Beyond The Valley
Beyond the Valley, the new album by Anja Schneider, offers listeners a new and creative approach to dance music with an outside-of-the-box approach, and an underlying theme to the tracks.
Schneider presents the concept of the album as an escape into a mythic world where the rules no longer apply, and with track titles like "Safari," "Beyond the Valley," "Get Away," and "Little Red Riding Hood," a case can definitely be made. But as I listened to the album, after having the magical journey idea in my head, I was let down.
It was a very ambitious attempt by Schneider to try and create "Beyond the Valley" as a concept album, but the music is phenomenal without a flimsy attempt to string the tracks together. I may be making a big deal out of a non-issue since the average listener will pick up the CD give it a listen without investing further thought to the process, but since the album is being promoted as a concept album, it will have a hard time living up to expectations.
Combining Dub, House, and Techno in a minimalist approach is made to seem effortless in this album. Reverb graces nearly every track with superb results. No attempts are made to bombard the listener with 1000bpm, or head pounding bass, giving way to more melodic mixes that I can’t imagine any spaced-out Raver spinning glow-sticks to (if people still do that). The tracks carry you on a tranquil wave of pleasantries, without cliché or angst. To give credit to the magical escapism theme invented by Schneider, if people were to close their eyes and listen to this album, they could surely transport themselves to some magical Zen reality with a little imagination. It could be a mini-vacation since the album plays for over an hour, something else that I credit Schneider for doing. She is definitely not afraid to put work into her music, and "Beyond the Valley" is an awesome addition to music, carving out its own path.
by Anja Schneider
