Total time: 69:25

Recorded: 2007
Distributed: 2007

REVIEWS

This is the second in a series of Special Edition albums, Kali being the first. Now, Kali was an excellent Berlin School album but this one is, amazingly, even better.

‘Nectar Point’ starts with sounds that could, appropriately, be the buzzing from a huge hive of bees. This backdrop is punctuated by lovely little note droplets. A slow sequence starts up, added to by splashes of sound. It’s wonderfully meditative stuff and very (as I often seem to say in INDRA reviews) Klaus Schulze like, this time from the Body Love period. The sequence fades away and a new one, if anything even better than the first, takes over. It’s best just to close your eyes and let yourself go with the flow. Yet another sequence comes in and the pace quickens. Stunning stuff.

‘The Long Journey’ continues in a similar style, a brace of lovely bass sequences propelling us forward right from the off, wonderful lonesome undulating pads underpinning it all. It’s just so mid 70s sounding. More vast walls of sonic perfection swell making me think of the double Live Schulze album from this period. From an already brilliant start the album just gets better and better. The sequences subside leaving a lovely atmospheric section that could have been very at home on Blackdance or even Timewind. As expected the sequences emerge once more. The first is very similar to earlier but it is accompanied by a heavily processed ‘tom tom’ type one. A third falls into formation, morphing superbly. It’s all so exciting – a real roller coaster ride of how sequencing should be done. Actually now we are in more Tangerine Dream territory from the same period though the lonesome lead is still decidedly Schulzian and 100% fantastic.

The unbelievable quality continues through to ‘Anthology’. The sequences are simply mesmerizing and surge forward right from the very first minute. This time though it’s as if there is a melding of Schulze and Jarre! Difficult to believe I know but incredibly effective. Then in come the slow but insistent drums (or you could say bass sequence) as well as all manner of other sonic wizardry in the background. Absolutely incredible! More waves of sequences arrive and the rhythm becomes even meaner but still fitting in perfectly with the rest of the track. I’m really at a loss for words. Things calm down in the eleventh minute to swirling atmospherics but then a beautiful delicate tinkling sequence comes to join in. This section might not be as powerful as the last few minutes but the sounds chosen are exquisite. I’m in Heaven. The heavier rhythm / sequence returns in the sixteenth-minute and I found myself really cranking up the volume. By the twenty-sixth minute things have started to calm down again, becoming increasingly moody. Yet another sequence enters with just five minutes to go. It is a sedate one and slightly alters the atmosphere already created to one of subtle melancholy.

This is simply one of the best Berlin School albums to have been released over the last 12 months and as far as I am concerned the pinnacle of INDRA’s career thus far.

Tara is the second album in the Tantric Celebration set. Musically it’s rooted in INDRA’s most common style of melodic EM a la Berlin School. The tracks on this album take a long form approach with each nearly double the length of the previous one. INDRA’s album is less in the mould of classical Berlin School than the work of many other artists treading this ground.

The shortest piece at over eleven minutes long is ‘Nectar Point’ which begins with Schulzian synth refrains gently fuzzing over the soundscape while spacey tinkles add to the atmosphere. All this builds gradually to an easygoing plinky sequencing section which then speeds up near the end before fading out.

At over twenty one minutes long the second track is aptly named ‘The Long Journey’. It launches straight into a burbling sequence as synth pads drift around melodically like graceful beings in the sky. The pace and demeanour of the sequencing varies and disappears for a short interlude before returning for a more upbeat passage where more is going on.

Completing the album is ‘Anthology’. Sonically there’s more going on here and the mood becomes more upbeat when the sequencing is displaced by rhythmic beats. This piece is broken into several passages, finishing with wistful refrains and drum programming.

If you’re familiar with INDRA’s other albums then there’s no surprises in store when you listen to Tara, but it’s pleasant enough and more melodic than some of the other sequencing based albums you might encounter.

Another ”rendez-vous” with INDRA? Any time. I’m part of those unconditional of the Romania synthesist. For me, INDRA is the Klaus Schulze of this century. Not because his style so close to him, though that is true, but by his prolific, his sense of arrangements, his synth control, his long compositions which develop on divine modulations and the way he has to extend his sequences and layers synth.

