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Tote Winkel (43:46) may propose something of a new beginning for fans of Spacemusic. Taking flight on the feathers of the Phoenix, Stephan Otten & Oliver Klemm collaborate on this release under the name Sankt Otten. The overtly German duo propels the genre onward with talent, technology, personality and a respect for the intelligence of the listener. Their vertical journey emits a tight, polished energy on well-crafted climbing chords and refined arrangements. Artfully activated above arpeggios of dancing notes, the striving forms echo and swirl together in a sound ever so synthetic and synchronized. As sequencer patterns motor through imaginative progressions, lead lines flash and flare. The more upbeat tracks tend toward density, giving rise to a palpable sense of propulsion. With dashing drums and skirling synths powering our ride outward, every resolution points to a finer future ahead. While such urgency animates Tote Winkel quite well, further in it is the light textures and fleet tempos that better explore ideas of proportion and scale - offering a dreamland where electronic emanations enchant as much as they inform. Like the prayers of the parents this album's seven songs of uplift are tempered by darker themes of struggle - and played with a creative verve felt fully throughout this resounding monument to the imagination.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 17 July 2025 |
