Lars Leonhard - Burning Clouds

Ultimae Records: 2014

A bit of unfinished business here, tackling the honest-to-God last item from Lars Leonhard in my music collection. Will it for really-reals be the last thing I ever review from the chap? I cannot deny feeling plenty sated on his discography at this point, but there's still more releases to his name that I haven't checked out. All those astronomy-themed albums of the past couple years, that one collaborative record from his BineMusic days, not to mention numerous EPs and single-track outliers. Reviewing Lars Leonhard music could forever be unfinished business, insomuch as reviewing all the music I own could forever be unfinished business. In my present state, however, with something of a natural conclusion drawing closer, Burning Clouds does indeed appear to be the final item I'll be covering from Mr. Leonhard for a while. It's only the twelfth one.

The second of two EPs Lars did for his brief stint with Ultimae, I was initially a little hesitant in getting this one. Stella Nova was the no-brainer, if only because of the wonderful cover-art. It was a perfect representation of the label's dub-chill direction as any, with Lars leading the way. Released the following year, Burning Clouds didn't quite capture the same sense of awe from yours truly, so kinda' passed me by, until I sprung for it out of Ultimae completionist sake. Finally listening to it though, I find this one better out of the two.

Warmth. There's no better word to describe it. Dub techno, but its very nature, tends to be a rather cold and sterile genre, an intriguing counter-point to the surrounding sonic depth dub production tends to create. There can be warm textures in dub techno, but you're then treading into ambient dub's waters. What I'm getting at here is while Stella Nova was fine as another collection of downtempo dub techno tracks from Lars, the clinical nature of the genre could still be felt. Like, sounds and effects perfectly placed, the waves of reverb carrying with it a polished-chrome sheen. And, if I'm being honest, the sort of style I instantly attribute to Lars' overall discography, despite plenty of examples to the contrary.

So I went into Burning Clouds expecting more of the same, but no, there's actual warmth to these three pieces, as though the techno attributes have been softened and given a soak in a steam room. Real dub, yo'. Songcraft wise, the titular opener does the usual minimalist downtempo tune I expect of most Leonhard tracks, just warmer. Halos has more techno sounds, including a very subtle bit of bleepiness that I couldn't help but think of ancient Artificial Intelligence. Still, that softening of the edges is present. And Northern Lights...

I never thought I'd say this about a downtempo dub techno track, but you know that feeling of pulling a light blanket over your body, completely enveloping your senses from a cool evening in its warmth? That's what it feels like listening to Northern Lights. Seems appropriate.

ACE TRACKS: October-November 2020

So I made a Topster.

And you may be wondering, what even is a Topster? Just a simple little chart app that lets you put images of music albums however you want. Most have been doing it to make Favourite Albums collages, which I figured, “When in Rome...” Only, I have no idea what my favourite albums are. For sure there's one's I like quite a bit, but I've never thought about ranking them or paring things down to a Top 40 (or 100, or 1000). There's just so much in my collection, it'd take some serious study to figure it out, and I don't care to rank my albums that much.

Fortunately, there's a handy little place that tracks which albums you listen to the most often, and while not the most accurate of apps, should be representative of what my favourites are. So off to the Last.dot.fm I went, scoped out which were my top scrobbled albums, and selected just the top from each artist that came up (there'd be quite the bunching of FSOL otherwise). The result... wasn't what I expected.

Oh, absolutely many of these albums are favourites, but I can't say they're my absolute favourites from each artist. I'd put Big Men Cry over Maya any day, or Demon Days over Plastic Beach, or Dead Cities over Environments 2, or U.F.Orb over The Dream. Plus, I'm missing whole genres here (house, techno, d'n'b, rap, almost all of rock), which is just ridiculous. What gives?

Methinks this scrobble information is so skewed because this is a lot of stuff that I tend to play at home, on the downswing, sometimes when I'm ready to nod off. I generally don't get scrobble information for music blasting on my main stereo or MP3s on the go. Others likely got high scrobble info because they have so many tracks to scrobble from (I see you, Pete Namlook tribute box-set; you too, Neil Young box-set).

Still, I feel like this is an app that could be toyed around with some more, given the time to do so. Stay tuned for future Topster pics! For now, here's the ACE TRACKS for the past two months of reviews. Seems like enough to make a decent playlist out of now.


Full track list here.


