|
|
|
|
|
This promotional release from German hot shot Eike Hosenfeld displays an impressive range of styles and genres - both in an orchestral and electronic idiom. These are excerpts from various independent German productions; from promising young directors situated in and around the Berlin area. Six tracks from STRELITZ open the album. "Tom und Tina's Tanz" starts off with an ABYSS-like etheral choir accompanied by soft strings that eventually give way to a Europop-style waltz a la Morricone's MALENA. This is classy stuff; a close relative to Richard Robbins' Merchant/Ivory scores, if you wish. The two tracks from DER ÜBERFLIEGER follow in similar fashion: romantic, yet melancholic. "Im Hochschulgarten" connotes a comic, childlike sensation a la Preisner's SECRET GARDEN - pizzicato strings and playful flutes. VERSTECK FÜR EINEN HUND underlines the sadness felt by the protagonist as she is separated from her dog, pizzicato strings returning on top of beautiful piano and woodwind solos. The brief suite from COURAGE is a powerful, yet subdued and mysterious piece that throbbs away over low and groaning strings. The trailer from DER GOLDENE SPATZ, an animated film, recaptures the playful spirit throught appropriate unstable mickey-mousing. ZWEI IM FRACK is a moody score that opens with Hosenfeld's trademark glockenspiel-like instrument (with delicious 70's reverb!) and is accompanied by contrapuntal string writing. Starting off the electronic part of the album, the 10-minute suite from NEUE ZUNKUNFT MEDIEN is an ambitious piece that at first reminds one of the ambient soundscapes of Future Sound of London (complete with watery sound effects), but transforms into a guitar-based bossa nova-like rhythm, before returning in typical sonata form. Highly atmospheric, this. BRAUTKLEID follows MEDIEN in the Bossa Nova-oeuvre, with unusual percussion and an organ even! This track, "Mad!", also has lyrics in English. "Einleitung" from STUMMFILM starts off with muted Manchester rhythms before surprisingly turning into a solemn Chopin-like piano piece accompanied by a distant synth choir. The rhythms reappear towards the end (with brass!) before fading away again. TROMPE L'OEIL sounds as something out of Elfman's WISDOM, rich on sampled percussion effects. KLEISTRONIK is an ambient/bossa nova-hybrid with jazzy chords and groovy xylophone riffs. The brief excerpt from EROTICALS rounds off the album as a quasi-baroque piece performed by harpschicord and various bell instruments. Interesting. Overall, this is an extremely eclectic album that nevertheless has a recognizable voice. It's this eclecticism that makes the sampler so entertaining. Hosenfeld has a strong melodic gift that shines through as simple, hummable tunes, but also a knack for the textural and atmospheric. A couple of tracks are a tad on the repetitive side, but nothing to whine about. Bernd Wefelmeyer and the Deutschen Filmorchester Babelsberg performs impeccably with only a few minor synch problems in the string department. Hosenfeld's synth performances from track 16-21 are flawless, as far as I can tell. Unfortunately, this CD is only available as a promotional release, directly from the composer. But there's enough material here to warrant a commercial release. Let's hope that will happen some day.
|
