Royal Festival Hall Volume II

The second part of a trilogy, recorded on September 10, 1991, Volume 2 is made up of the same imaginative synthesizer utilization as the first disc, only this time there are three tracks instead of two. Like Royal Festival Hall, Volume 1, the first track here is 45 minutes long, but it offers a colder, much more intense keyboard crunch. "Ancient Ambiance" features plenty of long, soaring synth washes, but the feel of the piece is aurally darker and a wee bit more intense than the first volume's "Yen." Schulze peaks interest with his subtle, simplistic use of basic keyboard rhythms, especially in the "Primeval Murmur" section of "Ancient Ambiance." Although the atmosphere is frigid, the bewilderment remains in the way this German keyboard wizard produces formative music with electronic noise. "Anchorage" is an 11-minute voyage of much of the same dreamlike music, as is "Variation on B.F.," the third installment on the album. Attentive listening will decipher detailed contrasts in Schulze's artistry, even though his playing might not seem all that spectacular at first. Background rhythms and faint goings-on beneath the main notes make his electronic music both absorbing and, at times, mysterious. Royal Festival Hall, Volume 2 is equally as entertaining as the first volume; both volumes are from the same concert and both represent Schulze's lengthy keyboard excursions and deep, electronic washes.