MISSING ALBUMS:
Autumn Of Communion - Reservoir Of Video Souls
Various - Recycle Or Die (Electronic Mind Music)
Skanfrom - Postcards
Vector Lovers - Pale Blue Star EP

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 0%
Percentage Of Rock: 0%
Most “WTF?” Track: Nope, can't think of one. Even the dark ambient stuff is comparatively tame.

Aw man, I go and say downtempo, ambient, IDM-chill stuff really isn't my only port of call, and here's a playlist that's filled with it! At least there's a little more variety in here though, what with Technical Itch, UNKLE, and, um, Fictivision. Wow, relying on eurotrance to break up monotony. Strange days forever more.

Lars Leonhard & Roman Ridder - Patterns In Nature

self-release: 2018

Hey now, don't give me that look. When I said Orange Dawn was the last of the Lars solo albums in my possession, I meant it! That did not include collaborative outings, but chronist to honest (?), this is the only one of such releases I have. Not that Mr. Leonhard has paired up often in the course of his career. There was Seasons – Les Quatre Saisons with Alvina Red on BineMusic, and the odd track here and there, but by and large, Lars does the bulk of his music making as a solo venture. So yes, no more loopholes for me to exploit in my original proclamation in covering Mr. Leonhard's output. Nope, none at all. What do you mean, you can smell clouds burning?

So the first thing I wondered over Patterns In Nature is what this Roman Ridder would add to the Leonhard stylee. Or would Mr. Ridder be the one leading the music charge with Lars in sonic support? What sort of music does Roman even make? I've never heard of him before, but there must be something in the cut of his jib if Lars was interested in working with him. Would I be able to pick out any songcraft traits? Gosh, I hope so! I've consumed so much of Lars' music that his sound is instantly recognizable to my ears. Any deviation from a contributing musician should stand out.

And there's definitely that in opener Prismatic. Like, holy cow, those sweeping pads! It's not like Lars has shied away from melody, but he's typically on a subtle tip when it comes to its deployment. Not so in this track, spacious spacey synths front and centre as they ride along a dubby techno groove. Simply lush. So is this the Roman Ridder stylee, big spacey ambient or prog-psy that wouldn't sound out of place on Altar Records? Let me check out some of his other stuff!

*checks out some of his other stuff*

Ah, hm, okay, apparently Mr. Ridder doesn't have much other stuff for me to check out, a handful of self-released albums and singles to his Discoggian name (ooh, is that an ode to The Planets I see?). And of what samples I hear, gosh does this ever sound like Lars. Maybe a little more melodic and upbeat, but generally in the same downtempo dub techno lane. I probably would have assumed it Mr. Leonhard's work with a blind test.

Going deeper into Patterns In Nature, the melding of minds is much less apparent, the two complementing quite well. There's still more overt melodic touches compared to the typical Lars release (Strange Attractor, Spherical Symmetry), while some tracks tread into pure ambient dub drone territory (Circadian Rhythm, Penta Plexity, Fractal), but that's the extent of it.

Still, Roman's extra melodic-dub touches do lend more warmth to the usual Leonhard fare. Patterns In Nature wouldn't sound out of place on Silent Season, is what I'm sayin'.

Lars Leonhard - Orange Dawn

self-release: 2016

I know, I know. No, really, I know! “Lars Leonhard again!?” you cry, but c'mon, it's been a whole two months since we last saw the dub techno producer 'round these here parts. That should be plenty of time for his sound to drift from your memory membranes for another dive into the his spacious downtempo delights. And lo', I do believe this is the last of his solo albums within my collection. He has released another four since I was sent this big ol' bundle of CDs, but yeah, even I admit I'm quite well sated on his music for the time being. Maybe in another half-decade, I'll dive back in to catch up.

Of all the post-BineMusic records Lars released, this one always caught my eye. How could it not, what with its fiery fibre-optics glowing like, well, the self-explanatory title? Such cover-art alone is usually enough to entice me with a blind purchase, so Orange Dawn likely would have ended up in my grasp one way or another. Maybe shortly after I got Interstellar. Having gotten it the way I did though, it put this album in a completely different perspective, in that in the former method I wouldn't have already consumed so much of Mr. Leonhard's other releases to the point they started blending together. Does Orange Dawn have much hope of standing out from the crowd now?