A beautiful pad opens the doors of ‘Nectar Point’. A warmth breath propels synthetic drops which bead in echo, on a movement which we feel fragile. The undulations are frail and divinely harmonious on cymbals of clay resonances. Delicately, INDRA makes float its chords in a sequenced spiral which goes up some modulations of a harmonious subtlety that soft synth protects from its layers. A bewitching title by an approach of a great sensitivity. ‘Nectar Point’ is a circular collar with limpid notes which carves a delicious melody, which is not without recalling a certain crystal lake. The sequences are quite simply sublimes and are melting in an impulsion which increases its rate, without scratching the tenderness which runs into it. Unquestionably, we are in the mythical and passionate harmonies of the Romanian virtuoso.

The ‘Long Journey’ is more rhythmic. Berlin School with the buckled chords which circles with passion on a sequence round and undulating, which a mellotron flute sprinkles of a magnetic flux, doubling almost keys by keys this first impulsion. A short moment of atmosphere divides the movement which becomes more attractive and more animated on ”tam tam” percussion and a synth superbly moulding which gives a harmonious depth to a rising movement to breathless oscillations. INDRA is not satisfied to astonish by the fluidity of his sequences, he pushes further the magic by introducing synth segments to tribal flavours and ethnic modulations of the Middle-East, on sound effects that fly intermittently. The rhythm is supported by buckled sequencers which give presence tp percussion, the synth breaths and reign as a Master, with beautiful solos who engraves floating pads.

The intro of ‘Anthology’ surprises with a wedged movement, suspended which really does not take off, with distances pulse which are formed. Nervous, with an inopportune temperament, we expect that the layers which pass over will carry ‘Anthology’ on rhythmic ground. In fact it’s the pulsations that accelerate the rhythm, without hearing them progress, occupied we were by the stretching of the layers synth which controlled the harmony of the skies. But, already, the tempo dies out to bring us in an ambient state of weightlessness under musical tinkling and other reflections for a superficial hypnosis. The pulsations go up the stream, synth sharpens its sonorities, the sequencer is heated and ‘Anthology’ pushes the rhythm which grows gently like an ascending spiral on chords multiplied in loops. A slow impulsion which progresses on divinatory modulation and varies the extent of its sequences to constantly interlace the waves of a serene quietude which dies out in the shade of a fluty synth.

INDRA’s music will be the one that we will listen in years from here, with Klaus Schulze, old TD, Brendan Pollard and Manuel Gottsching. Already, the first vestiges are anchored in my timeless discotheque. Albums like Kali, The Call of Shiva, Signs, Colosseum and others will cross time. Tara will be among these works. It is another Berlin School tinted album which is renewed, as each time that INDRA penetrates this splendid musical world with eclectic dimensions without borders.

(original version)

Un autre rendez-vous avec INDRA? N’importe quand. D’ailleurs c’est un rendez-vous à grandeur de la planète, puisque GOD, et ses lecteurs, sont les seuls à avoir une promo de Tara et à en faire profiter les fans avec cette chronique exclusive qui se retrouve aussi sur le site de INDRA. Je fais partie des inconditionnelles du synthétiste de la Roumanie. Pour moi, INDRA est le Klaus Schulze de ce siècle. Pas parce que son style lui ressemble, quoique cela soit vrai, mais par sa prolificité, son sens des arrangements, sa maîtrise des synthé, ses longues compositions qui se développent sur de divines modulations et la façon qu’il a d’étendre ses séquences et ses strates synthétisées.

Une belle nappe synthétisée ouvre les portes de ‘Nectar Point’. Un souffle chaleureux propulse des gouttes synthétiques qui perlent en écho, sur un mouvement que l’on sent fragile. Les ondulations sont frêles et divinement harmonieuses sur des cymbales aux résonances d’argiles. Délicat, INDRA fait flotter ses accords en une spirale séquencée qui remonte quelques modulations d’une subtilité harmonieuse qu’un doux synthé protège de ses strates. Un titre envoûtant par une approche d’une grande sensibilité. ‘Nectar Point’ est un collier circulaire aux notes limpides qui sculpte une délicieuse mélodie, qui n’est pas sans rappeler un certain lac de cristal. Les séquences sont tout simplement sublimes et se fondent dans une impulsion qui augmente sa cadence, sans érafler la tendresse qui coule dans ‘Nectar Point’. Indéniablement, nous sommes dans les harmonies mythiques et passionnées du virtuose Roumain.

