ICELAND

Iceland is a magnificant-haunted-majestic piece of art that can be considered among the most synthesized-ambient like albums from Richard Pinhas. It could perfectly been used as a soundtrack for an existential-post nuclear sci-fi movie. Despite the presence of dense layered electronic atmospheres the ambience and sound aesthetism is at thousand miles aways from tripped kosmische synth epics of the Berlin electronic school. For me it presents similar characteristics to Artemiev synthesised orchestral compositions for surreal-poetical movies such as The Stalker or Solaris. It also admits implicit (nnon conscious) references to Morricone, Carpenter and David Pritchard. Consequently it provides some tragic-dark melancholic pieces moving in a bleak-cold emptiness. The synthesised projections are stricly cinematic, deadly beautiful if not heartbreaking. This album can easily disconcerted fans of Heldon's propulsive rockin electronics but it will ravish those who want to dream on divine minimal astral electronic soundscapes. This one is to Richard Pinhas' music catalogue what Agneta Nilsson is to Heldon's: a wonderful-visceral chaosmic hymn to a lost humanity. A must have for those who want to discover the mysterious pearls of progressive electronic music. According to me this is the best offering from Pinhas in solo with Chronolyse.