately fondled like a quick three-penny prostitute, perhaps unaware of more deeply-submerged, cosmically tuned-in centers of expansive, real, and genuinely emotional pleasure, this might be an initially rocky listen. But, on the brighter side, I'm increasingly of the belief that this album has both the gravity (of old) and the refreshing playfulness (that comes with the new) in such an intelligent and immediate combination, that it's just not right(however well-intentioned) to say that the proverbial torch has been passed... The torch has been reborn."

Like an updated "Tangerine Dream" for the IDM kiddies

M. J Perez | Miami, FL United States | 10/09/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A dreamy ambient journey, the last track is simply breathtaking if you love Tangerine Dream, Brian Eno and perhaps some of the IDM / electronic stuff out there like Boards of Canada and Plaid. However this is a very WARM sounding electronic group."