Recorded in the summer of 1995 and first released in May 1996,
Trance Appeal is a curiosity in
Klaus Schulze's discography on two counts: its
techno leanings and the short duration of its tracks. About the first count,
Schulze is unapologetic in his liner notes to the
Revisited reissue, stating that he was listening to a lot of good
techno music at the time and that the style permeated his own playing (something also obvious on his
Are You Sequenced? album). About the short durations,
Schulze puts the "blame" entirely on
electronic artist
Joerg Schaaf, his partner in this collaborative endeavor (originally released, in fact, under the
Richard Wahnfried pseudonym/moniker). Indeed, seven out of the original album's 11 tracks are under six minutes, while the remaining four do not cross the ten-minute barrier. As a result,
Trance Appeal is a different proposition, for sure, but an enjoyable one, and
Schulze fans need not worry too much about it being out of character (less so, in fact, than some of his mid-'80s material). The album is more restless and beat-driven than your average
Schulze CD, but even the more outright
techno-ish tracks (
"Rubbish," "Psychedelic Clubbing") remain tasteful, inventive, and well integrated to the whole -- if tracks are short, they all segue, forming a
Schulze-like multi-part suite. And the more
ambient or abstract pieces (
"Suspense," "Esprit Sans Fronti Res") showcase
Schulze's team spirit and flexibility when working with other musicians. The short tracks establish a fast pace early on, later marred (ironically) by a small clutter of longer pieces at the bottom of the album, but that slight conceptual flaw aside,
Trance Appeal is a fine, though not essential, effort. The 2007
Revisited reissue adds an interesting 13-minute bonus track,
"Marooned," recorded four or five years later by the same two musicians. ~ Francois Couture