The track Aurora sure does, in that I swear I've heard this slice of dubby space techno somewhere before. No, not one of those N.A.S.A. videos of our star in action, though given the general theme of Orange Dawn has much to do with the effects of solar light upon our orbiting rock, I'm surprised this album hasn't been tapped for such soundtrack consideration. Then again, he was commissioned for an proper full soundtrack of a recent film (Solar Observer for A Decade Of Sun), so perhaps it's a moot point. Maybe a fan-film of Sol, then? Where was I? Oh yeah, Aurora. Like I said, I swear I've heard this slice of dubby space techno somewhere before, but Lord Discogs claims Orange Dawn is its lone home. Maybe it reminds me of another Lars track from another album.

Anyhow, this does most of the things I've come to expect of a Lars album. The dubbed-out synth tones, the thick rhythms, the warm textures contrasting with the sharp sounds. Some tracks provide a steady techno pulse, while others a languid downtempo groove. The final track Polar Night is almost an entirely ambient affair (if you don't count soft background patters and gentle arps as 'rhythm'), and at over ten minutes in length, among the longest tracks Lars has ever released.

No, seriously! His average track length is usually in the six-to-eight minute range, and Lars is astoundingly consistent in this, almost never breaking double-digits. While I doubt he has much inclination to do an LP-length dronescape, it would be interesting to hear him indulge 'beyond the ten' more often.

ACE TRACKS: August 2020

Well that was certainly a more productive month on my part. In fact, that was one of my most active Augusts ever, though the lack of a Shambhala Music Festival at the start certainly played a factor in that. What gives? Tapping into a fresh well of inspiration? Stress and distraction contained to a minimum after a bout of shingles made me rethink how I was doing this life thing? Going for a biodynamic craniosacral treatment clearing up a lot more of the clutter in my headspace than I could have possibly thought? Probably a little of everything, though Blogger's forced 'upgrade' also kinda' got me hype for this hobby again. Ooh, I can see all the cover art now!

Yet I can't help but still feel like it's not enough. True, it's been nineteen months since I had a thirty-day period more productive than this past August, but I still remember the days when I'd crank out well over twenty a month. Will I ever reach those highs again? Should I even be concerning myself with that? It almost feels like a triumph to have gotten back to double-digits at this point, and who knows if that momentum can be maintained. Having a lot of... 'interesting' music coming down the line certainly helps. Like, just gander at how much interesting music I got through this past month, and believe me, we've yet to scratch the surface of where my muse has been wandering this past year. Still, enjoy this appetizer of ACE TRACKS for the month of August.

 

Full track list here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Distant System - Infinite Continuum
Part-Sub-Merged - Four Forests
Moljebka Pvlse - Discourse On Lightness

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 0%
Percentage Of Rock: 14%
Most “WTF?” Track: The Viking metal. Even if you dig it, it's undeniably tonal whiplash in this playlist.

So a lot of Lars Leonhard on here, in case you hadn't heard enough from him yet. Really stress-testing that 'each album is distinct' theory now, though I did mostly remember which tracks came from which LPs as this played out.

And not much else to comment on. This playlist has a little of everything from the usual genres I typically enjoy, with side-glances to some more niche corners. Surprising lack of house music though. What, do I not have any more Hed Kandi CDs left? Maybe it's time for another used store ru- oh, right. Yeah...

Lars Leonhard - Erstwhile

self-release: 2016

I didn't think I'd get the chance to stress test my Leonhard Science so soon. Okay, I did – it's not like my listening/reviewing order just springs up out of nothing. For sure there would be more Lars music coming (because of the big-huge amount I got sent), but somehow I mentally blocked Erstwhile in the queue. It's like, being so razor-focused (and excited!) to cover stuff like coldwave, ancient Fax+, and Viking metal made me forget what would follow. To say nothing of what's in store after this. Plus, having done the double-dip of Dark Tales From The Woods and Deep Venture, you'd forgive me for not being quite so enthused about another Lars record so soon. I may have proved there were differences between his albums if you played them back-to-back, but I needn't a third to prove it further, do I?

Even then, I had something thematically tangible to work with. Dark Tales was quite explicit in its theme compared to Deep Venture, whereas the latter was general enough you could imagine it soundtracking either underwater exploration or solar ultra-vids. Erstwhile, however, seems to be about music existing for its own sake. Perhaps a general mood of tranquility and reflection, but nothing so definitive as many of Lars' other works. In fact, this may have been the first time Mr. Leonhard ever went so abstract, so that's at least one talking point in Erstwhile's favour. Just not one that lets me wax the bull for a given amount of self-imposed word count, especially in a music scene filled with deliberate wallpaper songcraft.

