Mythos – Jules Verne / Around The World In 80 Minutes (CD Album – Groove Unlimited)
Genre/Influences: Ambient, synthesizer music, experimental.
Background/Info: Electro-veteran Stephan Kaske is back on track with a new –and logical, opus inspired by the work of Jules Verne. Kaske started making music in the late 60s (!) and belongs to the pioneers of electronic music. It will always remain a mystery why some artists dealing with a similar sound (like Van Gelis, J.M. Jarre ao) got world-wide fame while others like Mythos never reached a similar status.
After the last year released album “Jules Verne Forever” we here get an original sonic journey of 80 minutes inspired by the famous novel of the French author.
Content: The concept is original and pretty simple. Mythos is traveling from one place to another, visiting the different continents of the globe. He transposed images into sound adding some typical cultural accents. The music remains electronic and totally old-school minded. The songs were composed with laser harp, mellotron, vocoder, sequencers and of course synthesizers.
Stephan Kaske is our guide leading us over the Mediterranean Sea to Africa and later on up on the route to Asia to finally reach North America, next crossing the Atlantic Ocean to reach Europe again. The different cultures have been accentuated by typical sound ambiances belonging to these countries. The global atmosphere of Mythos’ work however remains pretty ‘space’-like.
+ + + : The idea is quite simple, but really original. I totally love it and Mythos has transposed the work of Jules Verne into a fascinating and diversified piece of music. I have a preference for the Asian-inspired atmospheres, which has been masterly worked out on “From Calcutta To Hong Kong”. The album is a sonic film composed with sounds and arrangements, which might once more remind you of J.M. Jarre and Van Gelis.
– – – : It’s not exactly a regret, but I think it would have been interesting to get some typical cultural chants on a few cuts, simply to accentuate the global concept of this album.
Conclusion: I haven’t heard the entire discography of Mythos, but I can assure you this new opus is definitely the best one from the past few years. Respect Mr. Kaske, you’ve created an original and fascinating concept resulting in a little sonic treasure.
Best songs: “Across The Mediterranean Sea To Egypt”, “Steamer To Bombay”, “From Calcutta To Hong Kong”, “Phileas Fogg’s Dream”.
Rate: (8).
Band: www.mythos–music–berlin.de / www.facebook.com/mythos.music.berlin
Label: www.groove.nl / www.facebook.com/Groove–Unlimited-203872216357149
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