Review: Cozmic Corridors - Cozmic Corridors

I don't tend to review re-issues very often, but some there are some records that deserve to be shouted about, especially when it's one that has been out of print for a while and one with some controversy surrounding it's provenence (that's a long story and bears no relation to this review). Cozmic Corridors self-titled release is one of those albums, little known outside of krautrock/kosmische circles since its original pressing in the mid 1970s, but scarily prescient and 'of the now'. Guerssen, through its Mental Experience imprint, have had the wisdom and nous to give this gem of electronica a well deserved new lease of life. Cozmic Corridors was ostensibly a vehicle for eccentric, peripetetic Moog botherer Alex Meyer (a man known for sleeping in his Camper van) and the album was original released by the seminal Pyramid label. It is a fantastic album full of experimental electronica and sublime atmospheres...its one of those albums that I had resigned myself to never having on vinyl...thankyou Guerssen.

'Dark Path' leaps straight from a seventies horror movie, specifically Giallo, with an atmosphere of dread and suspense courtesy of the drones and dark synths. It sounds uncannily like the material that a lot of the hauntological acts are replicating now...the likes of Belbury Poly, Mt Vernon Arts Lab and Demdike Stare...but this is the original. 'The Summit' shifts the mood from one of dread and fear to something more optimistic. The organ work is reminiscent Of Terry Riley and is surprisingly groovy in a jazz way while the background synth plays two notes over and over which acts as a fine counterpoint to the dexterous organ playing. The organ gets more unhinged the further we get into the track, replacing the smooth Riley notes with something more dissonant and abstract. 'Mountainside' is a beautiful slice of meditative ambient music - the synths swooshing and covering everything in rich washes of sound. The addition of the Gregorian like vocals add an esoteric aspect to it all - it brought to mind some of the material coming out of Italy at the moment, the likes of Architeuthis Rex, The Hermetic Brotherhood of Lux-Or etc, or even some of the work of Lustmord. 'Niemand Versteht' sees the return of the Riley-esque organ, this time accompanied by female spoken word vocals. The track appears to be made of two disparate songs that have been merged - there is the organ/synths that play out another eerie horror soundtrack while the guitar in the background is positively psychedelic...but the melding of these produces something that is bewitching and enthralling and richly atmospheric. Final track 'Daruber' revisits 'Dark Path' in its dread laden horror score but much heavier on oscillating drones and spooky organ work. This sepulchral atmosphere is enhanced by the echo drenched chanting vocals. Again, its not hard to see where so many contemporary acts sought inspiration.

Germany in the 1970s produced many pioneers and innovators of the cosmic electronica scene - some, like Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze Conrad Schnitzler, have gone on to become recognised for the geniuses they were. Alex Meyer should be a name spoken in the same reverential terms. 'Cozmic Corridors' is an album that needs to be lifted from obscurity, one that is a well kept secret among the cognescenti, to an album that gets the plaudits it richly deserves. It laid down the blueprints on which many, many bands have based their output, from the gothic sensibilities of Dead Can Dance to industrial ambient artists like Brian Lustmord via the more experimental material of Nurse With Wound and some of the fantastic stuff coming out of Italy at the moment. 'Cozmic Corridors' is released by Guerssen/Mental Experience on February 15th and is up for pre-order now on vinyl, CD and download - go to the Guerssen webshop here.