Search - Holger Czukay :: La Luna

Primal, pagan, intense!

DAC Crowell | 07/25/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I knew a few things about this release before picking it up. Iknew it would be a single work, and I knew Holger was describing at asan 'electronic gamelan' piece. But I was totally unprepared for the intensity of this composition when it finally arrived at my door. Despite the electronics, the shortwave bursts, the industrial-like sonics and such, the first impression is how this music sounds incredibly _old_...like something that would've been banged out several thousand years ago around some Neolithic bonfire. Do not expect an 'atmospheric ambient experience' here at all...instead, insistent pulsings and drummings assault you, and the air fills with distortion and eerie keening noises. The liner notes describe this as an 'electronic night ceremony', and that would seem to be dead-on. U-she's chantlike vocals, intoning a prayer to the Moon in all its aspects, is particularly evocative here. Then after some 40-ish minutes, it's as if all of the celebrants in Czukay's mysterious lunar mass vanish, leaving you alone on some dark hillside in some unknown corner of Europe (maybe?), and all you can do is to sit back in a state of astonishment. What would I rank this with? I have no idea. It doesn't fit into what I'd consider the typical 'New Music' turf, even though that's clearly what it is. Instead, it has more kinship with Native American tribal drumming, perhaps certain recordings of Tibetan Bon-Pa rites, some obscure field recording from deep Africa, or anything else that sonically captures a culture that hasn't lost touch with their sense of connection with the primal world around them. Should you buy this? Oh, yes...most definitely. I'll go as far as saying that this may well be one of the most critically-important New Music works of this first decade of the new millenium, and certainly an important, revealing, and vital work of Holger Czukay's large body of material. As such, I'd label this to be an essential purchase for anyone interested in New Music, industrial, tribal or pagan music, as well as those who value a good, overwhelming musical experience. A true musical triumph!"

When the sphynxes get into a chorus line

DAC Crowell | 06/15/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Edgar Varese, Poem Electronique - La Luna, an electronic gamelan ceremony...any similarities between the two? I have never listened to Poem Electronique though I have heard Varese, especially Arcana(superb!)But listening to this 47 long "poem" is absolutely stunning. This cd could be an endless loop cd running permanently like the eternal flame. It starts with a hardly to be heard subsonic pair of bass drums and suddenly getting into a fascinating gamelan orchestra athmosphere. Not a real one, an artificial oerchestra, reminding me of the 24 hours coronation ceremony of King Kong. After a while the voice of the lady moon in person is sending us her impression of what's going on or were these impressions taken from the first astronauts standing on the moon in meditation watching this cermony. The music is a journey to the end of the world and takes the listener with him. Very unusual soundscape! One doesn't get at all the feeling that this has something to do with electronics, it is just new. Probably Holger Czukay's most unique creation of all time. A must for those who are dedicated music maniacs."

Subtle and shadowy, an evolving musical journey

Rich Latta | Albuquerque, NM - Land of Entitlement | 04/20/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Just one song lasting over 40 minutes, this album doesn't actually make me think of the moon at all, despite its title. Unless I think of some strange clandestine factory operating in some remote valley in the moonlight. It's a very mechanical sounding ambient piece and I appreciate it more now that I've heard it several times and was able to pick up on all of its nuances. LA LUNA is simultaneously intriguing and mind-numbing, serving as a good meditation piece. Followers of Holger's old group Can won't necessarily go for this although your average Can fan is no doubt more open to this sort of thing. I like it."