Free System Projekt
Narrow Lane
CD / 2 Tracks / 78.02 mins
Play Sample:   56K Dialup   Broadband
Download Sample:   500K   1.5Mb
(Excerpt from track(s) 'Narrow Lane Part 1')
Wonderful deep dark drones, like some alien craft coming in to land, are juxtapositioned by soft eerie mellotron. This would have felt right at home on Tangerine Dream's 'Sorcerer' album. Atmospheric starts are nothing new to a Berlin School style track but this really is top draw stuff which sets us up nicely for the absolutely astonishingly awesome Rubycon style sequence. It weaves and morphs this way and that supported by the most gorgeous backing embellished by soft flutey synth. The sequence moves up a couple of registers, becoming increasingly manic as it does so (by now there is also many an Encore element) before descending to multi layered mellotron bliss. This gives way to tinkling spaced out electronics before the bludgeoning bass sequence rumbles forward once more like an unstoppable force. So that's the short, almost half our opener which lines us up nicely for the mammoth forty-eight minute second part.

Windy effects blow from the speakers. A slow lead appears over deep reverberating drones as the storm departs. This is all rather melancholy stuff. Tron and spooky effects give quite an unsettling feel as rapid pulsations slowly bubble to the surface gradually developing into the inevitable sequencer line which, once again, really makes the ground shake. Secondary supporting sequences weave in and out of the mix keeping the excitement high. Things become more intense by the second resulting in a fantastic avalanche of notes. There is the occasional ebb and flow but for the most part this is one hundred mile an hour, foot to the floor stuff. We get a breather and a return to windy effects at around the twenty-minute mark. This time it's all rather soothing. Tinkling electronics act as the messenger for a slow deep heart beat type pulse, backed by yet more mellotron, then an absolutely fantastic lead. It really is a dead ringer for something from a TD album but I can't place it (though probably from Sorcerer or Encore). Whatever, it fits the mood perfectly. We then get more atmospherics that are initially rather tranquil before becoming increasingly manic. Sequences return, slowly building into another rock steady pattern, similar leads to before doing the honours over the top.

This album, as with 'Atmospheric Conditions', very much sees the guys in mid 70s inspired Tangerine Dream territory. The first part was recorded at the National Space Centre in 2006 while the second came from their 2007 Hampshire Jam performance. (DL)

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