VAN ZYL, CHUCK - RITUALS (2014 ALBUM BY US-BASED SYNTH MUSICIAN/DJ)

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“Berlin School” style SpaceMusic album featuring two expansive soundscapes filled with soft vibrant rhythms, haunting melodies and ethereal atmospherics!

* Please hover your mouse / pointer over the sleeve image to see a photograph of Chuck Van Zyl in action *

* Please click on the Video icon above to view & listen to part of a recent concert performance by Chuck *

If you are into the classic sounds of vintage TANGERINE DREAM or KLAUS SCHULZE, you’re going to love this!

It’s a triumphant 2014/15 return for the popular US space-Music musician/DJ who’s Cassette only label was first introduced into the UK via Andy G’s Lotus Records in the late 80’s, but then became much more widely known when Centaur Discs released ‘Celestial Mechanics’ and ‘The Relic’ on CD in the early 90’s!
Both were successful tiles across the UK and Europe as well as in his US homeland, and Chuck went on to independently produce several CD titles alongside the contributions to his American radio show: ‘Stars End’ where his programmes are devoted entirely to the “Electronic Music” genre.
Van Zyl refers to his music as “SpaceMusic”, which it certainly is, but it is so much more that that term might imply to some, because this is NOT in any way, shape or form, just plain going nowhere style drones and atmospheres.
At CDS Towers we have long since seen his music as a perfect fit into the world of the “Berlin School” sound that was created on the early pioneering albums by TANGERINE DREAM and Klaus Schulze, and ‘Rituals’ is no exception! The spacey atmospheres, sequencer rhythms are often overlaid with infectious melodic licks and always surrounded in a haze of cosmic atmospherics. His use of the classic Mellotron sounds and the inclusion of some more experimental, abstract textures only further enhances the early 70’s feel to the production, and the overall result is one of relaxed, melodic, heavenly cosmic music with a gentle, rhythmic air about it that fans of both the American “SpaceMusic” and the European traditional styles should all thoroughly enjoy.

The album press release goes like this…
As one who devotes so much time to delivering music to the world, it is good to see radio show host, reviewer and concert producer Chuck Van Zyl also spending time at being an Electronic Musician.
His 2014/15 release: ‘Rituals’ is one of SpaceMusic's sonic miracles. An album with incomparable penetration it is so alluring and ingenious that listeners will find its atmosphere of cosmic yearning on an equal level with that of its ceaseless sonic invention.

The mood and message of this 3rd volume extends the trajectory of his two previous releases. While ‘MemorySpace’ (2010) and ‘Cenotaph’ (2012) took two years each to conceive, concertize, record and produce, ‘Rituals’ took just two weeks!
Using modular systems, a variety of modern analogue synthesizers and sequencers and operating at an emotional and enthusiastic pitch, Van Zyl realizes music that possesses as much the buzz and crackle of electricity as it does the frigid blackness of space.

From his instrument's storm force of sound comes delightful throbbing bass lines, echo-warping chimes and a mystery machine pulse, against which Van Zyl sways and plays Rhodes piano, synth strings, Mellotron choir and full-blooded melodies. Staccato synthesizer blips interlock and pound out mighty sequencer patterns, yet this mechanical rigidity is somehow softened - as lines of dancing arpeggios pump up against tuneful leads and ethereal harmonic progressions. Disarmingly quiet passages reduce the level of density and energy with insinuating modulations and vaporous aural forces. ‘Rituals’ pushes and pulls itself, expands and contracts, and manages to establish an interesting contour through various scenarios and scenes... to attain a rare unity.

Offering vivid synthesized sonorities, the appeal lies in its minimalist values and in this musician's ability to create an intimate and absorbing listening experience. As with albums by the likes of ARC and REDSHIFT, ‘Rituals’ has an immediacy that can overwhelm, yet its cosmic beauty is easily experienced over and over.

The creative act is the one defence against the ruin of the world. Singing the mental electric with an inventive sonic flair Chuck Van Zyl makes music that fills up the empty spaces and places of life. Embracing the early-day attitudes of the “Kosmische Musik” movement, he transcends them - elevating the most familiar themes to another sphere. Anyone in love with Space Music and its very specific poetry will want to hear this recording.

‘Rituals’ comes in a Triple Panel Digi-Pak that is similarly themed to his last two solo releases.

Also available from stock by CHUCK VAN ZYL:
CENOTAPH (2013) Stock # 1611292
MEMORYSPACE (2010) Stock # 1449612
REGENERATION MODE (1996) Stock # 317169

‘Rituals’ is In Stock Now!

TRACK LIST:

CHUCK VAN ZYL: RITUALS Track List:

01. Saturn (21:55)
02. Ars Moriendi (35:06)

TPT – 57:03