Info
Artist: Field Rotation
Album: Licht und Schatten
Format: CD (Limited Edition)
Label: Fluid Audio
Catalog #: fluidaudio002
Release Date: 10/26/09
Licht und Schatten
Tracks:
- Abendrot (9:09)
- Polarlicht (11:00)
- Lichtermeer (6:44)
- Lichtbrechung (7:08)
- Mondfinsternis (8:29)
- Tiefflug (9:14)
- Schlafwandler (5:16)
Total Time: 57:00
Field Rotation is Christoph Berg of Kiel, Germany. Licht und Schatten is his first label release, and is the second release on Fluid Audio after the Hope compilation. This EP spans seven tracks and is a trip to the softer, slower, melodic side of electronic music. It’s really a beautiful piece of music that incorporates not only electronic sound manipulation and programming but also utilizes a few instruments. It all adds up to a well-crafted and well-made album that just might be the perfect music to play as you find your day coming to a close. I’m also writing this deep into the night, as a major snowstorm buries the city in two feet of snow. It’s rather fitting.
On to the tracks:
#1 – Abendrot (“Sunset”)
Track 1 starts off with a mournful sounding pad that swirls smoothly and lightly around the sound field, opening up the mind and freeing you of your expectations of what’s to come. A few melodic notes sprinkle in but are gone as quickly as they showed up and the pads continue. The same notes come in again but this time on some strings but they too are gone just as soon as they show up. We then hear a melancholy guitar melody softly begin to play but again, gone, only after a few bars. The first beats of the track then come in and not surprisingly, they too don’t stay around for long, maybe a minute or so. Around 4:50 we get the first bass of the track and the guitar resurfaces. By now I’m hooked on this track. It’s relaxing and moving at the same time. It reminds me of some realization I once had of more happier times coming to an end but not being sad about it because it’s now time for reflection. The track finally hits its groove around the 7:30 mark. It’s the sun releasing it’s last rays of the day for this side of the earth but it’s not going quietly. The rhythm fades out and the sun is now gone. It’s now dusk and I’m not sure whether to feel sad or not but I’m definitely liking this opening track.
#2 – Polarlicht (“Polar Lights”)
Track 2 is the longest track of the EP and starts off rather foreboding with a dark pad and some heavily-reverbed individual percussion but we are saved when the soft beat and soft warbling bass comes in. We then hear a sample of a child and some piano in the background. The beat then really takes off with addition of a lighter pad. A pleasing melody line develops and plays for an extended period of time, unlike the previous track. A third of the way through the song and we are now getting some left and right channel based pads morphing around with the addition of some effected pianos. The bass line that’s been playing throughout is then given some time on it’s own and the listener is now left to wonder what’s next. The beat is what’s next as it returns with the same pad. At 5:37 we are now completely immersed in the track as a simple but effective melody rotates around the entire sound field, alternating volume as it proceeds. The same percussion hits from the beginning of the track return as well as the foreboding pad, but only briefly and the track comes to a close.
#3 – Lichtermeer (“Sea of Lights”)
Track 3 immediately begins with a clicky beat and pad, something different than the first two tracks. It’s a good change. The beats are light and glitchy and circle the sound space. A piano note hits sporadically maintaining a sense of movement and direction. Everything in this track so far is nice and soft, can definitely feel the sea of lights here. Two minutes in and the bass drops out and all we have is the pad and the glitch beat, a definite sense of mystery occurs until the bass comes back in and we’re moving again. The return of the bass line signals a slight increase in tempo which brings us to the last third of the track. The same elements repeat until the track gracefully fades out. Three tracks down and I am now fully immersed in the style and mood of the album. It’s definitely emotional but that’s not a bad thing at all. Isn’t this why we listen to music? To be moved somehow?
