SCHNITZLER, CONRAD - Blau (50th Anniversary Edition)

"On the red album, Conrad Schnitzler laid down the direction his musical artistry would take. The blue album (Blau) offered confirmation of his intent. Maybe the Rot and Blau tracks were recorded in the same session. The structure, sound, and timbre of both LPs are so similar as to suggest that this was the case. Far more important than this historical pedantry is the fact that Schnitzler included two brand new compositions on Blau which followed on seamlessly from the previous album. Quite simply, he had found his way, a course from which he would not stray as long as he lived. The so-called Berlin School (Berliner Schule) -- with Conrad Schnitzler one of their number -- had developed its own style of minimalist music. Clearly distinct from Anglo-American pop music, and no less removed from the minimalist art music of Steve Reich or Philip Glass, the focus here was on electronics and elementary rhythmics. The Berlin musicians showed no great interest in instrumental or vocal virtuosit