Synthtopia reader JRice sent word that we can do no wrong……as long as we post more of the Berlin School electronic music goodness.

“More is better!” he says.

With that in mind, check out this episode of the Small World podcast, which features an interview with Alpha Wave Movement’s Gregory Kyruluk.

The podcast, below, kicks of with an off the heezy Berlin School track. It continues with some interview segments with Kyruluk, some of his more ambient tracks, and then comes back with another heaping helping of the interlocking step sequences:

This is a must listen for old-school synth music/space music fans!

Via solipsistic, Image: blueforce4116

According to Kyryluk, Alpha Wave Movement’s musical style can be considered an amalgam of classic 1970s period German style electronic music, otherwise known as Berlin-school, and the ambient aesthetics of Brian Eno, John Serrie and Steve Roach.

Alpha Wave Movement’s music is all electronic-based, utilizing digital synthesizers and MIDI to create its sonic explorations. Aside from the musical influences, Kyryluk says that nature and natural landscapes are a continuous source of inspiration for his compositions.

Alpha Wave Movement has performed at the Ambient Ping Canada and at the Gathering Room USA, and has released music on the Dutch label Groove Unlimited, Silent Records (USA), Waveform Records (USA), Spiralight (USA) and on the private label Harmonic Resonance Recordings. Alpha Wave Movement’s other projects include Thought Guild, Open Canvas, and solo releases.

Kyryluk recently released a DVD entitled Terra, which features ambient music and images of the natural landscapes of New Zealand. The DVD video was made via a collaborative effort with electronic musician Rudy Adrian.

Here’s a video that features music from Kyryluk’s Alpha Wave Movement release, A Distant Signal, paired with space images:

You can find out more about Kyryluk and his music at the Alpha Wave Movement site.

Discography

• Transcendence (1995)
• The Edge of Infinity (1997)
• Concept of Motion (1998)
• Drifted Into Deeper Lands (2000)
• Bislama (2000)
• A Distant Signal (2002)
• Cosmology (2003)
• Beyond Silence (2005)
• The Regions Between (2007)
• The Mystic & The Machine (2007)

Compilations

• From Here To Tranquility 4 (1994)
• The Truth is Twisted (1997)
• Lektronic Soundscapes #2 (1998)
• The Other World 2 (1998)
• Sequences Magazine #26 (2000)
• Margen Magazine Spain (2003)
• Sequences Magazine 2003 Anniversary (2003)
• Ambienism (2003)
• Ping Ambience 2 (2004)

Alpha Wave Movement is one of the recording names of Gregory Kyryluk, who also records as part of Thought Guild. As Alpha Wave Movement, Kyryluk explores a range of classic synth music styles, including Berlin-school and West-coast ambient.

Don’t let the title of Beyond Silence fool you. From the title, it sounds like the CD may be a set of quiet, more ambient than ambient, tracks. Instead, it’s some of the most aggressive work we’ve heard from Alpha Wave Movement, combining classic old-school synth influences with more modern drum programming and even some 303-style acid.

Several of the tracks, like Departure Point, mix ambient sections with more propulsive, sequence-driven sections. Two Dimension Xpansion starts off slowly, but builds over the first two and a half minutes to a hypnotic, driving middle section, before returning momentarily to its quiet beginnning.

Sunburst combines acid bass synth, rock electronica drums, sequences and prog-like lead work on synth and “organ”. Fans of Jarre will appreciate Farewell Voyager. Burbling synths echo from ear to ear, squelchy percussion squawks, synth strings phase, and synths play expansive melodies. AWM even unleashes classic swashes of filtered white noise.

While the bouncier tracks are the most immediately ear-catching, some of the stand-out tracks are the quiet ones. Further Out and Echoes are both lovely tracks that combine ambient synths with gentle sequences. The last track on the CD, Ode to an Era, gives Kyryluk a chance to explore the sounds of Mellotron. The track features a synth sequence ground, on top of which Kyryluk layers Mellotron flute and strings. The title is appropriate, because this sounds like a tranquil homage to early 70’s synth pioneers.

