Klare, Frank

Artist: Frank Klare & Ron Boots
P: 2007
"Digitalic" can be defined as pure Space Sequencer Music, with melodic atmospheres that come and go, as well as hypnotic sequencer solos in a trance key. The structure of the work is very rhythmic. The rhythms even sustain the melodies, in the shape of minimalist sequences that keep oscillating around a determined basis.
All the themes have been composed by Frank Klare, except for Digitalic Five and Digitalic Six, where Ron Boots has participated.

Artist: Frank Klare & Ron Boots
P: 2004
Frank Klare is an experienced musician from Germany who already has a long career behind him in electronic music with band like Synco and Traumklang, numerous solo releases, many collaborations and a lot of appearances on compilation albums.
“Monumental Dreams” is dedicated to the “Tangerine Tree”-project, an initiate of Tangerine Dreams fans to release all kinds of live material from this legendary band. Not surprisingly, Frank’s music has traces of that of “TD”.
The sequences and melodies on “First Movement” and “Second Movement” could have come from a TD album out of the eighties (listen to these leading chords!).
Frank has a sound of his own. This can be heard very well in the sequences he uses. The one in “Third Movement”, for example, is excellent. “Fifth Movement” is a slow rhythmic affair with soft melodies. The highlight on the album is “Sixth Movement”; here Frank creates the best sequence on the cd and this, together with the typical TD-sounds, makes this track an absolute treat. After so many years of being around in electronic music, “Monumental Dreams” could mean the real breakthrough for Frank. And then the cover: again it is a fantastic surreal and futuristic masterpiece by the Argentine artist Pablo Magne. Within some tracks, Ron Boots joins the musician and gives all the special touch.

Artist: Frank Klare
P: 1997
His first works in a pre Synco time.
All recordings made between 1981 and 1985.
The music is somehow sequencerbased. Slow titles, all played with analogue vintage gear.
Sometimes the music reminds to the followup he made with Synco.

Artist: Frank Klare
P: 1996
It has to be said that ex SYNCO member Frank Klare released a brace of albums conspicuous by their blandness earlier in the year. The title, and the fact that four of the 6 track are specified as being improvisations, would suggest that there's room for optimism here though. 'Intro' opens brightly enough, with a heavy bass beat backed by a lively sequence. The melody is pleasant enough but after a while it becomes predictable and repetitive and consequently the track out-stays its welcome, even at only 5½ minutes. The four part 'Improvised Eternity' dominates the album, and thankfully proceedings take a marked turn for the better with the arrival of part 1. Choral refrains introduce the piece before a sequence slowly starts to take shape, backed by a foreboding drone. Simple drums and percussion also join the fray, building in intensity as the track progresses, and though variety is not the track's strong point it compensates with lots of atmosphere and imagery. Part 2 repeats the formula with a traditional style sequence underpinning choral synths straight from the Tangerine Dream archives. Part 3 confirms that Frank Klare has very much done on this album what he didn't achieve on his previous two: recapturing some of the form shown on the SYNCO 85-89 album. Overall this album does more right than it does wrong, and SYNCO fans I'm sure will welcome it. (GG)

Here the last copy!

Artist: Frank Klare
P:  2006
‘Moods’ is based on the theory that different frequencies and tones when processed by the human brain can transport the listener to a different state of mind. This CD contains 3 titles which depending upon the track being listened to, can induce a state of relaxation (Alpha Moods), stimulation (Beta Moods) or deep meditation (Theta Moods).
When listening to this music best results are achieved when headphones are used. To avoid unwanted side effects no use was made of the ‘Brain Sync Research’ extra frequencies function on this CD.
’Alpha Moods’, a composition made specifically for a scientific group for the purpose of inducing relaxation, was the building block upon which the foundation of this album has been built.
The opening track, "Alpha Moods", works within the classic sonic architecture found on albums such as Irrlicht and Cyborg. For this piece, Klare develops a deep-freeze of synthy iciness. With its revolving chord progressions and dense layers of frosty electronic timbres, the music conjures up a vast tundral expanse.
"Beta Moods" produces a prolonged energy similar to that of the more vibrant tracks on Schulze's later work Audentity. The rhythm parts build up, fill out and become insistent enough to attract the pulse of the listener. Each chord shift feels like a course correction on this wild cosmic ride.
"Theta Moods", the third and shortest track, is the most nuanced of the three, and a well-chosen pendant to the longer pieces. Here Klare rolls out sci-fi space blip and raygun blast effects which flash high above a slow current of phasing pads and hollow tones. Somber harmonies rise up and play out in a brief but epic gesture. This stark rendering of interior space is profound in its simplicity, and is a testament to the magnificence of the original.

Artist: Frank Klare
P: 1995
This time Frank Klare has "realised my favour for sequences. I haven’t played any moog solo voices to force the original effects of the dynamically developing sequences". The 16½ minute opener ‘Impression of Arkana’ builds slowly on a simple sequence. It is most successful after the midpoint at which stage a bass sequence is introduced, however it never strays far from the opening riff and after 10 minutes it becomes heavy going. Not much relief is afforded by track 2 ‘Schräger Otto’ which consists of a repetitive discordant theme, however the 18 minute ‘Homage to K.S.’ follows and here things do brighten up considerably. Some classic sequencing is on show which ebbs and flows to powerful effect, and it’s very easy to imagine frenetic Schulzian accompaniment. ‘Dream’ presents a slowly repeating theme for a gargantuan 25 minutes, accompanied by subliminal effects and delicate sequences. Another Traumklang collaboration ends the album and again it’s a very impressive piece with some exciting sequencer runs and fine complementary soloing. (GG)

Here the last copy!