Quick history - Altres form in the early eighites, a six-piece line-up of synth and sequencer players and guitarists - play improvised and composed tracks live and in studio. Played at "UK Electronica '85" to great acclaim and the now legendary "Dundee Aid" festival some time later. One guy leaves to go solo, plays one of few live concerts at "UK Electronica '86" backed by some of Altres. Sadly, some time later, he passed away, while another member of the band disappears off the face of the earth not long after. The band split!
Forward 15 years or so - the band, not having spoken or played together since those days, get together - a few weeks later I bump into Brian - guitarist - purely by accident just as the band are about to do their first gig in 20 years - since then the quartet has played sporadic but incredible gigs at venues as normal as Dundee's Doghouse and as wild as Dundee's Space Observatory and, most recently, The Dundee Food & Flower Festival" -2006 sees guest live appearances from female vocalist extraordinaire, Electra, while 2007 sees them recruit Dundee's leading percussionist Cath Costello. Soon, very soon, a new 6-piece band will rise once more - for now, the rest of you have this amazing double CD.
CD1 sees 48 minutes of music recorded by the original sextet between 1983 and 1986, all of it on CD for the first time, opening with the classic "Berlin School" sequencer driven sound that forms the intro to the thirteen minute "Golden Country" as layers, melodies and textures from the rest of the band are added to give this really deep, full-sounding panoramic view of a track, in many ways pure '74-'75-era T.Dream but with more going on in the mix than even they were capable of doing. But it is the way that the track's sequencers take centre stage that makes it so strong, since the rhythms become a vibrant part of the overall magic of the track, while the melodies weave in and out of the mix to well executed extent, the whole thing as much "UK Electronica" as Germanic, as much Shreeve as Froese. The near seven minute "Sometimes Elsewhere" enters on a shimmering soundscape of guitar textures and space synths, but solid and in no way twee, making cosmic music sound strong and vibrant, slowly cascading up and down as the layers weave in and around one another, the piece a seething space exploration of gorgeousness that has strong echoes of the '73'-74 "Kosmische Musik" scene out of Germany in general, with hints of Cosmic Jokers along the way, while the overall construction remains unique to Altres' improvisatory yet flowing style. "Ancestral Calls (Part2)" is a four minute track that features a vast backdrop of string synths as throbbing bass synths and layers of space synths are placed on top, the meolodic balanced by the far-out, as the guitar textures cut a path through then vanish leaving the soaring spread of space synths and sytnh swoops to travel to the far reaches of the universe. Fourth in, and the track that has become the Altres equivalent of Shreeve's "Assassin", a track that they still perform live to this day and which always goes down a storm with everyone that hears it. This early version of "Snakebridge" sees the six of them really powering through the track as its sequencer and drum machine rhythms drive the thing forward, while soaring synth melodies are played on top and really let go, as the background and any gaps are filled by the rest of the band with an assortment of layers and melodies from treated and synth-sounding lead guitars to swooping synths and keys, almost a kind of space-rock Shreeve only genuinely sounding like there are 6 people playing this huge expanse of amazing '80's UK synth music. The track goes through all manner of moods and shades, from high-flying skyward vastness to sequencer-driven darkness and all points in between, truly an incredible twelve minutes of absolutely timeless performance. The one minute of seething, rising, dramatic electronics that is "Wreck" cuts abruptly to give us the bass sequencer throb that is the intro to seven minutes of "Forbidden Zone", as percussive splashes are added, a space synth motif wells up from the background and a Dyson-esque sea of melodies slowly wafts across the surface, soon added to by string synths as the layers become everthicker and stronger, the track slowly driving along on the bed of cyclical sequences and soaring synths, all very atmospheric but full of strength at the same time, as everything builds and patterns come and go from the synths and fx-laden guitars. Totally sublime! The CD ends with five minutes of "Icefield", this time a solid lurching piece driven by electro-percussive and sequencer backdrops, as spiralling synth melodies are piled on top nd drift effortlessly across the surface, with a string synth central core and multi-textured webs of sound inhabiting places throughout the track to provide such a strong depth of electronic sound. Overall, a total of 48 minutes of music that sounds every bit as good now as it did back then, and that's something very rare and very precious in these days of over-filled synth music albums.
