Markus Reuter

Well, I guess I won't have to wait for reviews cuz I just got this disc today, and it's a great one, really surprising as a Hypnos release on first listen but the more the music seeps in, the more it really fits the Hypnos vision. The first eight tracks are really one long piece, and the mood can best be described (at least this is what comes to my mind) as a carousel ride on acid! When I say carousel, I mean literally, these bright kind of up-down arpeggios, with some truly mind-bending ambient techniques which make it sound oh-so-hallucinogenic. There is a great sense of uneasiness, but at the same time you don't want to get off the "ride," you want to keep going just one more time. The album then quiets down to some very nice droning atmospherics, next the carousel theme re-emerges, and finally leads to the fifteen minute closing piece, which is a real beauty--definitely in the Fripp/Sylvian arena, with a kind of mournful yet hopeful melodic theme. Another top-notch Hypnos release, highly recommended!

Orion32

Markus Reuter absolutely shines with this release: Digitalis. An abstract, yet flowing journey through the perilous battle between the forces of light and darkness, this album earns its place with me amongst the great ambient releases. Markus' use of the Warr touch guitar makes the album even more amazing--it has unique sonic qualities that cannot be matched by digital or other analog instruments. I am looking forward to future releases from Mr. Reuter. I highly recommend this album to anyone interested in ambient music, or plays the Warr touch-style family of instruments.

Brendan Brossard

Markus Reuter is known for his work with Ian Boddy and the Europa String Choir; his Digitalis marks an excursion into abstract ambient noise. This record is very dissonant -- or, like Claude Debussy, Reuter really pushes the envelope on consonance as it relates to the melodic and harmonic relationship within the context of a respective piece. Reuter's music is marked by dissonant melodic runs and streaks through whole-tone scales and other modes that are quite hard on the ears. Perhaps the strangeness of this recording has something to do with the apparatus that he's using to make the recording, which is described as a tap-style eight-stringed guitar-like instrument, which is played less like a true guitar and more like a Chapman Stick. The tracks on Digitalis seemingly run together with little or no comprehensible order, almost as if they were completely improvised. In a lot of ways, this recording may remind listeners of some of Sun Ra's work, but there is more dissonance and less use of silence as a compositional tool. From an experimental and stylistic perspective, this recording is a gem.

All Music Guide

A varied album of abstract and experimental ambient music put forth from this interesting German composer. Better known as one of the four members of The Europa String Choir, He uses a rather unique instrument referred to as a Warr Guitar. This is an 8-stringed guitar, which has a very different sound over the conventional guitar. The music presented on this album is not your typical ambient. It's a spacey album, full of chaotic swirling samples. The first half of the album is restless, ceasing to slow down. Slowly, the drawn out chaos turns dark and distant. Ever so slowly blending in with the next track. The progression is built from the first track to the last, making this a nice long journey into something special. Capturing harmony and originality, the artist makes this experiment work. A hard album to digest upon the first listen, but given time turns into a unique classic.

jackthetab