Throughout the CD, Kyryluk’s synth work is imaginitive and varied. Alpha Wave Movement’s Beyond Silence pays respect to the classic synth artists of the pasts, while keeping their styles fresh and new. Highly recommended for fans of synth music.

You can hear samples of Beyond Silence at the Alpha Wave Movement site.

Tracks:

• Departure Point
• Sunburst Shift
• The Zen Machine
• Farewell Voyager
• Further Out
• Two Dimension Xpansion
• Tales of Ancient Travellers
• Kinetic Transfer
• Echoes
• Electrik Religions
• ODE TO AN ERA

Alpha Wave Movement’s CDs explore classic synth music genres, but make them sound fresh and new, and Drifted Into Deeper Lands is no exception.

The CD starts out with Drifted into Deeper Lands. The track is a hypnotic space music voyage that begins with a wash of ambient synth strings, evolves into a sequence-driven middle section, and then returns to the synth strings of the beginning. It’s a simple form, but Kyryluk makes it memorable with his great ear for synth sounds, balanced orchestration and pacing. It’s a killer track – some of the finest ambient space music we’ve heard.

Silent Promise is a delicate ambient piece that explores airy timbres. It’s a little reminiscent of some of Michael Stearns early work. Evolving synth string textures create a bed for drifting wind-blown bottle sounds. With Silent Promise, Kyryluk reminds us that it’s OK for synth music to sound beautiful.

With Awakening the Sand Spirits & Another Time…Another Place, Kyryluk is joined by Jeff Pearce, who contributes “ambient guitar atmospherics”. These pieces have a feel similar to Steve Roach’s Western Space era work. On tracks like this, you can hear Kyryluk’s influences. Nevertheless, his tracks have their own character and are expertly executed.

Kyryluk wraps things up with the lovely Suspended in Hanging Gardens. The track contrasts chime-like synth timbres over synth string sounds with very slow attacks.

Overall, this is a lovely CD. The first track, Drifted into Deeper Lands, is the most compelling. If the CD has a fault, it’s that it peaks at the beginning. It’s a strong enough track, though, that it would have been hard to top.

Drifted into Deeper Lands is a great CD of ambient space music. You’ll have to search this CD out, but it’s well worth looking for via the Alpha Wave Movement site.

Alpha Wave Movement is one of the recording guises of Gregory Kyryluk, who also records as ambient/world music as Open Canvas, and as part of the synth group Thought Guild. Alpha Wave Movement represents his more ambient/space music side.

Kyryluk revisits the worlds of early space music, using the unique capabilities of analog synths to create sonic portraits of the mysteries of space. Fans of traditional analog sound will love the CD, because it’s absolutely packed with great synth work. A Distant Land is an impressive collection, with beautiful packaging, evocative titles and lovely music.

The CD begins with Mapping the Heavens, a lush opener that explores slowly evolving synth timbres. The track includes spoken-word samples wondering about life on other worlds. The second track, Distant Signals, continues in this vein. In the middle section of the track, Kyryluk adds a percolating sequence and subtle percussive effects, before returning to the drifting synth pads of the beginning.

Liquid Cosmos is a subtle, beautiful track. It begins with a sparse sequence and expands with strange underwater burbles and deep synth strings. Kyryluk builds the piece to a slow groove before gently returning to where it began.

A Place of Piece is built with a similar form, starting with an ambient section, building with sequences, and then returning to the ambient textures. An understated synth solo, beginning about halfway through the track, adds interest.

Outward Bound has combines drum machine rhythms and sequences with evolving pads. This gives the track more of a sense of movement. Centauri Memories is a short ambient track with the same drifting feel of Eno’s classic Apollo soundtrack. At 2:47, this track left us wanting more.

Requiem for C.S. is a space music hymn to the memory of astronomer Carl Sagan. Many synth music fans got an introduction to space music with the soundtrack to Sagan’s television series Cosmos. The track is a lovely piece and a suitable tribute to Sagan’s memory.

Portal Full of Stars is a highlight of the album. It starts with airy synth pads that drift in and out of silence. Kyryluk combines this with sequenced backing and some piano improvisation that creates a focal point, but never detracts from the basic ambient feel of the music.

