Dark Side of the Moog Vol. 4 (1996)

Klaus Schulze and Pete Namlook - Dark Side of the Moog Vol. 4

Track Listing:

1.	Three Pipers at the Gates of Dawn Part 1	06:55
2.	Three Pipers at the Gates of Dawn Part 2	21:47
3.	Three Pipers at the Gates of Dawn Part 3	04:57
4.	Three Pipers at the Gates of Dawn Part 4	02:20
5.	Three Pipers at the Gates of Dawn Part 5	02:27
6.	Three Pipers at the Gates of Dawn Part 6	07:56
7.	Three Pipers at the Gates of Dawn Part 7	02:53
8.	Three Pipers at the Gates of Dawn Part 8	08:51
9.	Three Pipers at the Gates of Dawn Part 9	01:50

Notes: Bill Laswell also appears on several tracks, but it's not stated what instruments he plays.

Rating: 4½ Stars

Unlike the previous albums in the Dark Side of the Moog series, this album contains three distinct pieces of music which aren't mixed together. The first piece is Tracks 1 and 2, the second piece is track 3, and the third piece is tracks 4 to 9.

The album was originally released on Pete Namlook's private label as a limited edition of 2000 copies. In 2016 it was re-released as part of a box set, which is now also out of print.

For me it was exciting when this album was released, since Bill Laswell was already one of my favourite musicians. He's best known as a bass guitarist, but he's a multi-instrumentalist, so it's not clear what instruments he plays on the album. I suspect that he is playing bass and keyboards. According to the description on Pete Namlook's web site:

"Already the fourth product in this series within a bit more than one year. This time even more special as an additional brain joined them to produce the ideas for this music. Bill Laswell, Klaus Schulze and Pete Namlook get together to form the real mastermind-trio. Spacey, deep and moving, but still different to The Dark Side of the Moog 1, 2 and 3, plus the typical and amazing Bill Laswell bass treatments".

This is more of a beat-driven album than "Dark Side of the Moog Vol. 3".

In case you haven't noticed, the covers of the first four albums can be joined together into a single picture.