Ulrich Schnauss – A Long Way to Fall

Ulrich Schnauss’ finely-honed blend of melodic techno and shoegazey electronica places A Long Way to Fall in the company of similarly blissed-out records of recent years, such as Pantha Du Prince’s Black Noise (2010) and Jesse Somfay’s A Catch in the Voice (2009). While some pieces have a cutesy, almost saccharine quality (Like a Ghost in Your Own Life, Borrowed Time), the titles speak of a darker and more melancholy sensibility underlying things (Broken Homes, A Ritual in Time and Death). 
 
If the tone of Long Way is therefore somewhat confusingly pitched, that does little to tarnish the brilliance of its crystalline dreamscapes. Schnauss has now been mining this rich vein for a decade, and his masterful meshing of intricate drum loops, hypnotic arpeggios and throbbing synth chords can be arrestingly beautiful. Consequently, whatever it lacks in narrative coherence, Long Way makes up for in its ornate construction.