Plasm Cloud is an ambient piece that explores shifting harmonics within drones. This is followed with one of the more melodic tracks on the CD, No Mans Land. On this cut, Kyryluk modulates a sequence through several keys, overlaying the sequence with synth strings and a solo. This is similar to some of Klaus Schulze’s tracks, but Kyryluk’s approach is less static and more melodic.

The CD ends with Lunar Sunrise, a brief piece that brings the CD to a tranquil end.

A Distant Signal is a great album, full of well-crafted space music. If you can’t get enough of classic early synth music, A Distant Signal is a treat you won’t want to miss.

Highly recommended!

For purchase information, check the Alpha Wave Movement site.

Tracks:

• MAPPING THE HEAVENS
• DISTANT SIGNAL
• LIQUID COSMOS
• A PLACE OF PEACE
• OUTWARD BOUND
• CENTAURI MEMORIES
• REQUIEM FOR C.S.
• PORTAL FULL OF STARS
• PLASMA CLOUD
• NO MANS LAND
• LUNAR SUNRISE

Thought Guild is made up of Gregory Kyryluk and Christopher Cameron. Kyryluk also records as Alpha Wave Movement and Open Canvas. Johannes Neuer plays guitar on one track.

On [context], the tracks capture the group’s live performances and sequences. This was the approach taken on many classic recordings by artists like Tangerine Dream and Vangelis. By recording this way, Thought Guild seems to be challenging themselves to create interesting music using the same tools and techniques use by the early synth gods. The result is an exciting CD that should appeal especially to fans of synth music from the late seventies and early eighties.

Thought Guild’s list of equipment for this CD includes many of the highlights of the early days of synthesizers, including the Ensoniq ESQ-1, Korg MS-20 and Wavestation, Maestro Rhythm King, Moog Prodigy, Oberheim Matrix 6, Roland TR 606, and Yamaha CS-50. All this vintage gear helps contribute to Thought Guild’s retro-synth sound. An out-of-tune synth line even rears its head occasionally, which you don’t hear much on most modern recordings. These quirks are part of the charm of the CD, though.

In addition to a museum’s worth of classic synth gear, Thought Guild brings an encyclopedic knowledge of early synth music to their work. It’s clear that Kyryluk and Cameron know the innovative 70’s work of Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Klaus Schulze and Michael Stearns. Listening to the CD, the influences melt together, as if you’re listening to a lost collaboration by some of these synth greats.

The CD starts of with Distant Star, with drones, chimes and a synth solo that immediately brought to mind Vangelis’ work on Blade Runner. The track gets things off to a great start, because it establishes the retro-synth sound, and highlights the musician’s talent for this style.

Several other tracks stand out on the CD. Semiotic Sequence takes things to Berlin with its percolating sequences and distorted lead lines. Silicon Alchemists explores a meditative soundscape not unlike those pioneered by German synthesists Klaus Schulze. It evolves from a mellow, almost ambient texture into sequence-driven, old-school trance.

In addition to more driving tracks, [context] includes some beautiful slower or pulseless tracks, including Lifepools, Leviathan’s Lament, and Memento. These tracks bring to mind early American space music pioneers, such as Michael Stearns. They are drone-based pieces, with synth strings and ambient washes that seem to surround you.

The CD is very good overall, and especially impressive since it is recorded live. The CD does have a few transitions that seem abrupt – probably a side effect of it being a live recording. Also, while Thought Guild does a great job of evoking the past, they don’t do as good of a job at carving out their own unique musical identity.

[context] is powerful electronic music that evokes the synth gods of the seventies. Full of interesting synthesizer and electronics work, it’s a must-have for fans of early synth music.

[context] is available through Synth Music Direct. More information is available at the Alpha Wave Movement site.

Tracks:

• 1. Distant Star
• 2. Moebius Phase
• 3. Semiotic Sequence
• 4. Lifepools
• 5. Leviathan’s Lament
• 6. Silicon Alchemists
• 7. Cathedrals of Stone
• 8. Tetrahedral Anomolies
• 9. Memento