LA VIE ELECTRONIQUE 4

LVE number 4 is the second box in this series with registrations from live concerts. We moved a couple of months forward since LVE 3 and these few months show a noticeable growth in Schulze's skills as a live performer.

CD1 covers a autumn 1975 concert in Germany and despite its title ("Just an old-fashioned Schulze track") it is anything but 'just' a Schulze track. It is a lot faster and more energetic then the music Schulze normally performs and the first half is dominated by loud and frantic sequencer parts that seem to get faster and more violent as it progresses. The second half is more relaxed, offering a soothing soundscape with slowly floating chords. All of it performed with the known 1975 synths familiar from 'Timewind'.

CD2 moves forward to 1976 and the Moondawn era. The central piece 'I Sing The Body Electric' spins some variations on the Mindphaser theme, using the Syntorchestra violins that Schulze was so fond of back then. After a good 10 minutes we welcome the Moog (or at least it sounds like one to me) and armed with this legion of buzzing bees, Schulze moves through his ethereal moods for half an hour before the sequencers join, with a pattern resembling 'Totem' from 'Picture Music'. Given that I usually prefer Schulze without sequencers, this track, and its variations that follow on CD3 and on the following boxset LVE5 count amongst my favorite Schulze music, reminding of 'Cyborg', but performed with a warmer set of instruments.

CD3. As I've just mentioned, much of the material is built around the same basic structure, which stands to reason given that they were taken from the same tour and from concerts not more then a few days apart. 'Make Room Make Room' and 'Andromeda Strain' are both variations on 'I Sing the Body Electric'. I find 'Make Room' to be much less intense, but 'The Andromeda Strain' is a marvel, both in its slowly flowing abstract opening and in the subtle sequence parts that follow.

Is it still necessary to mention that this is fan material? Of course not, any 4 hour boxset with live material from one artist will only be of interest for fans. But those fans are in for a treat. Due to the chronological order of the LVE boxsets, there is an obvious similarity between some of the material, so I wouldn't recommend hurrying trough this in one go. As you know, a vintage Schulze is consumed with patience and dedication. 3.5 stars.