‘The Long Journey’ est plus rythmé. Un Berlin School aux accords bouclés qui virevolte avec passion sur une séquence ronde et ondulante, qu’une flûte mellotronnée arrose d’un flux magnétique, doublant presque notes par notes cette 1ière impulsion. Un bref moment d’atmosphère divise le mouvement qui devient plus attrayant et plus animé sur des percussions ‘’tam tam’’ et un synthé superbement moulant qui donne une profondeur harmonieuse à un mouvement en nette ascension sur des oscillations à couper le souffle. INDRA ne se contente pas d’étonner par la fluidité de ses séquences, il pousse la magie plus loin en introduisant des segments synthétisés aux arômes tribaux et aux modulations ethniques du Moyen Orient, sur des effets sonores qui voltigent par intermittence. Le rythme est soutenu par des séquenceurs bouclés qui insufflent un semblant de percussions, le synthé souffle et règne en maître avec de beaux solos qui cisèle des coussins et des nappes flottantes.

L’intro d’Anthology surprend avec un mouvement coincé, suspendu qui ne décolle vraiment pas, avec de lointains pouls qui se forment. Nerveux, avec un tempérament intempestif, on s’attend à ce que les strates qui passent au dessus emportent Anthology en terre rythmique. Ce sont plutôt les pulsations qui accélèrent le rythme, sans que nous les ayons entendus progresser, occupé que nous étions par les étirements des strates synthétisées qui contrôlaient l’harmonie des cieux. Mais, déjà, le tempo s’éteint pour nous amener en état d’apesanteur ambiant sous des tintements et autres reflets musicaux pour une hypnose superficielle. Les pulsations remontent le courant, le synthé aiguise ses sonorités, le séquenceur se réchauffe et ‘Anthology’ pousse le rythme qui crescende doucement comme une spirale ascendante sur des accords multipliés en boucles. Une lente impulsion qui progresse sur des modulations divinatoires et varie l’étendue de ses séquences pour entrelacer constamment les vagues d’une sereine quiétude qui s’éteint à l’ombre d’un synthé flûté.

La musique d’INDRA sera celle que l’on écoutera des années plus tard avec du Klaus Schulze, du vieux TD, Brendan Pollard et Manuel Gottsching. Déjà, des premiers vestiges sont ancrés dans ma discothèque intemporelle. Des albums comme The Call of Shiva, Signs, Colosseum et autres vont traversés le temps. Tara ne sera pas en marge de ces œuvres. C’est un autre album teinté d’un Berlin School qui se renouvelle, comme à chaque fois qu’Indra pénètre ce splendide monde musical aux dimensions éclectiques sans frontières.

2007 Sylvain Lupari / GOD

Whereas Kali explores other niches, Tara takes us back to more traditional EM, three lengthy pieces much like Colosseum, excellent for fans of Klaus Schulze.

‘Nectar Point’ starts with cool pads in a minor key and a softly tinkling synth lead, piano-like but with an electronic edge to it. A crystalline sequencer like a slowed-down version of the beautiful one in KS’ ‘Sebastian im Traum’ from Audentity comes into play, forming the gentle theme for the remainder. Even when it speeds up some toward the end, it remains soft and mellow.

‘The Long Journey’ is even better, with a briskly pulsing bass line, ethereal atmospheric touches, and once again stellar sequencing that brings to mind the best of 70s and early 80s KS and TD. The music is just as good when the sequences stop now and again, giving the mind and ear a rest and allowing the dreamier passages room to breathe and expand. 21 minutes go by quickly and very pleasantly.

‘Anthology’ is the 36-minute epic conclusion, starting with a shifting metallic pinging sequence. Eventually a throbbing beat joins in and the sequencing gives way momentarily to the lead synth melody, rejoining it a short time later. It builds and then releases the energy, and then does it all over again, creating sparkling highs and luxurious lows.

Tara is another top-notch Indra release.