Noises In The Sky by Peter Mergener

This release from 1998 offers 62 minutes of cosmic electronics. Joining Mergener in this studio project are: Achim Elson on guitar, and Ingo von Wenzlawowicz on percussion. While voices (provided by Kathryn Thornton and Rusty Schweickart) grace a few brief tracks, the rest of the album is instrumental in nature. Giving in to conventional associations drawn by the public between most electronic music and outer space, Mergener explores the galactic void with the music on this release. Half of this music is vibrant and rhythmic, pulsating electronic textures and chugging chords and propulsive percussion. These tunes possess an expansive quality, outgoing and relentless with subtle pop undertones. Often frenetic rhythms goad the tuneage to breathless velocities as keyboard riffs meld into expressive sequences of celestial awe. Mechanical devices are employed to enhance the illusion of space travel, delivering enormous scope to the melodies. Astral guitar, again squealing in a progrock mode, provides a powerful element to these already exuberant passages.
The peppier, more epic pieces are generally separated by more ethereal compositions, affording the audience the opportunity to reboot their sensibilities in preparation for the grandeur lying ahead in the next major composition. These lighter pieces undulate with languid qualities, giving electronic voice to the nebulous demeanor of interstellar domains.

(c) Matt Howard / soniccuriosity