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Shulman - Endless Rhythms of the Beatless Heart


healium

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I couldn't find a review of this which surprises me as this is one of the most brilliant albums I think I've ever heard.. The amount of creativity and genius here is staggering - it's almost like he's showing off at times the way the sounds and melodies are designed - incredibly well produced and intricate - reeks of talent and inspiration - highly sophisticated and gorgeous melodies and sound structures - I place this album well ahead of his previous three and very far ahead of pretty well anything else out there at this point - truly exceptional work...

 

The melodies here are spectacular - melodies all over the place, interwoven with each other, and morphing and evolving in a most delightful way - I can't think of another album that struts the melodies like this one - it's all so catchy and wonderful sounding too, a feast for the mind...

 

After Shulman's previous album I was a little concerned, I thought he was losing it, but this one here vaults him back to the top for me - I'll have to see what the new Ott album is like, for but for now Shulman rules the roost as far as I'm concerned...

 

I won't do a track by track review because I'm no good at that, but everyone should have this magnificent, masterpiece of an album...

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Shulman

Endless Rhythms Of The Beatless Heart

Aleph Zero

2007

 

Tracklist

 

1 Retroscape (11:32)

2 Transmissions In Bloom (12:50)

3 Odd Reflections (10:17)

4 One Step Closer (8:49)

5 After Silence (6:46)

6 Invention (11:13)

7 Mia Nihta Mono Den Ftani (10:07)

8 Eternal Bliss Of The Grateful Souls (4:59)

 

The build up to this album passed my by almost unnoticed. I was never going to have high hopes as in my opinion Shulman's albums have decreased in quality. The first being the best followed by the second & the half hearted random thoughts coming in a sorry last place. I feared this would just be another step down. So when I finally bought it & stuck it in I wasn't expecting much. On the first listen I really had mixed feelings about it, I thought there was some good stuff in there but that they really overused the Shahnai Zorna & Ney instruments I have in my travels come to despise as almost everywhere I've been they are played tunelessly & annoyingly. That put me off at first but I'm glad I stuck with the album as after overcoming my prejudices about that instrument, I noticed that Shulman & the musicians they have gathered for this are not your talentless back street player but people who can really play. I found myself loving the melodies played on instruments I can't stand. This has had some heavy play time since I first got it & I'd go as far as to say it's my favourite Shulman album yet.

 

1. Retroscape

We start off with an 11 and a half minute track but Shulman's progression & ideas are definitely good enough to make long tracks like this. The vocals are at once sad & hopeful like optimism in the face of adversity. It takes a while for the melodies to come in but the one on the roads is particularly nice. A glitchy mid section gives way to more energetic melodies & some nice soft but quick beats. I'm put in mind of Deep Forest a little when listening to this especially the melodies in the final thought & the twisted vocals.

 

2. Transmissions in Bloom

This track is almost 13 minutes long & it doesn't start too well I'm afraid. The melody is damn annoying in tone at the beginning but somehow it snakes around my brain & once this passes the 3 minute mark I've started liking it. Some really odd sci fi noises run through the background giving quite a contrasting feel. The breakdown on 4:30 is jaw dropping in it's beautiful ambience. The melody creeps back in & out again but the emergence of the beats in the 8th minute is staggeringly good. Slow heavy yet subdued beats. The track from this moment on builds up slowly adding more layers, melody after melody intertwining and a huge long synth line in the background, all in all it has blindingly moments. As it built up it also strips itself down in the end removing layers until it's completely gone. A few noodley moments where it seems they have gone to far trying to show off but all in all a very good track.

 

3. Odd Reflections

Soft glitch at the start, kind of wet sounds zipping about. A nice soft bass comes which is beautiful & the violin is interesting if not quite as nicely played as I'd like. I really prefer my classical violin than ethnic violin. Not as many melodies in this track & it sounds kind of thin throughout most of this track relying on glitchy beats and a lot of random sounds. There are some good moments in this track towards the end, some twisted sounding melody & violin going a little nuts but all in all it's just too glitchy for it's own good & too shallow.

