| Reviewed
by: Darklight
Wolfsheim really made a name for themselves with their
1999 release Spectators. Even though the band
has been making music since the early 90s, none of their earlier recordings
have offered the same magic that Spectators
offers. Spectators is one of those rare stand-out
albums that does just about everything right for the genre it represents.
And in this case, that genre happens to be synth-pop. But not only did
Spectators appeal to synth-pop fans, it appealed
to fans of all forms of electronic music as well. Unfortunately, I don’t
feel that this follow-up CD entitled Casting Shadows
will be nearly as well received.
Four years in the making, this CD is quite a change from Spectators
before it. I wouldn’t really say that the band has matured more since
they’ve always been a rather mature band. But I would say that they’ve
toned down their sound quite a bit and, as much as I hate to admit it,
have gotten more commercial. This overall album is very laid-back, relaxed
and melodic in its sound. So much, in fact, that I would label it as
easy listening.
Basically, if you took the slowest most tame and romantic song from
Spectators, and made an entire CD based on
it, Casting Shadows would be the result. This
recording is completely void of any dance tracks. The songs here are
soft and soothing with a light mood to them. So don’t expect any club
hits here kiddies, because there’s none to be found. This overall recording
is warm and light hearted best listened to when soaking in a bath letting
all of your troubles float away.
But I don’t want to scare you away completely, because this CD is in
fact very high quality and well polished. This is still indeed Wolfsheim
with their patented nicely layered electronic programming, enchanting
melodies and deep clear accented male vocals. And not every song will
put you to sleep as there are quite a few that are somewhat upbeat and
catchy. While still not energetic enough to be considered dance tracks,
they do pick things up a bit here.
This is a consistent recording never really throwing any surprises at
you. While each song does stand out on its own, they also stick to a
similar formula never straying off the beaten path. Once you’ve heard
the first track, you have a fairly good idea as to what the remainder
of the CD has to offer in terms of music. Also, unlike Spectators,
there really are no songs here that you would want to crank loud and
dance to. But there are some songs that I do feel stand out as hits
such as "And I…", "Underneath The Veil", "Find You’re Gone" and
"Approaching Lightspeed". These are the best songs offered
here, and do make this album definitely worth picking up. Everything
else on the album is good as well, but don’t stand out nearly as much.
The bottom line is that this CD should please most fans of Wolfsheim,
as well as synth-pop fans in general. But if you like Wolfsheim
more for songs such as "Once In A Lifetime" and "Heroin,
She Said", I’m sorry to say that there’s really nothing here for
you. While overall this recording should please most fans of Spectators,
I think a lot of fans of that recording will also feel a little let
down with this CD as it’s lacking the same magic.
|
| Reviewed
by: Darklight
This is an extremely quality album with clean and polished upbeat synth-pop
songs featuring energetic beats and melodic harmonies. The vocals are
deep and clear with a unique accent and sing extraordinarily well with
a smooth and confident flow.
What is impressive about this band is that while they create music that
will appeal to a large listening audience, they still don’t sound commercial
or mainstream. They have a genuine feel about them that allows their
music to sound honest and real. This is due in part to the songs having
a slightly dark mood to them. Also, the lyrics are well written and
delivered with true feeling and emotion.
For the most part this album sticks to a melodic sound, but there are
a few songs that work well in clubs. The songs “Once In A Lifetime”
and “Heroin, She said” are the best tracks on this CD and really
stand out. They feature great structures and melodies with memorable
choruses that you can sing along to. While there really isn’t a bad
track to be found on this disc, it would have been nice to have a few
more songs similar to the two I previously mentioned. All of the songs
do a pretty good job of featuring their own little touches that allow
them to stand apart. But, unfortunately, there are a few that do sound
a bit too similar to each other. Also, there are a couple of tracks
that are too slow and romantic for me. Another complaint that I have
is that most of the songs are rather short playing under four minutes.
The total playing time for this CD is only forty two minutes. That’s
somewhat short for this style of music. Thankfully, the songs are developed
well enough that they never feel too short. While it would have been
nice if some of them were longer, they still work well at their current
lengths.
The bottom line is that if you enjoy European synth-pop music with a
slightly dark mood to it, this CD is a must.
|
| Reviewed
by: Darklight
Wolfsheim is a German synth-pop band that have been
making music since the early 90s. However, I just discovered them in
2001 when Metropolis Records released their Spectators
CD domestically. Spectators initially came
out in 1999 in Europe, so it was already two years old when I first
listened to it. Since Spectators is such a
good CD, I decided to look into the earlier releases by Wolfsheim.
Unfortunately, their three previous full-length releases are expensive
imports. So I decided against getting them. However, I recently ran
across a used copy of their 1996 release Dreaming Apes
for rather cheap and decided to get it.
Dreaming Apes is the Wolfsheim
recording that came out prior to Spectators.
And while it does share similarities to Spectators,
it’s also quite different in many regards. It has an overall more laid-back
vibe to it. Also, it’s not completely electronic. It features acoustic
instruments along with piano and even harmonica as well. This tends
to make a lot of the songs more accessible to a larger audience than
the electronic dance focus of Spectators.
Another aspect that makes this CD rather different from Spectators
is the inclusion of five short experimental instrumental pieces scattered
throughout the recording. Most are good, but there a couple that I could
have definitely done without as they sound completely out of place on
this release.
There are a few somewhat upbeat and energetic dance tracks to be found
here, but not nearly as many as Spectators
offers. While they’re some of the better tracks here, they still don’t
come close to matching the catchiness and energy of more recent Wolfsheim
hits like "Once In A Lifetime" and "Heroin, She Said".
Actually, there are no stand-out hits on this recording in my opinion.
While nothing is bad, nothing is really all that exciting, either.
The majority of this CD is made up of cold, dark and haunting songs
that play at a rather slow pace. And several of them include only organic
instruments void of any electronic elements. Basically, this is not
a pure electronic synth-pop release. It features many tracks that couldn’t
even be considered synth-pop. There are quite a few acoustic ballads
to be found here that have more of a gothic sound to them as a opposed
to an electronic one.
If I heard this Dreaming Apes recording before
Spectators, chances are I would have never
gotten Spectators in fear that it would be
more of the same. It really surprises me how much different Spectators
is compared to this CD. I wouldn’t have expected the band to change
their overall sound as much as they did in such a short time period.
While there are a few songs here that resemble the material found on
Spectators, the majority of the album sounds
almost nothing like it.
After hearing this Dreaming Apes CD, I have
no desire in getting the two previous Wolfsheim recordings,
No Happy View and Popkiller,
that came out before it. I’ve actually heard several songs from both
of them, and they’re more similar to Dreaming Apes than
to Spectators. So I think I’ll pass. But don’t
get me wrong, Dreaming Apes is indeed a very
quality recording offering nicely composed music which is a blend of
both electronic programming and organic instruments. And the vocals
are deep, clear and emotional with a nice accent. But the problem is
that it’s just isn’t for someone such as myself who’s mainly an electronic
music purist that likes synth-pop 100% electronic and upbeat. But if
you like more laid-back, mellow and relaxed synth-pop style music with
organic instruments, this Dreaming Apes recording
just might be for you. But if Spectators was
your first introduction to the music of Wolfsheim,
I strongly suggest that you take caution before getting Wolfsheim’s
entire back-catalog of music. I would recommend that you go to the official
Wolfsheim site (www.wolfsheim.de)
to listen to samples of their older music to decide for yourself if
it’s something that you will like or not.
|
