RON BOOTS & SYNTH.NL: Refuge en Verre (CD on Groove Unlimited)
This release from 2010 offers 71 minutes of dreamy electronic music.
Synth.nl is Michel van Osenbruggen.
In 2010, the Boots and Osenbruggen families rented a house in the Belgian Ardennes for a weekend. Ron and Michel brought along a synthesizer and a laptop and jammed together. The music they co-created became this album (with some finishing touches applied once the two returned to their respective studios).
Dreamy electronics conspire with sinuous rhythms, resulting in some very tasty tuneage.
While atmospheric textures are utilized, they remain background elements, while numerous frontal riffs generate lush melodies that simultaneously exhibit a soothing disposition as well as a fairly restrained energy that manages to periodically ooze through and shine. Cycles are established and then embellished by additional riffs which ultimately flesh things out into a velvet flow punctuated by incidents of glorious drama. Strong attention is given to creating a steady stream of engaging melodies.
Rhythms contribute tempos, but the locomotion manifests in a subdued fashion, lending beats without becoming too overwhelming or hyperactive. While the majority of the tracks are calmly amiable, there are several occasions in which the music marshals authority and cooks with delightful results.
One track is given a sultry demeanor by molten basslines.
These compositions display an easygoing sonic mood, one that exemplifies a comfortable collaboration. The tunes shine with congenial melodies performed with stately mastery.
MORPHEUSZ: Days of Delirium & Nocturnal Nightmares (CD on Groove Unlimited)
This release from 2010 offers 64 minutes of dynamic electronic music.
Morpheusz is: Ron Boots (on synthesizers), Frank Dorittke (on guitar and synthesizers), Eric van der Heijden (on synthesizers), and Harold van der Heijden (on drums and percussion).
Dramatic electronics are infused by vibrant guitars and nimble drums, producing tuneage of gripping impact and enduring stature.
While atmospheric texturals are present, the majority of the electronics embody more substantial roles in this music. Lavish cycles are established and set running, while auxiliary threads caper around those patterns, enhancing them with sinuous results. Nimble fingered keyboards contribute a variety of delightful diversions.
The guitars present zesty riffs that churn with vitality. Space chords throb with extended sustains, creating vistas of dazzling euphoria, while additional riffs inject rock influences into the dense mix. The guitars soar with emphatic passion, belting out riffs capable of searing the ceiling of heaven.
The percussion is often lively and forceful, generating compulsive rhythms that do more than provide locomotion for the melodies, these tempos seethe with their own vigorous presence.
These compositions offer pellucid passages, the music has a tendency to slide into more powerful structures with bewitching ease. Levels of somnambulance are established with loving care, then gradually coaxed into states of roiling intensity, transporting the listener through realms of illusion replete with enticing phantasms of sound and dark clouds of crucial jeopardy. Yet, despite these periodic hints of menace, the music retains a solid aim on communicating uplifting confidence.
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