L3G4CY Album Review by Synth Caresses
Post date: Jul 08, 2015 8:7:53 PM
“L3g4cy” is the fifth outing of Kuutana’s side project, Sequential Dreams, inspired by the musical visions of Tangerine Dream. This latest effort obviously had to pay tribute to the memory of late Edgar Froese, and a good tribute it is!
According to the liner notes of this album, “Mr. Froese is quoted as saying “There is no death, there is just a change of our cosmic address”. And it’s with this in mind that the L3G4CY album cover and album track titles portray this new cosmic address. […] Listeners will recognize musical sounds and idioms that are very familiar to the TD or EF listener. ”
July 8, 2015
“The Sea of Stars”, featuring Johan Tronestam, plunges headlong into a sequencer craze right from the start and contains beautiful melodies, especially the guitar riffs.
“Spirit Trance” lives up to its name. it’s trance-like and has got some instantly recognizable TD sounds from the early 80’s -namely, “Exit” and “White Eagle”.
On “HyperSpace” the TD ghost stays with us. Altocirrus joins in on this one, for the first time on a Sequential Dreams project. We are now travelling through the 90’s, no doubt. Rocky, harsh solos on keyboards and guitars keep unfolding all along this track.
Lovely sounds open “Light Years Away”. The listener is not given a single moment’s rest, for this is another powerful number, showing Kuutana’s strong style. It contains, and I quote, “contemporary ChillStep sounds and beats.”
On “Blue Galaxy” Celestial View is featured. It’s a composition that catches your ear from the moment it starts, with great beats and tunes thrown it for good measure. The shadow of TD’s “White Clouds” definitely hovers all throughout this piece, but this is a more modern approach to that classical TD track. My favourite so far.
“Escape Velocity” slows down the pace a little bit, but in a deceptive way, as by the third minute, things start to gather and here’s when Kuutana stands on the throttle to thrust the piece ever forward. Quoting the liner notes again: “Escape Velocity” is a “New Berlin School” genre electronic rock track that presents sounds that should be familiar to Tangerine Dream listeners of the “Virgin” and “Blue” years eras.”
“Orbital Maneuvers” has another laid-back intro before the action takes control. Here we find the more prog side of Kuutana, namely, his Midnight Airship project, which tries to link the world of Tangerine Dream and Pink Floyd in one track.
“Light Beyond the Abyss” has reminiscences to TD’s “Mojave Plan” in the sequencer line and effects, featuring the Japanese shakuhachi flute sampled sound. I like it!
“The Phoenix” is a revamped version of the track “Fire”, previously released on “The Cosmic Touch” album but without the aid of Daniel Wolf.
(more info here: http://synth-caresses.blogspot.com.es/2014/05/cosmic-touch-sequential-dreams.html )
“L3g4cy”, the eponymous track, opens the album with upfront TD influences, but also that great progressive touch from his Midnight Airship project. This track sounds powerful, menacing and rocky. A great starter full of analogue sounds!
This album is filled to the rim with guitar-like solos, providing a rocky edge feeling to it all. Let’s have a look at its contents:
