['ramp], Germany

Doombient; Berlin School Electronic

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Latest: Havoc (2024)

Frozen Radios (2000)

Frozen Radios begins to demonstrate that ['ramp] have a penchant for the dark ambient sounds of Klaus Schulze's Cyborg or Tangerine Dream's Zeit. On the back cover, they inform us to "File Under: Electronic Industrial Ambient". And that's quite accurate, except the sequencers are still going full bore here, so you're never too far from the friendly confines of the Berlin School. Another highly recommended album for fans of the genre.

---9/20/13

Nodular (1998)

Regular readers of my reviews know that I'm quite fond of the Berlin School of electronic music as founded by Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze. Atmospheric keyboards that give way to blazing sequencers, choral mellotron tapes (likely sampled in Ramp's case), and melodic synthesizer lines (and even better if there's guitar which Ramp unfortunately doesn't employ) will blow me away every time. Instant mental movie soundtrack music. Ramp were part of the original renaissance of the movement that gained quite a bit of traction in the late 1990s (especially in the UK and The Netherlands) with Radio Massacre International, AirSculpture, and Redshift leading the charge. Ramp were rare in that they were from the namesake country. Certainly Germany had support of the style within, but mainly from various individual synthesists like Bernd Kistenmacher and Mario Schonwalder (and owner of the influential Manikin label). So Ramp were indeed unique given they were a group effort.

Ramp originally started as a trio, and the synchronicity of ideas is apparent. There were (and are) a ton of solo electronic musicians, but many of those sound monolithic to these ears. The best acts, like the ones I mentioned above, feature at least 3 performers if not more. Later, the band changed their sound to what they call "doombient" which I hope to hear one day as well, though I'm not entirely convinced it's a style I'll embrace. Hardcore EM followers no doubt are already very familiar with Ramp.

The lineup on Nodular is:
Frank Makowski: sampling, sequencing, electronics, loops
Stephen Parsick: electronics, sequencing, rhythm programming
Lambert Ringlage: electronics, micro composers, tapes
Martina Fantar: voice on "before the storm"

Martina's atmospheric voice is positively enchanting in this setting.

All the tracks are good, but the 19 minute 'Phasenverzerrung' is absolutely brilliant. If it doesn't lay you out on the first try, then there's a better than average chance this style isn't for you.

---4/9/11

4/9/11 (new entry)

Sezione Frenante, Italy

Neo Italian prog

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Latest: Pace e Guerra (2024) single

Metafora di un Viaggio (2014) 

Sezione Frenante are one of a handful of groups who performed live in the 70s before disbanding without any recorded output, only to reform in modern times and release one album or more. The returns are mixed on these bands, some having adapted better than others. Sezione Frenante sits in the middle of these type of groups. On the one hand they do have those impressive breaks that makes the genre so special. And it's prog rock all the way, no silly attempts at pop stardom. On the other, there's this nagging feeling they relied too heavily on modern instrumentation and production techniques. One starts to wonder "what could have been?" in their initial incarnation. As I immerse myself deeper into the contents, I hear a strain of neo prog that I hadn't noticed before. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing in my world. Fortunately they maintain the Italian language (and sung very well by newcomer Francesco Nardo) keeping it out of the Genesis clone discussion. Gosh, if I already didn't own shelves full of this kind of prog from Italy already, I'd keep this. But downsizing is in full force, and this one never resonated with me at any level except academically.

---12/15/24

10/12/23 (new entry)