Not to turn this 'review' into another reflection on the so-called struggles of writing about music, but there isn't much here to go into depth with. I've reviewed eight of his albums up to now, so folks should be well-versed in his downtempo dub techno style, and Erstwhile doesn't do much to shake his formula up. The opening portions of the album stick to the slower tempos, with a couple steady-beat offerings towards the end (Pillow is basically prog at its BPM). A requisite piano indulgence with chirpy birds and other quaint field recordings leads us out in Freedom, properly selling you on the whole 'tranquil music for tranquil times' theme, even if the bulk of Erstwhile still features Lars' more techno take on downtempo dub.

And yes, when stacked against the other two Lars albums I've reviewed this month (!!), this one does stand out as distinct from them. It may not be so thematically concrete as Dark Tales and Deep Venture, but an album of music simply being present for reflective times remains one to hang onto. Like, how many lonesome piano pieces of been created for that very reason? Still, I won't deny being far more enthralled by Lars' muse when he's taking on specific ideas. Like night trains, or the sun, or deep forests, or stars, or... um, space, and, uh, cosmic dust... Dude's got quite a fixation on space, 'kay?

Lars Leonhard - Deep Venture

self-release: 2015

Straight off, this is definitely different. Less moody, more a sense of subtle awe and graceful beauty. Even the trademark dubby production comes off softer and inviting, not so darkly atmospheric that it sounds like you're in a fog. Which makes sense since Dark Tales From The Woods was all about that setting, whereas Deep Venture is not. Thus we can conclude that, yes, each Lars Leonhard album is distinct from one another, and the only reason they sort of blend together in my memory is due to the time-gap I have between listening to each one. And, as a result of the generally subdued nature of his songcraft, it's his sonic aesthetics that typically stick to my membranes rather than any particular rhythmic pattern or melodic hook. We scienced this up hardcore, y'ah bwoyz!

(to find out what ever it is I'm going on about with this train-of-thought, oh ye' souls of future tense, scope out my previous Lars Leonhard album review right now!)

While Deep Venture isn't about any specific thing, it does have a general theme of exploration in the most mysterious domains of our little ball of rock and water. A significant chunk of the tracks here come with titles like Bioluminescence and Photophore, plus name-drops like Vampire Squid, The Singing Opah (a warm-blooded fish), and Osedax (bone-burrowing worms that feed on whale skeletons), all creatures of the bounding main, lurking deep within unfathomable fathoms.

Not to be outdone, even technical terms like Pelagial, Hydrogen Sulfide, Negative Termal Expansion, and Trophogenic Zone all bring to mind things that occur in bodies of water. Only two track titles don't specifically tie into these themes, Northern Stargazer and Retroreflector, but they can if you tilt your head the right way. Ah, yes, looking upon a clear, dark night before sending your recording instruments deep into the darkest waters below. Lovely mood setter, that.

As befitting an album with its sights set on deep aquatic ventures, Lars' distinct dubby production feels more tranquil his other albums. There's even breathing space for his subtle melodies, which I know is a weird thing to say for a producer's who's made his lane in dub. Sometimes they get overwhelmed by the layers of sonic depth in his other works, but not so much here. It's like he wants you focused on whatever particular critter his sonic camera has focused on, no time for getting lost in one's headspace.

In fact, the music on Deep Venture feels so custom-made for video accompaniment, I'm surprised there haven't been any aqua-related YouTubes with this used as a soundtrack. It's because NASA already gobbled up a bunch of these for one of their Ultra-HD 4K vids of the sun, isn't it. Yeah, the space agency had been plucking tracks here or there from Lars, but this one's a full half-hour long, half of Deep Venture. Now when folks hear Osedax, they won't think of bone-burrowing worms, but of solar eruptions.

Lars Leonhard - Dark Tales From The Woods

self-release: 2014

Another day, another Lars Leonhard album. Look, when I say I was sent a lot of them, I meant it, the man rather relentless in his output rate this past decade. Maybe not 'tech-house singles' or 'industrial noise experiments' relentless, but averaging a couple LPs per year ain't no slack either. Heck, since I was sent this then-current bundle, Lars has released five more albums. Guess that just happens when your sound is in high demand for NASA videos. Moar muzik for the Stellar Gods!

