Sundaze 1308

Hello, as spring keeps it's distance we will have to generate our own inner heat, music that envelops us like a warm bath would surely help. Assisting us today is a German who some consider to have stood at the cradle of New Age music, that's before the label was invented and before it got ' abused'. He's really been there and still shares his visions, 43 years after a near death experience stung his lazy ass in motion..

Like many artists in the contemporary instrumental realm, today's artist mixes acoustic and electronic instruments, ethnic influences, and sounds from nature -- only he's been doing it since the early '70s. His style is characterized by gentle melodies and joyful rhythms that render his music accessible even as he presents an intriguing blend of Eastern and Western styles. ..N'joy..

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

Born Georg Deuter in 1945 in post-war Germany in the town of Falkenhagen, he taught himself the guitar, flute, harmonica and "just about every instrument I could get my hands on," though it wasn’t until after a near-fatal car crash in his early twenties that he decided to pursue a career in music. His first release in 1970, entitled D, is widely acknowledged as a Krautrock classic. D marked the beginning of Deuter’s spiritual and musical journey, ostensibly paving the way for a new genre of music known as New Age, which combined acoustic and electronic elements with ethnic instrumentation and nature sounds, such as whale and bird song, the open sea, wind in the trees, etc.

During the 1970s and 1980s Deuter, after travelling extensively in Asia in search of spiritual and creative inspiration, settled for a long time in Pune, India, where under the name Chaitanya Hari he became a neo-sannyasin — a disciple of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, who later changed his name to Osho. With the aid of a multitrack tape machine, living in the neo-sannyas ashram, he produced a series of music tapes to be used in "active meditations", consisting of several "stages" of ten or fifteen minutes each, which range between, and often merge, Indian classical motifs, fiery drums, loops, synthesisers, bells, musique concrète and pastoral acoustic passages. These works, constructed to the master's instructions in consultation with a team of disciples testing the meditation methods, deserve recognition for their purely functional or objective origination as well as for their originality, power and sometimes beauty.

In the early 1990s, Deuter — who always retained his professional name — ended his long standing relationship with Kuckuck, the small record label that had released nearly 20 original Deuter albums in as many years, and relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico where he signed a deal with New Earth Records, an independent label founded by fellow sannyasin Bhikkhu Schober and Waduda Paradiso. This proved to be a lucrative move for all involved, as Deuter's New Earth Records releases, the majority of them intended to accompany various healing and spiritual practices such as Reiki, massage and meditation or, in the case of Earth Blue (2003), a collaboration with the Autostadt Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, have sold well over half a million copies.

Deuter continues to learn and master an ever-expanding array of instruments, including the drums, the shakuhachi flute, the koto, sitar, Tibetan singing bowls, santoor, bouzouki, piano and keyboard. He has recorded and released over 60 albums and claims to have sold more than he can count during the course of his career.

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

Beginning with moody bass and guitar plucking that wouldn't be a fraction out of place on albums by fellow German musicians like Ash Ra Tempel, D finds Deuter as both an accomplished composer and self-producer. It's not about simply technical virtuosity, of course, as the music throughout D demonstrates. At once epic in scope and with a sly, careful sense of entrancement, this is psychedelic music in the immediately post-psych world. The multi-part "Babylon," which takes up most of the album's first half, exhibits as much metallic flash and snarl on guitar as it does drowsy, dreamy studio treatment; keyboards are mixed with an endless amount of backwards taping. It could make for one heck of a soundtrack to an avant-garde documentary film of the time, but works quite well as its own creation. To his credit, Deuter doesn't repeat the performance on the other tracks, instead adding other elements to mix with ones already introduced. Thus, there are rolling percussion jams and (for the first time) wordless vocals on the insistent slow build and burn of "Der Turm/Fluchtpunkt," while other songs include the presence of numerous overdubbed sitars or the use of flowing water as a rhythmic element. The haunting, cyclical synth parts on "Gammastrahlen-Lamm," which closes D, provide an appropriately beautiful coda to a strange and quite lovely album. Hints of wiggy Krautrock humor with song titles crop up: "Babylon" in its various parts is described with classical terms such as "andante," while another long piece (the one consisting of sitars and nothing else) gets the bemusing appellation "Krishna Eating Fish and Chips." The cover art is enjoyable as well, with the back featuring Deuter crouched over some bongos in front of his home stereo/crash pad setup. Not quite prog-age bachelor pad music, but still....

Deuter - D (flac  217mb)

01 Babylon (14:59)
-1 Andantino
-2 Allegro 138 A
-3 Andante
-4 Allegro 138 B
02 Der Turm / Fluchtpunkt 4:30
03 Krishna Eating Fish And Chips 10:16
04 Atlantis 6:06
05 Gammastrahlen-Lamm 5:04

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

This album is one of the best examples of Deuter's music. It makes listener blow away his earthly problems and sink into the music. On Ecstasy he combines simple acoustics with deep electronics and smooth samples to create intricate atmospheres. The coolest thing about them is that they do not sound intricate. They sound easy and delicate. That quality makes the sound design a success. This album is absolutely gorgeous. It is warm in its embrace of deep listeners. The soundscapes are psychoactive and Deuter's appeal is universal.

Deuter - Ecstasy (flac 251mb)

01 Wings Of Love 7:00
02 Ecstacy 11:40
03 Night Rain 2:40
04 Blue Waves Gold 3:40
05 Back To A Planet 7:00
06 Brazilian Love 6:30
07 La Ilaha Il Allah 4:56

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

Deuter is one of the world's most prominent new age musicians and has been so since about five years before he was born. His music has always been more than just music. There is always another purpose.
Land of Enchantment, Deuter's tenth album, is a glimpse of the magic found in life. Deuter combines acoustic instruments and synthesizers in his customarily skillful fashion. an overt exploration of idyllic places and spaces beyond listeners' imaginations. Deuter's deft approach and musical acumen take this set to new heights and more. The atmospheres are gentle and spacious, with organic textures. The tracks on this album were recorded in various geographical areas, from France and Hawaii to Santa Fe, and they represent different scenes and experiences. Characteristics from Eastern and Western musical cultures are blended to portray the light-hearted and mystical qualities of each location.

"The message in the music is Light," says Deuter. "Light as opposed to heavy, and light as opposed to darkness. The music is derived from an understanding that life is a gift and from an acceptance of the miracle that it is, that all things exist."

Deuter - Land of Enchantment (flac 258mb)

01 Pierrot 10:17
02 Maui Morning 6:01
03 Silver Air 5:50
04 Waves And Dolphins 4:21
05 Santa Fe 3:27
06 Celestial Harmony 6:22
07 Silver Air 1:42
08 Petite Fleur 6:51
09 Wind Of Dawn 2:42
10 Peru Le Peru 7:11

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx