Klaus Schulze: La Vie Electronique 6 (2010)

La Vie Electronique 6  (1975 to 1979)

Track Listing (CD 1):

1.	The Other Oberhausen Tape	22:03	1976
2.	Schwanensee I	26:48	1976
3.	Schwanensee II	21:00	1976
4.	Fear at Madame Tussaud's	06:23	1977  Live

Track Listing (CD 2):

1.	Zeitgeist	50:36	1977  Live
2.	Inside the Harlequin	26:16	1977  Live

Track Listing (CD 3):

1.	La Vie Secrète	62:20	1975  Live
2.	Barracuda Drum	08:47	1978
3.	There was Greatness in the Room	08:31	1979  Live

Notes:

(1) Harald Grosskopf plays drums on "Barracuda Drum".

(2) Arthur Brown sings on "There was Greatness in the Room".

Rating: 5 Stars

"Fear at Madame Tussaud's" was recorded at a concert in the London Planetarium on 12th April 1977.

"Zeitgeist" and "Inside the Harlequin" were recorded at a concert in Brussels, Belgium on 17th October 1977.

"La Vie Secrète" was probably recorded at a concert in Fürth, Germany on 4th October 1975. According to KDM, many Klaus Schulze fans disagree and say it was recorded in 1977 or 1978.

"There was Greatness in the Room" was recorded at a concert in Brussels, Belgium on 24th October 1979.

The sixth LVE album is a mix of live and studio recordings. There seems to be some confusion about whether "The Other Oberhausen Tape" is live or not. If KDM can't make his mind up, what hope do the rest of us have?

The recording quality is excellent throughout. As for the quality of the music itself, I'm overwhelmed by both the live and the studio recordings. The mid-1970's were probably the peak of Klaus Schulze's career, in my opinion at least. I can't name a best track, but I'd like to mention two tracks. "Fear at Madame Tussaud's" is an unusual piece of music for this period. It sounds more similar to the droning music of the early 70's. "There is Greatness in the Room" has a very brash, aggressive sound, which was typical for Klaus Schulze's concerts with Arthur Brown.

As was the case with LVE 5, the playing surface of the discs is black.

The liner notes for LVE 6 are written by the long time Klaus Schulze fan Lennart Koschella. He originally wrote for the SILVER EDITION box set.

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La Vie Electronique 6 Liner Notes

It was in summer of 1983, still at a time when (German) radio programmes were not as bad as they are today. During a listener's request show they played a piece of music which fascinated me from the very beginning. The track's name: Stardancer II. The artist's name: Klaus Schulze. He was absolutely unknown to me. I suspected him to be one of those leftovers from the fading music fashion "New German Wave". Yet even then I had the feeling that I had found something new, special, irrational.

The impression of the music persisted. I bought this musician's records, one after another, and more and more I was fascinated by the effect they had on me. At that time I didn't know that I had come across a pioneer of "Electronic Music". Therefore I had the chance to let the music have its impact on me without being too much impressed by a "big name".

Although the music is created almost exclusively by electronic means, it is very emotional. It radiates a richness of feelings, and it's obvious that Klaus Schulze has as much fun during its creation as I have while listening to it... if not much more.

Many things I have done while listening to this music: read books, worked, studied for examinations, written love letters; somehow there's something for every emotional state. However, I cannot listen to every piece in any situation, it depends on my current mood. Schulze's tracks tell short stories without words, they are pure mood pieces, images of one's whole life with its slow and gentle but continuous developments, and occasional abrupt substantial changes.

Sometimes someone asks me, "Who is this Klaus Schulze you've got so many CDs from?" The answer isn't easy, it's hard to explain in words because the essence would be lost. Just giving it a short listen won't work either. You have to find it out for yourself, you should tune out and follow your own feelings. Be prepared for surprises!

For more than 20 years that Klaus Schulze has produced and released his solo albums, and the technical facilities have changed drastically. So has his music, but a lot has also remained the same: his creativity, his search of the New, and above all the intensity of feelings contained in his compositions, which is independent of the synthesizers and other technical gear that were available at a particular period. You can clearly hear it on these CDs. His music is alive, it leads its own secret life.

(Lennart Koschella, August 1993 for SILVER EDITION)

15 years later:

The fact that I don't have to rewrite this essay for the present release speaks in favour of Klaus Schulze's works. The timelessness of his music cannot be documented better. "20 years" have now become "35 years", some of my musical likes have come and gone, but my fascination with Schulze's music has remained all this long time. Its secret life will exist forever.

(Lennart Koschella, October 2008)