Thus I must reiterate I've exhausted almost all avenues in talking up Lars Leonhard. There may be a couple albums with specific reasons that went into their creation, but there hasn't been that much sonic difference between most of them, especially in his post-BineMusic era. He's found his lane in downtempo dub techno, and by g'ar, it's where he remains. Unless he has expanded a little more beyond that in more recent albums. I don't know, I haven't heard them yet. I'm still catching up in all these older ones.

So on first ear-glance, I don't have much unique to say about Dark Tales From The Woods, because my first impression is this is more of the same that I've come to expect from Mr. Leonhard. I wonder though, if this impression is due to the general listening gap I give between albums. If I actually played each one after the other, whether significant differences would emerge. Fortunately, due to alphabetical stipulation, I'm dealing with two Lars albums in a row, this one, and Deep Venture. This has given me an opportunity to properly examine them, and whether my lack of picking such distinctions out of other works is simply due to that aforementioned gap. Okay, enough fancy conceptual talk, let's get into Dark Tales From The Woods.

This was among the first (the first?) of Lars' self-released albums, though he still had at least one more outing in store for BineMusic (Passenger At Night). As such, his conceptual streak was still more specific than later efforts would go, though not so razor-focused as 1549 went. The opening track Three Oaks Legend is certainly a moody enough number to set things off, and we're right in the thick of that deep, immersive downtempo dub techno.

And mostly stay in that lane for the duration of the album. Yeah, a couple tracks go groovier than the rest (Forest Window, Rustling Leaves), some feature more of a proper techno pulse (Guardian Of Crows, Deep In The Fog), and others offer a lighter tone to the general mood (The Glade, Rustling Leaves again). It all kinda' blends together though, which makes sense for an album maintaining a consistent theme throughout. Would have been nice to have a journey into these woods, but if tales is what Lars wanted to tell, then tales it was.

Tune in next review to read whether Deep Venture ends up being 'more of the same', or starkly contrasted with this album. Oooh, suspense!

Lars Leonhard - Above And Below

self released: 2018

I never expected to get a ton of Lars Leonhard. Yeah, I liked 1549, enough to spring for another CD of his on BineMusic, but so many of his releases were of the digital variety. How could I, a dedicated consumer of the compact disc, debase myself with buying MP3s and WAVs and FLACs and whatever mess Neil Young was trying to push? Naturally, such ass-backwards modes of thinking couldn't last as this decade wore on, and I made sure Mr. Leonhard's digital releases through Ultimae Records were among my 'Must Get' items when I finally relinquished.

In that time, it turned out Lars had started releasing CDr options for his self-released albums, and I nabbed myself a couple that intrigued me, blogging my obligatory nice words for his nice music in the process. Seems Mr. Leonhard liked my nice words regarding his nice music, such that he sent me a whole bundle of his CDrs, some of which I didn't even think were still available. Sweet deal! And now you know why there are quite a few Lars Leonhard album reviews in the pipeline. Anticipation, ooh!

Anyhow, Above And Below. This came out a year ago (to the day! ...almost), so is about as current a look into Lars' songcraft I can give without springing for an actual 2019 release (Pathway, I believe). While it may not be apparent on the CD cover art, the full digital spread features the inner realm of computer city-scapes, leading one to believe this may be some sonic exploration of the micro-digital realm.

Nah, guy, it's mostly more of Lars' brand of dub techno that's occasionally a little on the psy side of things, a thematic through-line not really apparent. That's fine, I guess? Like, I have no problem hearing more of the same from Mr. Leonhard, in that his style hasn't worn out its welcome in the half-dozen releases of his I've thus far taken in. It does give me a little pause, however, on whether I'll still enjoy it so much after I go through the rest of his albums. Future ruminations for future reviews.

So the sounds and the structure of Above And Below remains familiar to many of Lars' prior albums. The more chill stuff hangs out in the first half, while the tempo gets a nice shot in the back end. The middle portion offers a couple items I haven't really heard much out of his discography, Strolling more of a melodic, floating outing than the usual more clinical dub techno exercises, while Drowned Melody is a pure ambient piece, surprisingly lodged mid-album rather than as a bookend. Meanwhile, Immersion provides that technological, neo-urban soundscape the cover art hinted at, with a rumbly low-end that's almost dubsteppy. Or post-dubsteppy, if you must (it was a thing, once). Finally, Above And Below closes out with Pure Piano Passion, wherein Lars performs on a lone instrument I know I've yet to hear from him. No reward for guessing what.

