Far Away Trains Passing By... - Ulrich Schnauss

Far Away Trains Passing By…

Ulrich Schnauss
City Center Offices Records.

SCQ Rating: 82%

If City Center Offices is known for a single masterpiece, it must be Ulrich Schnauss’ A Strangely Isolated Place. If CCO is known for two masterpieces, it must include Schnauss’ Far Away Trains Passing By…, the German’s debut album. Re-released internationally with a bonus disc in 2005, Far Away Trains Passing By… was an immediate success, a sweet blend of techno breakbeats laid-over gorgeous electronic soundscapes that wooed electronica fans everywhere.

Much of the record’s success and consequent criticism lies in its near new-age sentiments; an optimistic pleasantness to Schnauss’ melodies that is occasionally hard to ignore. ‘Knuddelmaus’ would then be Exhibit A, as it’s the first track, with its open-ended melody and expanses of shimmering keyboard effects fleshing it out. Luckily, Schnauss has a good ear for sentimental cheese, and never crosses the line between hand-through-open-window and aisle-three-shopping-mall soundtrack-fare. ‘Between Us and Them’ finds Schnauss in the groove, combining a slew of keyboard melodies with programmed beats that will get you to work on time, get your homework done… basically keep you motivated in work or play. The best couplet is certainly the final tracks, ‘Nobody’s Home’ and ‘Molfsee’; one arguably his first stab at writing a pop song, the other being equally arguable as his finest ambient track ever composed, respectively.

It’s a strong close, leaving listeners eager for more, and if you invested in the 2005 re-release, your wish is granted with an album’s worth of bonus material. Unlike the bonus tracks that accompany most re-issues which are usually recycled demos or lacklustre b-sides, Far Away Trains…’s second disc is nearly on par with the first. ‘Sunday Evening in Your Street’ opens with a descending synth-line and start-stop beats, before slowly expanding into a hypnotic composition while ‘Crazy For You’ is an ambient love-letter that expands into the shoegaze-borrowed territory that foreshadowed his sophomore classic A Strangely Isolated Place.

An excellent package that’ll do wonders on your MP3 player, this duel-disc effort should be the new template on how re-issues should be compiled. Schnauss writes predominantly feel-good music, and there’s nothing to apologize for when it’s as accomplished and impressive as his records are. For electronic purists, this is certainly the best place to start.

Goodbye - Ulrich Schnauss

Goodbye

Ulrich Schnauss
Domino Records.

SCQ Rating: 71%

For Schnauss, who has long possessed a trademarked sound of combining electronic atmospheres with his shoegaze affinity, a recording technique can stretch over songs at a time without wearing the German-born artist down. His insistence on turning the same trick, though certainly to blame for some homogenous moments, has resulted in a beautifully varied catalogue that no one would mistake for anyone but Schnauss; the breakbeat-crazed summer days of Far Away Trains Passing By, the more expansive palette that perfected his electronic-pop confections on A Strangely Isolated Place, and with Goodbye, Schnauss has given three distinctly different sides of his sound over as many albums. Representing the most adventurous of his recorded work, Goodbye also displays the weight of Ulrich’s excessive tendencies and falters under the burden.

Looking back at the first two albums, Goodbye seems like the inevitable climax to close a trilogy that, release by release, became increasingly rock-driven. The confidence accumulated between Faraway Trains… and A Strangely Isolated Place is obscene, and Schnauss’s growing comfort in his songwriting and reliance on collaborations brought him to this blockbuster; more layers, more noise, more structure, more vocals. As one of many who adore the subtle glisten of A Strangely Isolated Place, I can’t help but focus on these apparent upgrades. The songs that Ulrich boasts were constructed from over one hundred different recording layers are easy to spot, not only because they represent the bulk of Goodbye, they’re also the tracks that sound strangely one dimensional. ‘A Song About Hope’ is especially difficult to find; its backbone buried under so many layers that you’d almost think Schnauss is trying to hide something.

As talented as Schnauss is, some of these multi-layered songs benefit from their weight. The title track flips between the excitement and loneliness of indefinite farewells, while ‘Stars’ was made for humid nights and highway drives; a perfect culmination of new technique and old shoegaze songcraft. Even the tracks that initially feel too light, despite such heavy production, catch on with repeated listens, giving ‘Never Be the Same’ its otherworldly feel.

Hand in hand with the cover art’s ominous night-scene, Goodbye seems destined to be an audio companion to late night traveling. The result of three years in production, Schnauss has cast heavy shadows that often overwhelm his ear-friendly compositions, and at its heaviest, reduces some good ideas to sonic wallpaper.