#4 – Lichtbrechung (“Refraction of Light”)
Another ominous and foreboding opening! Sinister and mysterious pad and what seems to be some cello work too adds to the mystery. But like many times in the album it doesn’t last long however and after a second or two of actual silence, a warmer pad and soft beat come in, completely changing the tone of the track. Around the 2:34 mark we got some interesting play between strings, pads, and a piano with some serious pitch bend. It’s neither warm nor cold, ominous or inviting, just curiously interesting, maybe even inviting. A steady beat carries us through the song while the occasional pad and random sound effect happens all around. The track then accelerates into a definite heaving or pulsating feel. It’s the most interesting part of the song and I like where we’re at right now. Near the end of the track, 6:42 to be exact, the beats and the pulsating pads that had been playing for the majority of the track vanish and are replaced by some heavy reverb’ed simpler patterns and then the track quickly fades out. This is a beautiful track, one that commands multiple listens.
#5 – Mondfinsternis (“Lunar Eclipse”)
A short piano line begins this track 5, joined with some violin and an airy and floaty pad. A sample, which is from a mission control somewhere, plays its part, giving the beginning a somewhat spacey feel. The song kicks into a glitchy beat around 1:40 and a darker pad plays behind it. I find myself actually drifting off into my own head here. The recollection of long ago memories from track 1 have resurfaced. I come back to the track and it’s still glitching along as if I never left. How long was I gone and how the hell did that happen? I love it. Great work here.
#6 – Tiefflug (“Low-level Flight”)
This track is the most active and alive of the entire album and is probably my favorite. There’s a constant beat throughout most of it, has a great positive atmosphere and, based on the title alone, wants us to feel as if we’ve lifted ourselves out of any depression we may have found ourselves in at the beginning. The reverb work at the end gives an even grander sense of ascension and celebration of having made it through.
#7 – Schlafwandler (“Sleepwalker”)
The last track begins on a positive note, the first one of the entire album. Processed samples of footsteps and a gorgeous guitar play throughout. I was reminded of the film Waking Life throughout this entire song, not the soundtrack to the movie but the actual move instead. The ideas, thoughts, and emotions I experienced as I watched the movie for the first time flooded my memory. It reminded me of one of the ideas presented in the movie, the idea of the dreamer:
I haven’t seen too many around lately. Things have been tough lately for dreamers. They say dreaming is dead, no one does it anymore. It’s not dead it’s just that it’s been forgotten, removed from our language. Nobody teaches it so nobody knows it exists. The dreamer is banished to obscurity. Well, I’m trying to change all that, and I hope you are too. By dreaming, every day. Dreaming with our hands and dreaming with our minds. Our planet is facing the greatest problems it’s ever faced, ever. So whatever you do, don’t be bored, this is absolutely the most exciting time we could have possibly hoped to be alive. And things are just starting.
The track finishes with a rather somber not but it’s still somewhat positive and hopeful. A somber positivity? It’s as if the message is “Yes, humanity has done some wonderful things but imagine where we could be.” The last ten seconds of the album are pure silence, a great way to end the album and the trip it took us on, all under an hour.
This album is a welcome sigh of relief in the electronic music world. The fusion of acoustic instruments with electronics gives it a fresh, 21st century appeal and almost sounds as if, at times, there’s more than one musician playing. The obvious care that went into every facet of this EP is obvious and appreciated. I would recommend this to anyone who’s already a fan of electronic ambient and to those that like their music in a bit more “classical” or instrument-driven. Be prepared to go spelunking around in your head a bit, remembering both good and bad memories (light and shadow, get it?), but don’t let that turn you off, you can just listen to the music too. It’s really an incredible journey that slips just under an hour. Surely you have an hour?
Top 3 Tracks:
- Tiefflug
- Schlafwandler
- Mondfinsternis
External Links
Field Rotation: http://www.fieldrotation.de/
Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/artist/Field+Rotation
Fluid Audio: http://www.fluidaudio.co.uk/
Purchase:
Fluid Audio (Limited Edition) (hurry, 100 copies only!)
Fluid Audio (Digital) (four full-tracks previews)