Ulrich Schnauss

Taken at face value, the music on Ulrich Schnauss' A Strangely Isolated Place should be the schlockiest stuff imaginable. Every track is a blissed-out sugar rush of warm, sticky synths poured over melodies so delicate and pretty they wouldn't be out of place on a John Tesh record. But for the most part, Schnauss sidesteps the cheese. Like a good romance novelist, he serves up emotionally satisfying payoffs without ever resorting to cheap sentimentality or cliche. The resulting collection of eight ethereal instrumentals may be the year's most warm-hearted electronica album.

Much of A Strangely Isolated Place is roll-a-joint-and-lie-on-the-floor stuff, but at its best and brightest, Schnauss' music is almost triumphant, the sort of stuff they play over the closing credits of feel-good coming-of-age flicks. "A Letter From Home" and "Clear Day" soar angelically over jaunty breakbeats; "On My Own" chugs along with the giddily hypnotic fervor of a lost New Order track. Other current electronica acts like Lemon Jelly and Bent have made similar forays into this kind of postmodern bliss-pop, but where their music is pretty in a self-conscious, flirtatious kind of way, Schnauss achieves an unlikely purity and beauty in the sleek simplicity of his compositions.

Two years ago I would have said this stuff is way too precious to catch on, but with uplifting trance making a comeback in clubland and The Polyphonic Spree leading indie kids down the path of light, Ulrich Schnauss may be making the right sounds at the right time. - Andy Hermann

Ulrich Schnauss' second record for City Centre Offices moves away from the early-'90s U.K. techno touches of Far Away Trains Passing By in order to zero in on another early-'90s U.K. phenomenon. Though it was plain to hear in the debut that Schnauss had an affinity for the likes of Chapterhouse and Slowdive, it didn't become the crux of his sound until his version of the latter's "Crazy for You," from Morr Music's 2002 Blue Skied an' Clear compilation. Schnauss' version of the song was so dead-on that it could've been released -- without any suspicion -- as a Chapterhouse remix of the original. Though it's just as reliant on the past, A Strangely Isolated Place is an even stronger record than the debut, with a wider range of moods, improved beat programming, unobtrusive vocals, and an overall effect that is less inhibited. "On My Own" could've been the most blissed-out and forward-looking song released on Too Pure in 1992, with a steady Neu!-like rhythmic thrust and sun-bleached guitars shooting equal amounts of blurry rays and fuzzy shards. "Clear Day" is another track that could double as a Chapterhouse remix of Slowdive, only with an outtake from the first singles sped up significantly and bolstered with an energetic hip-hop beat that comes close to being lost in a dense swirl of effects. Admittedly, Schnauss might still be a little too sweet and amiable for most "serious" electronic music followers. That's clearly their loss. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide