PROCESSION

Dig that crazy cover, man. This chap was a bit unlucky - he hit just a year or so before New Age took off and in the UK this could be found quite easily in high street record stores, mostly cos nobody knew who he was and nobody bought it. A shame, because it's not bad at all. Very solemn and a bit portentuous, with lots of bass-end reverb mirrored by Daniel Kobialka's keening electric and acoustic violins. Suitably ethereal, if somewhat below the first rank of European synthesis. And blessedly free - for the most part - of that boring chuga-chug sequencing that brought Schulze and his ilk so low.

Underrated without reason!

Unexplicably, "Procession" 1983, a collaboration between Bernard Xolotl & Daniel Kobialka, is not only quiet unknown but undervalued with absurd comparisons with its contemporary Prog/Electronic counterparts.

Why? First things first. Xolotl's musical language may not be that "popular", but it is unique. It is one of the few acts, that could stand aside Schulze's or TD's best moments, (which ironically, declined in the 80s) and still be distinguishable among them. Yes! Of course there are "atmospherics" but that is an inherent part of Prog/Electronics and as far as I know nobody but the 1927 pioneers could claim to own this "style". (Of course they did not!)

Now, to where it matters. An extraordinary musical experience which has the rare quality of having perfectly blended Xolotl's synths with Kobialka's electro/acoustic violin. Never getting close to no one's musical language but its own. To put it simply, no "fusion" or "jazz" or "pseudo-classical" music approximations. Neither the compulsive obsession to make a big fuzz about this unusual combination in this kind of electronic music project. So to speak, both musicians are to involved in the evolution of the project, as to be worried about being the main character each 8 seconds. On the contrary the parallel work is sublime, in the primary use of the word.

Bold and subtle the same way, symphonic yet completely electronic and best of all the song writing is uncomparable and close to flawless, even its more "simplistic" moments. Meaning great sense of composition, as to minimize the structural differences of both ways of expression into a single idiom, which by itself highlights what needs to be highlighted and makes no room for useless or protagonic impossitions.

An extremely intense trip in a world full of surprises.

Easy ****4 PA stars + my review, recommendation.

There you go. If you'd like to search for the sheer beauty in Berlin School style, here it is. Bernard Xolotl has always been very obscure and unique figure in the electronic music field - only half of his many albums are available to listen (even including bootlegs!); his music, while sometimes hugely atmospheric, always presented melodic / harmonic motives of sheer beauty. Kosmische Musik has always had its relations with painters (Sergius Golowin, Walter Wegmuller, Adelbert Von Deyen); Xolotl is also a painter (or should I say, also a musician?) and his painting emotions stand very close to his musical ones.

On "Procession", his lush electronic sound is augmented by Daniel Kobialka's virtuoso violin play, which gives the album its apocalyptic grandness. Sure, electronics / violin combination has done a couple of times before, but here it is not a mere embellishment - violin drives the dynamics very often.

Anyways, this incredible release is one of the lost gems of 80's progressive electronic music. Go for it, and let it be your entrance to the beautiful sonic world of Bernard Xolotl.