 

4. One Step Closer

This one instantly sounds much deeper with a deep resonating bass drone & cool IDMish beats. A saxophone, another instrument I can't stand, is played in away I would usually cringe at but in the context of this track it seems to fit & conjures images in my head of seedy back alley bars at 3 in the morning being seduced by some sultry woman in her late 30's in a tight red low cut dress & black stockings smoking a long thins cigarette in a way that just screams take me. Quite a nice track :lol:

 

5. After Silence

A very glitchy ambient track. Not much rhythm or melody or structure just long drawn out soundscapes. Standing alone or on a different album with similar music this would be a very nice track but here it feels like an unnecessary interlude. The best thing about it are the vocals. Subtle & merged with strings so it's hard to tell when they start & end. The beats creep in & I feel like it's just getting into something but then it stops.

 

6. Invention

Now we are entering the business end of the album. This is the reason you need to buy this album. This track is worth the cash alone. It's deep, beautiful & very emotional. The melodies come from everywhere & twist around each other perfectly. The melodies are sweet & melancholic at the same time. At once jazzy & ethnic, serious & fun. This without a shadow of a doubt is the best track that Shulman have ever released, definitely up there in my favourites of the year & it has made me very glad I bought this album. The progression of the track is nice with an ambient mid section that is very dreamy after which it rebuilds & brings the melodies back in, slightly different layers this time. Enough heart stopping moments to cover an entire album. Only 11 minutes long though, I wish it was longer, 30 minutes might have been a good length for this masterpiece of audio engineering :D

 

7. Mia Nihta Mono Den Ftani

Following on in almost as good style, we have here once again nice melodies, deep atmosphere & emotion crammed into the music until it's bursting out. The melody on the Zorna I initially found to be very annoying as I outlined above this instrument never used to instill much in me but it's so well arranged in here & the deep melody that follows is another jaw dropping one. The same adjectives as I described for Invention can be used on this track. It doesn't quite reach the dizzy heights as Invention but it comes damn close. A slight reggae feel to it as well is pretty interesting but at the end of the day it's all about those melodies. Very nice stuff indeed.

 

8. Eternal Bliss of the Grateful Souls

Finishing on an ambient number and what a nice ambient piece it is too. Soft & dreamy sounds build an atmosphere of warm summer nights looking up at the stars. Accentuated by the starlight melody & the long strings which end the album on such a beautiful tone that I want to listen to it over again. Blissful indeed & it makes me grateful to Shulman for this album. Just a shame that it's so short, only 5 minutes which seem to pass much quicker, this could have been much longer & still very interesting.

 

 

As I said, this is Shulman's best album to date & I would urge anyone that likes either Shulman's sound or is a fan of well made world music should get their hands on this. The last 3 tracks are just amazing.

One thing I'm not so keen on though is that there are moments when it feels like Shulman are showing off & they just try a bit too much to add character to their work. When they simply layer the sounds, the melodies & the beats & ambience it sounds so good. The glitch is often decent enough but they overdo it a few times & it sounds a bit like it's trying to climb up it's own arse. Just sometimes though. The high points are dizzying and this is a so far unique album in my collection, guaranteeing a lot of play time over here :D

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I have to say that I am disappointed by Shulman... The first two albums were truly exceptional. We knew that Random Thoughts was not a proper album, that is why I was not that alarmed by the average tracks there. But this is the next album and the days of pioneering electronic downtempo music are long gone... This latest composition has indeed turned way too much to world/ethnic music melodies (whereas the first albums had a subtle influence of world music) and the tracks' arrangement simply doesn't sound fresh anymore, it sounds a bit too familiar (and at times trying a bit too hard to incorporate idm/glitch elements). So the magic is gone. But that, for me isn't the biggest flaw. After all, I have nothing against world music, in fact I enjoy it when I find it to be given in the right mood and attitude. This album, however, is (for my taste) kitsch. Sadly.