The second CD flies forward 20 years to provide 52 minutes of tracks recorded between 2003 and 2006 by the reformed quartet. Opening with studio version of stage favourite "Earworm", the track opens with this mighty string synth sound that almost emulates Genesis' intro to "Watcher Of The Skies" in its effect if not its actual sound, before the piece evolves into a flowing set of synth melodies, driven by bottom-of-the-mix sequencers and added to by extra emotive synth layers, as th sequencer rhythms rise to the foreground, the melodies strengthen and become more dramatic, while electro-percussive splashes add to th depth and bite of the piece. All of a sudden, this spiraling melody emanates form Brian's guitar-as-synth styled sound and the effect is wondrous. The whole sound of the track evokes an emotional response which is heartwarming and adrenaline-rousing as the whole thing flows forward and builds to perfection, a stunning intro. After this we get just over two minutes of the gorgeously tranquil and eerily melodic "Horn", a toe-tapping rhythmic backdrop underlying a simple melody line underscored by "Aqua"-esque bubbling synths as the layers are slowly built up to magical effect. There follows nearly nine minutes of "Brainflame", starting with twisting waves of cosmic guitar, and then this massive, classic sounding "Berlin-esque" sequence rhythm rises from the depths, as more sequencers are overlaid, and the guitar changes to the Gottsching-styled melody line. Alongside this, a series of synth melodies start to emerge as the whole thing builds to a crescendo and drives forward on a sea of strength, the rhythms, melodies and layers all combining to breathtaking effect as the track moves forward, always changing yet always conveying the eye-opening emotional response that it deserves. Following this comes ten and a half minutes of "Magiscule Beach", opening with tectonic layers of synths and guitars shifting over one another as the upper register synth melody brings a sense of calm and serenity that is the opposite of the drama of the shifting cosmic layers. A deep sounding bass rhythm signals the end of the layeres as the peice opens up in a shining light of synth melodies, slowly flowing rhythms and mulit-layered synth/textural guitar backdrops, a simple but amazingly effective synth melody rising over it all to provide a gorgeous central focus. Gradually, the track evolves once more, changing shape to give this slowly insistent synth rhythm, gliding synth melodies and beautifully understated guitar, all of which takes your heart and soul to the reaches of the universe to extra special effect. Again, always moving, never standing still, it possesses a charm and strength that is totally spellbinding and utterly captivating, as the multitudinous layers and depths weave their magic. The seven and a half minute "Black Point" is a mix of cosmic darkness, seething space synths and soaring electronic backdrops, melody and rhythm hinted at, but never actually reached, as the gorgeously cosmic Germanic pool of sound and gorgeous textures slowly build into this fantastic track that becomes somthing like a parallel-universe answer to Cosmic Jokers. Again at over seven minutes, "(Shadow Of) A Broken Mirror" returns us back into drama, this time one supercharged pice that revolves around solid driving rhythms from synths, sequencers and electro-percussives as the fierce melodies come from the synths and guitars, suitably treated so that it's often hard to tell which is which. Above this, yet another sublime synth melody line raises its wondrous head as the piece provides echoes of live Wavestar-styled layers, only here there is so much going on in the mix, it will take you several plays just to take it all in. This huge-sounding mass of strong, multi-layered electronics and guitars moves unstoppably along as its strength sits so easily alongsaide its beauty, the melodies and layers that rise from the mix proving to be completely hypnotic as it all builds and builds to adrenaline-rising degree, leaving you almost drained by the time you've finished listening to the remarkable musical expanse and ever shifting layers, textures, rhythms and melodies. The CD ends on a near nine minute, 2006 version, of "Magiscule Beach" featuring Electra on wordless vocals as her amazing voice rises from the mix like an angel to provide an extra "instrument" to complement the slowly shifting river of synths, guitars and electro-percussives playing all around and below this extraordinary and absolutely captivating vocal performance, the piece taking on more of an "Eastern" flavour to it as it strides effortlessly forward and sounding altogether diferent yet every bit as jaw-dropping as the earlier version.
So, taken as a whole, over 100 minutes of timeless, amazing and quality electronic and electric music that is absolutely essential listening for any fan of UK synth music and most fans of European sounding synth music in general - and, amazingly, the best is still to come!! Stunning, and then some!!