Stephan Thelen - Fractal Guitar 2 (2021) (2021) [4 chilecomparte.cl - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chilecomparte.cl Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Stefan Huth and
Chris Muir on touch guitar, 12-string, various processed, filtered and textural guitars, e-bow and, of course, plain old riffing and soloing. That’s not to mention the keyboards and percussion on top of the rhythm section and Thelen’s own multi-instrumental contributions.
On paper it sounds like an over-frosted three-layer cake about to topple, but in practice it’s far more elegant. Given how many elements each track contains, Thelen proves himself a master arranger as well as composer, never letting any tune sound stuffed to the gills. The space-rocking “Ladder to the Stars,” for example, sets up a circular groove over which Kaiser, Durant, Reuter, Muir and Thelen himself lay down parts. But there’s no locking of horns here – each player contributes his own bit to enhance the overall flow of the piece, rather than compete with his fellow players. That means some of them add in only brief licks, or come in and out as they feel they’re needed, or si