XCELSIOR

Barramundi BAR 6204
1994
CD

Tracklist:
1. Green 5.50
2. Xcelsior 5.15
3. Birdforest 8.20
4. Schwitters 4.25
5. Duchamp 5.55
6. Gegenschein 8.45
7. Celcius pt 1 & 2 7.25
8. People at the Well 6.30
9. M 104 7.50
10. Set the Controls 7.30

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The debut album from the Autumn 1994. Many people regard this to be the most sophisticated Nemesis album of them all.That is quite possible, because the material here is more strictly composed and programmed than on the subsquent releases. But there is still quite a few improvisatory moments, nevertheless…like ”Celcius” and ”Gegenschein”. The material was recorded mainly during 1994, but a few tracks were one or two years older. ”People at the Well” and ”M 104” were the tracks that survived in the set-lists for a longer time. The album concludes with a cover version of ”Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun” – the Pink Floyd classic. It’s inclusion was more or less the idea of the record company, but the version is nevertheless rather interesting.

At the time of its release this was the first synth music album by a finnish band to be released outside Finland. …and inside Finland, the releases had been only mariginally more frequent. Despite its pioneering role, the album got somewhat mixed reviews: the techno scene found it too eclectic, but ambient fans liked it very much…even though there was rather rhytmic stuff as well on the album. Nowaydays, the album sounds very good in its varied moods and thanks to its delicate soundscapes. If the band had relied only on repetitive techno grooves and simple loop-motifs (as many fashionable people at the time thought they should have done), ”Xcelsior” album would sound terribly 90´s today. Luckily, this is not the case.

The album has unfortunately been out-of-print since the late 90s, so the original album (with the great artwork by Jonni Kuutsa) is a real collectors item today.