Lars Leonhard - Interstellar

self release: 2017

Dub techno is all well and good in exploring the minutiae of simple wonders and personal introspection, but those cavernous reverb effects demand the indulgence of wide open spaces too. Say, the huge vista of our galaxy - that's what I'm talkin' about. Oh, there's still something of an intimate nature behind this concept, a lonesome voyage into the realms of the impossibly vast, a singular path tread by those who need a little solitude from their hectic sociable lives.

Whatever the case, it's clear Lars Leonhard ventured outside his usual forte with Interstellar, at least at a conceptual level. We're still in his comfort zone of chill, groovy dub techno, some of which can up the pace a little towards the domain of prog-psy, though not much in this particular album's case. Also, I can only let myself down by all-too high expectations. Cover art alone had me hyped for all that hyperbolic stuff I gushed in the first paragraph, and Interstellar simply is not that. It's Lars Leonhard doing Lars Leonhard th'angs, and I'm fine with that no matter the context. I just need to temper my expectations some, lest I turn into one of those Game Of Thrones fans demanding ridiculous changes on something not catered specifically to me. I mean, if I wanted to hear exactly what I wanted to hear with this album, I should have done the logical thing and perform an incantation wherein I could possess Lars while he was in the studio, taking over his talents to create the album I was expecting. Or, at a more practical level, just make such a record myself. That almost sounds harder than studying the occult arts though.

Musically, there's only one thing throughout Interstellar that had me raising an eyebrow, a synth that kinda' sounds like an out-of-place car horn in Solar System, but that's minor. Nay, two things leaped out at me that slightly sullied my enjoyment of Interstellar, one of which really isn't the fault of Lars at all. First though, this album is kinda' tracky, in that it doesn't have quite the same narrative flow other releases of his have; just ten dub techno tunes with a light space theme running through them. I can dig on that, but it does put this album a step below something like 1549.

The other thing however – and I know this is an utterly selfish quibble – is the mastering sounds flatter compared to the rich, dubby texture I've come to know from Mr. Leonhard. Now, some of those releases were polished by the best in the game – it's unfair comparing the mastering of a self-release item like Interstellar to the EPs he put out on Ultimae Records. It's just when I have expectant notions of the cosmic grand already in my ear-brain, hearing a Lars Leonhard album that's a touch lower on his discography's scale can't help but leave me wanting. Maybe microspace is the better dub techno realm after all.

Lars Leonhard - Adrift In Time

self release: 2018

What does one do when an artist you like has so many albums available as a digital-only option, but you've developed a silly stance of only buying physical items? The logical course of action is to forego such a backwards-ass position, and do the right and proper thing of moving forward with the times, accepting that digital-only music is a viable and totally acceptable means of procuring tunes these days. However, I'm not so logical. In my mind, if I maintain long, unyielding hope that one day, Lars Leonhard would find a willing label to make hard-copy versions of all those stockpiled Bandcamp albums, there's no need to spring for a digital version. And lo', my illogical hope doth bore fruit, Mr. Leonhard's music finally finding its way to discs of aluminum, care of... Mr. Leonhard himself? Ah, well, if you want something done, sometimes you gotta' do it yourself, right?

That being said, it seemed releasing music on BineMusic gave his LPs a sense of focus. Whether it was retelling tales of aborted airline flights or odes to those traversing the lonely rail cars late at night, there were clear stories on those works. His stuff since, however, appears broader in scope, titles like Erstwhile, Deep Venture and Interstellar suggesting music with less narrative focus, and rather capturing certain moods and atmosphere. Such remains the case with Adrift In Time, one of three albums Lars released this past year (holy cow!). Like, what, exactly, is adrift in time? Lars' muse? The listener as they listen? The sounds as they play out, streaming on an ever-lasting electromagnetic wavelength to the furthest reaches of the cosmos? No, wait, that's probably Interstellar's game. And it's not like the Bandcamp copy gives a clear idea either, essentially stating that this is Leonhard music for its own sake. Okay, that's good enough for me.

