The title “Moonlake” refers to Schulze’s love of the Austrian Moonlake and the monumental fascination radiated by this lake and its surrounding landscape. All of this is perfectly reflected in the intensity and power of his latest album.
“Moonlake” is nevertheless a typical Klaus Schulze album, one that in the words of Schulze “unites tradition and vision”.Klaus Schulze has revolutionized electronic music. Music is and will always be a kind of self-therapy, not just for Schulze alone but also for people who are willing to let themselves fall with open ears and hearts... There is a noticeable focus on percussion on “Moonlake”, which hasn’t been found on Schulze’s albums for some time. While rhythm was often used as an element to supplement the music on his earlier albums, it takes on a more dominant role on “Moonlake”. The album also marks the introduction of Schulze playing the Mini-Moog (with distortion and Wah-Wah!) in the studio for the first time. Previously Schulze had only ever used this set up live on stage.
This working process gave Klaus Schulze the necessary surge of adrenalin to create a vibrant and lively album, which hides many surprises, such as the ethnic elements found in the track “Playmate in Paradise” for example.
Klaus Schulze: “The ethnic element comes from Thomas Kagermann, better known in earlier times as Fiddle Michel. He actually comes from the folk scene. However, today he is very open to what I am doing. It’s the counterpoint to conventional electronics, which allows you to expand considerably. When you are working exclusively in the electronic field you often get caught in a box. By means of using uneven patterns perhaps, which are looped but have a groove in them, there are completely new moments and aspects”.
Apart from the first two tracks, “Playmate in Paradise” and “Artemis in Jubileo”, which were recorded ‘live’ in the studio, there are also two actual live performance pieces on “Moonlake”.
“Same Thought Lion” and “Mephisto” were both recorded in Poland on November 5th 2003 during a concert in Posen for Gert Hof’s huge light show. These edited tracks are now available for the first time for a larger audience to enjoy.
Just as with every other Klaus Schulze album, “Moonlake” is a new venture, an experiment and a unique document of a musician who has followed his inner voice and intuition for decades. An artist who creates worlds which cannot be compared to anything else.
