The eagerly awaited third album by Rainbow Serpent is here! The first two albums were stylistically very different from each other but both just screamed class. With 'Mosaique' we have yet another approach but again the quality in composition, production, in fact everything is of the highest order possible.
We kick off with 'Silence', damned silly name for a piece of music but I see what they are getting at as it brings to mind a subterranean futuristic city late at night, just you on your own - or are you? By the atmosphere that is being created I doubt it!
This flows into 'From Within', a more accurately titled piece where the slow chord progressions, beautiful piano melody and symphonic effects really do pull at the heart strings - a truly beautiful piece. At the half way mark a gentle rhythm is introduced which becomes more dominant as the track progresses, only subsiding when we enter 'Prhythm' and its opening other worldly strangeness takes me back to the atmosphere created in the first track. After a while a melody is introduced and close on its heals we get a beat which develops nicely until the title track takes over making use of all manner of sampled acoustic sounds and pure synth, we even get a deep bass rhythm low in the mix. All in all a very intriguing piece that has an enormous amount happening in its five minutes duration.
Next up we have 'Trancelation'. This is the first sequential track on the album, becoming more rhythmic and hypnotic by the minute, even a bit Schulzian at times.
'In High Spirit' is a smashing little piece which really takes me back to the days of 'Magic Fly', very infectious rhythmically, an ideal driving track.
'Virtual Emotion' is the longest track on the album and is another sequential / rhythmic outing, great with the lights out, let your mind roam to the outer limits.
'The Universal Play' is very melodic and over all too soon. The last track 'Mental Mosaique', even though it does contain some gentle laid back rhythm is really a winding down sort of piece and finishes the album off well.
DAVID LAW (www.synthmusicdirect.com/mosaique.cfm)
You can hear that this album is made after Voyager, this from the melodychoice and the structure.
The CD contains, just like the title said, different impressions. Every track has it's own sphere and character, going from space-melodies over slowing numbers till up tempo and dark soundscapes. But all this different styles are made perfect to each other, so that this CD is still one piece of music (Just like a mosaique, where the little coloured stones are making a picture). The up tempo melodies carrying the signature of Rainbow Serpent : Sequences to fill up the spaces, and sometimes a lead in between.
This is just like Voyager a good album. De cover is excellent and as an extra, there are little mosaique stones in the CD-box.
SVEN CIPIDO (www11.ewebcity.com/electron/serpentrainbow/page07.html)
The first track is very calm and delicate - woodwind style sounds over a deep subtle background. Clever use of the stereo image gives a great sense of space and emptiness, and lurking down faintly in the mix are barely audible bits of sampled speech. It's called 'Silence', which is a bit weird, but is very good.
Next up, 'From Within'. Again a calm piece, with delicate piano over shifting chords, and brief monastic chanting.
In 'Prythm', (?!), things remain interesting - Rainbow Serpent are very good at detailed backgrounds, that reward listening with attention. A harp like instrument arrives with a delicate melody, before lower register sequences, and sweeps of phased noise arrive. The amount of variety and development within tracks is very impressive.
The title track seems an odd choice to name the album after - it's dominated by rapid near random sounding bursts of notes, rather harpsichord like. A bit disappointing, not least because it spoils the mood established by earlier tracks.
But 'trancelation' puts things back on track nicely again, and by 'In high spirits' we have rapid burblings, and strong chiming melodies. It's a little reminiscent of 'Under the dome', and that can't be bad. Again its out of keeping with the rest of the album, but on this occasion it works well.
'Virtual emotion' is back in near ambient territory, with a nice long slowly developing track, a simple but a memorable sequence underpinning the other sounds. The CD ends with 'Mental Mosaic', and its much better than the first 'Mosaic' track.
The strengths of this CD are the subtle but detailed sound on most tracks, they develop well, and have a good sense of space. The more up-tempo parts work much less well for me, but fortunately these do not dominate .
Overall: 7.5 / 10, calm elegance, bordering on ambient at times. Style a bit inconsistent.
http://starbase1.co.uk/review15.htm
Ein Hörerlebnis der anderen Art, 4. Juni 2006
Die chronologisch gesehen und vom Erscheinungsdatum her dritte CD der deutschen Gruppe "Rainbow Serpent" wartet mit neuen atmosphärischen Klängen, ausgefallenen Ideen, leichter Rhythmik, sanften Melodien und ungewöhnlichen Gesängen auf.
Die komplett mit Synthesizern erstellte Musik entfaltet ihre volle Wirkung erst nach mehrmaligem Hören und gegen Abend, dafür wird sie dann umso besser. Die einzelnen Tracks beginnen meistens ruhig, bis sich ein stets unterschiedlicher, mal herkömmlicher und mal ganz eigener, Rhythmus hinzugesellt.
Die niedrige Auflage der CD verhinderte, dass "Mosaique" nicht nur im ausgewählten Fachhandel erschien. Dabei ist die Musikart schon etwas Neues: Sie vereint Elemente aus allen möglichen Stilrichtungen, beispielsweise Ambient, Downbeat und Trance. Ich kenne keine Musik, die ich mit der Rainbow Serpents im Allgemeinen vergleichen könnte.
Herausstechend von Mosaique sind für mich das gleichnamige Stück 5 und die letzten beiden Tracks (Nr. 8: The Universal Play; Nr. 9: Mental Mosaique). Der erste der eben genannten drei beginnt fetzig und gewinnt dann langsam an Gleichmäßigkeit, er ähnelt damit dem siebten Stück (In High Spirit). "The Universal Play" ist wegen seines schönen Themas besonders hörenswert. "Mental Mosaique" läuft auf einen kurzen pompösen Höhepunkt hinaus, nach dem die Musik nachlässt und schließlich endet.
Die Gesamtdauer ist auf der CD mit etwa 73 Minuten angegeben; vier der neun Stücke (Nr. 1: Silence; Nr. 3: Prhythm; Nr. 5: Trancelation; Nr. 7: Virtual Emotion) haben eine Länge von zehn oder mehr Minuten, was mitunter doch ein wenig zu gut gemeint ist. Für Freunde meditativer Musik besonders geeignet, doch auch jeder, der sich auf etwas Neues einlassen will, kommt hier voll auf seine Kosten.
Sebastian Frenzel http://www.amazon.de
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