Playful nitpicking aside, Adrift In Time pretty much is exactly the sort of music I've come to expect from Lars, and welcome indeed. Downtempo music that never meanders. Dub techno sounds that remember to work in a little melody. Deep layers of pads and reverb that let you get lost in cavernous headphone space. A few gentle nudges into the cinematic soundscapes, though only the most sweeping shots of nature's splendour will suffice. Actually, check that. Given the track titles have something of an earthy, geomorphology bent to them (Onyx, Sparks, Grounded, Highlands, Saphir), I imagine mostly static images of landforms, played out as time-lapse movies, the achingly gradual shifting of masses over the ages. Seems right up dub techno's general aesthetic, such visuals.

Mostly, Adrift In Time keeps things on the downbeat, with only a couple tracks upping the tempo towards anything club friendly (Onyx, Sparks). Not that Lars is generally a DJ friendly producer, but it has been part of his repertoire over the years. Not on this outing though, these tunes intended for chilling back with superior sound-systems at your disposal.

Lars Leonhard - Stella Nova

Ultimae Records: 2013

I liked 1549. I liked Passengers At Night. Why haven't I gotten any Lars Leonhard musiks since? Dude's gone mostly independent, is why, which mean self-releasing his work now. Fine and dandy, but that also means he no longer has that label backing for manufacturing hard copies, and for too long I was a stubborn bastard about buying digital. I'm now a new man though, with new perspectives and new facial hair, including lightening my spending reigns on Bandcamp options ...if there's a discount code involved at least. Thus it's only appropriate that when Ultimae offered one, I picked me up a non-physical copy of the EP that first introduced me to Lars Leonhard, Stella Nova. Finally get to hear what's behind those shiny reflective spheres!

And if anything, holy cow do these three tracks mark as close to a 'ground zero' in the label's shift into dub techno's domain as any. Right, the spacious, dubby downtempo sound was already part of Lars' style, but glancing over the surrounding releases in Ultimae's catalogue is illuminating in hindsight. Prior to this, you had stuff like Solar Fields' Origin #2 (to date still his final release), Aes Dana's uptempo Pollen, and final entries from Carbon Based Lifeforms (plus Sync24), Cell, and Hybrid Leisureland (as Connect.Ohm). After Stella Nova, you find that Passages compilation, Aes Dana's collaborations with Miktek, and eventually Martin Nonstatic. Circular's Moon Pool feels like an outlier where Ultimae went after this EP.

The titular opener is about as you'd expect of downtempo dub techno, reverb and echo tones drifting in endless space with sub-bass frequencies a guiding rudder. There's a tiny, spritely melody some two-thirds deep, reminding me of an old Alter Ego tune called Chinese Eyes. Wow, Stella Nova's a modern minimalist-dub version of that, now that I think about it.

Whispering Colors has more breathing room at nine-minutes in length, and follows in a similar path as Stella Nova, though with a flowing, swaying swing to its rhythm. There's also more melody present in this tune, but the dubby stabs still dominate most of the frequencies. Hidden Places gets on that bleepy techno vibe with cascading echo effects pinging about. It's about as far from what you'd expect from the Ultimae sound of yore, but definitely what you'd expect from Ultimae of yeh'e. I don't know what the present-tense of “yore” is.

That's all there is to this EP. If you're at all familiar with Lars Leonhard's brand of dubby downtempo techno, you're in safe hands here. Stella Nova comes more off as an introduction of the man to the Ultimae faithful, testing the waters whether his sound would jive with a label known more for its psy-chill output. He did release another EP with them the following year (Burning Clouds), but by the time he came out with another full-length, he'd gone back to BineMusic for the deal. Kinda' feels like ol' Lars was one that got away from Ultimae in the end.

Lars Leonhard - Passenger At Night

BineMusic: 2015

Lars Leonhard’s been a busy body since he debuted with 1549 in 2011. Multiple digital singles, self-released mini-albums, a collaborative project or three. He’s shopped around to Ultmae Records, Deepindub.org, and Diametral, but returned to BineMusic for a new LP that’s his first solo effort on a physical format in a while (2013’s second album Seasons paired him with vocalist Alvina Red). That honestly boggles my mind, nearly a half-decade of time having passed before he committed fresh music to compact disc again. Feels like I’ve seen his name crop up constantly since appearing on Ultimae with Stella Nova, and I was expecting more hard copy musicks in his discography than this. But nay, for all intents, Passengers At Night is the closest thing to a proper CD follow-up to 1549 that we’ve seen from the man in Düsseldorf. *sigh* No hope of Another World or Orange Dawn finding their way to the physical?

