Krusseldorf - From Soil to Space

1. Geometrics

2. Boxing

3. The Cell

4. First Blood

5. From Soil to Space

6. Click

7. Deep Fulgin

8. Tokyo Nights

9. Soe Doe

10. Deep into the Bowl

11. Choclop

12. Zyclops

13. A head under the Towel

After having reviewed Krusseldorf's second album, 'Bohemian groove', I was certain that this was the pinnacle of Simon Heath's career, he could never release an album that would top it. This was the perfect album, there were no flaws, no bad tracks, no mistakes, everything was meshed into something extraordinary. This album was Simon's fifteen minutes of fame, I told myself, and to be honest, how do you top something perfect? Well you can't really top it but you obviously can do it again! And perfect a second time around, is surely good enough for me.

The first thing you recognize is Krusseldorfs amazing production skills, it's crisp, acidic, snappy and the composition never feels misplaced or unconsidered. The composition is worth mentioning, it's a more daring one. Simon is pushing the boundaries a little bit into a more glitchy and at times crazy approach, reminiscent of 'Smokers lounge', only this time it is executed exceedingly better. What is also apparent is the dark, gloomy touch. 'From soil to space' does not have the same emphasis on melodic content as Bohemian Groove did, which was a very colorful album. The color spectrum on FSTS is towards a more brown and gray one, represented on the cover art. Here the center of gravity is the gloomy atmosphere and the glitchy composition. A good way of describing this sonic gourmet dish is the merging between Simon's other project Atrium Carceri and Krusseldorf.

So there's not a ton of melodies but they do appear from time to time. Although not as to make the music veer away too far from it's gloomy tendency, at most it sounds contemplatively beautiful with an edge of sadness. I think that this was a conscious choice from Simon and a good one at that. This album was never meant to convey something happy or elevating. It adds a mature touch, and it makes me regard Simon more as a great composer than a good downtempo producer.

Music can be art, and very much so on FSTS. Every listen I just sit and “watch” the music, looking at it from different angles, letting it give rise to different notions and conceptions in my mind, there is always some little detail I didn't notice before. I would like to hang it on the wall but this is of course not possible, it's a piece of truly abstract art. It might be true that a picture says more than a thousand words, and I feel inclined to submit to you that a good album says more than words can ever describe. And this is surely the case with 'From soil to space'.

Listen to and/or buy the album at Bandcamp