Zauberberg - Gas (1997)

I think my first exposure to Wolfgang Voigt and his trance-inducing brand of ambient techno was a couple years after this on Pop, a record that you’ll find on a lot of “best ambient albums of all time” sort of lists.

This one is probably lesser known but not because it isn’t great. It’s a little darker, though it doesn’t start or really end that way.

The opener and the closer (1 and 7; they’re just numbered) are crystal clear synth exercises that plumb the depths of what your speakers can recreate. There’s no distraction, no urgency. It’s just a beautiful prelude and postlude. The voices of the synths are organic and pleasant, and the territory feels clear and calm if not sunny.

In between is where you hear the substance of the record.

The music here is more claustrophobic, with the heartbeat pulse of a kick drum underscoring nearly all of it but without resolving into any kind of rhythmic figure.

There are several layers of synthy voices on the higher end. They never quite coalesce into a melody, but they do make the tracks ebb and flow. Additionally, these middle tracks all have a crackle over the top of them, making it sound like an old LP that’s been played too many times. It’s yet another way to slightly remove you, to keep you feeling the weight of all electronic layers. I’m sure it’s by design but I’m less sure that I like.

Then you get through and you’re rewarded with another bath of pure bliss at the end, a string-sounding lento that eases you back into the real world.