Marek Bilinski - Life is Music

Artists: Axess
P: 2026
It's been almost 25 years since Axel released his first solo album, "First Light," under the pseudonym Axess. Now, on April 10, 2026, his eleventh album, "The Power Of Love," will be released. In this quarter-century, Axel's music has undergone a significant transformation. Little remains of the electronic music he originally made, heavily influenced by the so-called Berlin School; this style of music is now pursued by Axel in his project Pyramid Peak. As Axess, the 58-year-old musician, born in Leverkusen but now living in Meerbusch, presents a considerably more subdued sound. Since the 2017 album "Seashore," Axel's music has taken on a much more chilled-out, almost ambient, character. Expansive soundscapes, long reverberations, subtle rhythms, and chill beats define the music of his last four albums, and "The Power Of Love" is no exception! The eight tracks, ranging in length from 6:39 to 12:30 minutes, glide smoothly and hypnotically through the ears, allowing the listener to forget all the stresses of everyday life for nearly 75 minutes. All the songs move at a tempo of 70-94 bpm, leading to profound relaxation and encouraging imaginary journeys through space and time. The quality of both the songs and the overall sound has improved significantly compared to its predecessor, thanks in part to the final mastering of the CD by Axel's longtime friend and musical partner, Max "maxxess" Schiefele. With "The Power Of Love," Axel opens a new chapter in his musical career, as this CD is the first to be recorded entirely in his new "Reinklang Studio" in Meerbusch. Axel also leaves behind the past few personally difficult years and looks optimistically and full of inspiration toward a new, happy future. This positive, albeit sometimes slightly melancholic, mood runs like a common thread through the new CD and also includes one or two catchy tunes.

Artist: Polaris
P: 2009 / 2014
Great Electronic tracks full of space, sequences, melodies and harmonies.
Very good new release by Jakub Kmiec, which was already recorded in 2009.
 

Artist: Odyssey + Remote Spaces
P: 2010
Ypsilon Project is a well-produced, multilayered album, which contains 'many happy returns' to legendary electronic moods as well as some surprising arrangements and new formal ideas. The journey begins somewhat in the mood of a radio-program á la „Radioactivity“ by Kraftwerk, then the music has something to it which reminds the listener of Double Fantasy, JMJ or Tangerine Dream's film music. Still, the most important ingredience here is a vey specific, atmospheric mood, as if taken out of some electronic dream vault. This 'organic cleanness' one may very well associate with empty cosmic space as well as with familiar earthly landscapes. The journey begins somewhat in the mood of a radio-program á la „Radioactivity“ by Kraftwerk, soon there appear optimistic notes played on a slightly distorted guitar (or conjured up from a synthesizer?), and, after a while, some boiling chord-clouds fade out and the Listener is home alone with a mere ostinato in a slow pace, which marks the beginning of track two. Are we just taking a long walk through a japanese garden-labyrinth, are these slowly falling white spots snowflakes or tiny flowers? This quiet impression definitely has something to it which reminds me of the music presented by Double Fantasy (today: Food 4 Fantasy) on their album „Universal Avenue“; the same organic cleanness, which one may associate with empty cosmic space as well as with familiar earthly landscapes. This piece of music is 12 minutes of a solid lounge-trip into the exotic Unknown. Track three is quite a contrast to its predecessor: you immediately hear neonlights, city lights, vehicle lights and neverending car-loops. Welcome to the most modern city at steelgray dawn or in the navyblue evening... In track four, it sounds like Harald Grosskopf or the Kraftwerk-musicians from the „Tour de France Soundtracks“-era were invited to the session – this is what one should call „aerodynamic music“. We are here just a step away not only from sequential electronica or „jarre'ing“ elpop, but also from modern remixing moods. In the quicksilver-lively fifth track we hear a solo sounding exactly as if it were conceived on PPG Wave 2 – warm regards from JMJ or Double Fantasy (or Paul Nagle's „Lore“)! The most traditional piece is probably track six, where Odyssey vs. Remote Spaces combine Berlin-like sequences and some JMJ-like moods. The Listener may now enjoy digital clouds approaching just a few inches above her head, the clouds change their forms and colours ceaselessly... The next two pieces are fairly long, more complex, more difficult to classify. Various styles intermingle with each other, the arrangements seem to have been taken out of an electronic dream vault. Both compositions could be musical narrations about snowy parks at night – the first short novel is rather nostalgic, the other one rather murky – pay attention to this ingenuous tabla-loop in the background of track eight! As we all know, all good things move toward their end, and there it is – the final track, groovy elpop slightly in the mood of (once more) Double Fantasy or JMJ, but also Marek Bilinski or Tangerine Dream's film music in the eighties. In this track we hear a fresh breeze of ostinato-vocoderian „retro-sounds“.