Lars’ first album had a clear, specific theme behind it, odd as a source of inspiration though it was. Seems with Passenger At Night, he’s broadened his scope beyond a singular flight incident, but it’s no less thematic. Track titles like Night Train To Berlin, So Close So Far, Sunset In Paris, Underground Railroad, Sternenklare Nacht (re: starry night) and Heimweh (re: homesickness) definitely conjures imagery of long, lonely trips through twilight Western Europe. This could simply be recounting the rigors of touring or tedium of commuting, but for some reason, I keep imagining World War 2, refugees on the run within a ruined continent; some real Schindler’s List type of vibe, yo’, especially with a track titled Lily’s Spieluhr (re: music box). It’d explain the red dots within mostly black cover art. Or it’s just BineMusic being mathematically abstract as usual.

Whatever the source of Mr. Leonhard’s inspiration for this album, the music itself goes the dub techno route ever further. 1549 had it too of course, but it was tempered with light prog-psy action, residing in that weird venn diagram zone of dubbed-out tech-groove that you’d never expect to hear rinsed out by deep tech-house DJs. Passenger At Night strips things back even further, letting reverb and echo fill a much wider range of sonic space. What few melodies he does bring are subtle, yet remarkably poignant in such a subdued environment as he crafts here. The distant, gentle pads he lays over each other in Vienna are lush in the way they build, and the touching tones in the titular cut, Lily’s Spieluhr and Long Way Home has me reminded of Vector Lovers at his affecting best. Other tracks like Sunset In Paris, Hang In The Balance, Underground Railroad, and Heimweh are content in exploring dub techno’s more functional aesthetics, but never to any mind-numbing sterility that you’re zoning out of the moment.

In fact, Passenger At Night is one of the few dub techno albums I’ve recently come across where I’m constantly lost in its nuances. Perfect late-night commute music, this is.

Lars Leonhard - 1549

BineMusic: 2011

The title of Lars Leonhard's debut album comes from the flight number of a US Airways plane that was forced into an emergency landing in the Hudson River, on account of striking a flock of Canadian geese shortly after take-off (my nation’s second most annoying weapon!). What an odd thing to center an entire LP around. A track dedicated to the event, sure – French electro-pop chap College, for instance, has done the deed. Maybe even a lengthy composition in a prog-rocky fashion could have been attempted, but any more than that seems like excess. Odder still is there's very little on here that implicitly sounds like the incident is a source of inspiration. A couple tracks have Airline Announcement samples, and all the titles tell the story, though in such a vague manner, they wouldn't look out of place in different track lists either (eg. Altitude Error, Long Range Cruise).

Nay, 1549 comes across as a standard dub techno album with elements of downtempo glitch and upbeat psy chill. It's the sort of sound that's caught Ultimae's attention in recent years, which led to ol' Lars featuring on the label's compilations – and why I decided to check into his discography further, 'natch. Mr. Leonhard got his start on BineMusic though, a German label that's released sporadic ambient and experimental material over the last decade. Move D and Scanner are recognizable names I can drop that have found homes there, but I know little else about the label. And by me, I mean what Lord Discogs tells me.

Okay, enough back-history – how's 1549 itself? Yeah, it's a good album, with a strong narrative in spite of not actually exploring a supposed storyline much. That said, some tracks do sound like they were written as though intended for scores, especially so Fly By Wire, which builds with a cinematic flourish benefiting a Nolan flick. It does sell the notion Lars was inspired by a significant event, though the music could work as a score to any scenario where there's rising tension, climax, and all that good literary stuff.

Besides, these tracks work well as standalone pieces of music too. You have gray-screened ambient dub (Decision Height, Long Range Cruise), minimalist ambient-techno glitch (Clear Air Turbulence, Electromagnetic Pulse), groovy house vibes on the tech-dub tip (Altitude Error, Glideslope, Total Pressure), and psy-dub leaning cuts with a brisk pace (True Heading, 564 Miles Per Hour) – have I said ‘dub’ enough yet? It’s all classy, smartly produced, and earwormy enough that you look forward to another play-through, but don’t mind letting it linger for a few weeks either.

Yeah, that’s about my main quibble with 1549: its absolute perfunctory nature as a dub techno album. I wasn’t surprised by much, beyond discovering an intended narrative that didn’t quite translate into actual music; nor am I inclined to dig into Mr. Leonhard’s discography further anytime soon. Still, for a first LP, it’s about as solid an effort in this genre as you’re likely to find.