The reign of Radigue continues unabated in my abode, the most recent examples being two double album releases from Lovely, "Songs Of Milarepa" and "Jetsun Mila". The former features a lot of spoken word, actually, particularly the first album. Extracts from the "Mila Kabum", as read in Tibetan by Luma Kunga Rinpoche and in English by Robert Ashley, are pretty much the foreground for Radigue's soft drones to back up. This Milarepa comes across as some kind of aesthetic superman, not even requiring to eat or drink due to his reliance on supernatural powers. It's all very interesting, albeit slightly smug, and I've gained a recent interest in Ashley's dulcet drawl, but I much preferred the second part of the second album when mere words are discarded and looped samples of Tibetan chanting is used to compliment the electronic drones. That's much more like it.
"Jetsun Mila", however, is two lengthy pieces of much-more-like-it, carefully composed and constructed, slowly unveiling with each element fitting succinctly into the next. Pretty much Radigue at work, unnecessary to burble on about, and always welcoming.
Insofar as that small area of music that involves blatant immitation of better known and better skilled musicians that actually is listenable, almost despite itself, is concerned - I've been returning to Adelbert Von Deyen's two earlier albums, "Sternzeit" and "Nordburg", both on mp3 rips. Taking the sound of Klaus Schulze without the actual ability, these albums end up with a much more minimal and somewhat harder edged sound to Schulze's intricate floating. The result being as if latter period Nord decided to really try hard to sound like Klaus Schulze. Completely derivative - but for my present tastes it works well. I understand this Von Deyen went in a more "New Age" direction after these earlier releases and I'm sure I have no interest in that, but the material on these has just the right balance of pulsing synths, barely existent melodies and space-synth sounds that manage to exist in their own right, despite their clueless and blatant imitation of better material.