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There are a couple nice songs, but overrall I must say I am disappointed too. I thought too many of the older ideas, sounds were used. And yea the glitch elements do stand out. I liked it more after several listens but still havent been able to get into it.

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A very good album imo, some tracks are amazing, and provide endless brilliant melodies.

They were even able to take a melody from a lame Israeli song and make it likeable (track 7 - Mia Nihta..) .

However, this still isn't better then "in search of..", which is the best ambient album to date.

7/10

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At first, I thought this album was pure sax porn. But then I noticed that it wasn't leaving my listening queue, so it must be OK. I'm not a big world music fan (wailing throat singing and whatnot), but somehow the album doesn't turn me off. I'm deciding to not over analyze my feelings and just enjoy it. For the record, In Search Of... is one of my fave Psy-Chill albums. Lots of memories tied to a couple of those tunes.

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One of the biggest dissapointments in ages ! What has happend ? The guy has lost it. After delicious In Search Of Meaningful Moment he delivers crappy, new age post hippie album. I found it as complete waste of time. Sorry guys, the one that liked this one, but for me this album is one of the bad albums this year. 4/10

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One of the biggest dissapointments in ages ! What has happend ? The guy has lost it. After delicious In Search Of Meaningful Moment he delivers crappy, new age post hippie album. I found it as complete waste of time. Sorry guys, the one that liked this one, but for me this album is one of the bad albums this year. 4/10

+1

Only the first and second tracks are ok

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I have to say that I am disappointed by Shulman... The first two albums were truly exceptional. We knew that Random Thoughts was not a proper album, that is why I was not that alarmed by the average tracks there. But this is the next album and the days of pioneering electronic downtempo music are long gone... This latest composition has indeed turned way too much to world/ethnic music melodies (whereas the first albums had a subtle influence of world music) and the tracks' arrangement simply doesn't sound fresh anymore, it sounds a bit too familiar (and at times trying a bit too hard to incorporate idm/glitch elements). So the magic is gone. But that, for me isn't the biggest flaw. After all, I have nothing against world music, in fact I enjoy it when I find it to be given in the right mood and attitude. This album, however, is (for my taste) kitsch. Sadly.

eh what chillout album do you recomment? something which actually really chills you.. like cbl or ishq.. :) just wondering
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I guess this is a love it or hate it album! At first I was like WTF?? These sounds are so fod damn annoying & it's too glitchy. But after it randomly came on my ipod one depressed walk back from work, I was touched by the melodies in the last few tracks. There really is a lot of really good emotional stuff here. If you can get over your preconceptions of the annoying instruments used it's not bad. Definitely could do with less glitch though.

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Basic shulman sound, trying to sound so clever with 'wierd' rythms etc but sounds so pretentious and overdone its just a big mess.. never liked shulman and no exception here

 

+1 :clapping:

 

+1, I used to like Shulman though.

+ 3.14

 

I always have the same feeling as Towelie when listening to Shulman. It sounds too conjured up.

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Whaw. Poor Shulman. One review topic for this album and almost all the times bad critics. Come on on my review topic and bash Life² too please (not you Towelie, you already did this to Life² ahaha).

Personaly, I don't have their last album, so I can't say anything about the music, but I can say I love the long title and the beautiful cover art.

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Whaw. Poor Shulman. One review topic for this album and almost all the times bad critics. Come on on my review topic and bash Life² too please (not you Towelie, you already did this to Life² ahaha).

Personaly, I don't have their last album, so I can't say anything about the music, but I can say I love the long title and the beautiful cover art.

I have my opinions and not shamed to share them :P

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Oh well, there's plenty of people that do like Shulman, but I never understood his music. It's what towelie said, it sounds too 'made up' to me, like there's no feeling behind it. It never hits any spot with me, but I can at least say that it's well produced. ;)

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Personaly, I don't have their last album, so I can't say anything about the music, but I can say I love the long title and the beautiful cover art.

Those 2 are the only good things about the album, trust me. ;)

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