Record Reviews

MARKUS REUTER / OCULUS ~ NOTHING IS SACRED MOONJUNE 105 (Barcode: 692287910525) ~ GERMANY ~ Avant-Garde Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 2019 Released: 2020 This is an album by German touch guitarist / composer Markus ReuterFind albums by this artist, recorded with a group of musicians associated with the MoonJuneFind albums on this label label and the producer Leonardo PavkovicFind albums by this artist as well as his cohorts from other projects like Stick MenFind albums by this artist: Israeli drummer Asaf SirkisFind albums by this artist, Italian bassist Fabio TrentiniFind albums by this artist, British violinist David CrossFind albums by this artist and guitarist Mark WingfieldFind albums by this artist and American Ambient composer / keyboardist Robert RichFind albums by this artist, collectively known as OculusFind albums by this artist. The music was recorded at the usual "crime location", i.e. Spanish studio La Casa Murada, by Reuter, Sirkis, Trentini and Cross and later overdubbed by Wingfield and Rich. The album presents five extended pieces, all more than ten minutes in duration, which are not credited and assumed to be co-credited to the participating musicians. The music, although mostly improvised, is based on strictly pre-designed structures created by Reuter, which the musicians had to follow in order to create a coherent development of the music. However, for the listener the music offers a flux, which can be individually interpreted, and the listener´s perception is in fact a crucial ingredient in the music itself. Ambient vistas, supported by leading bass lines and rhythmic structures created by the drums take the listener on a journey, which can only be enjoyed under a total submission to the music, without involving intellectual analytic processes. The music manages successfully to avoid genre limitations and attempts to be categorized. Each listener can find whatever he sees fit in this music, from Avant-Garde electronic music, via Improvised Jazz and Rock Music or Fusion and Progressive Rock. It is an excellent example of contemporary music, which basically ridicules genre classification, which music criticism suffers from constantly, and proposes an opportunity to accept it for what it is: simply music. Of course there are plenty of superb individual statements by all the participants, and again each listener will probably enjoy certain aspects of the music that others might overlook, but this is exactly the point. Like all great Art, music is completely individual (not subjective, as is often wrongly stated). The beauty of Humanity is all in our individualism, which makes us what we really are, of which the perception of music is just one facet. This music, as I have repeatedly stated, comes with a price tag ;) It is not for a casual listener nor can it be enjoyed without a considerable emotional effort, which if often way too much to ask from people these days. Oh well, c´est la vie!

Updated: 24/09/2020Posted: 24/09/2020

CD 1 Mini-Sleeve Recommend To A Friend