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Innovative art rock from young German composer Dagmar (41) Klein. *** REVIEWS *** Discovery Of The Week on DELIRE MUSICAL (Canada), hitting their Progressive Chart at #1. I am young. Yep, I was not part of that generation which lived its musical awakening in the golden age of the 1970's. Therefore, I did not follow the heroes of my teens from one album to the next, but through what I came across in the used LPs bins. I would have given anything to be born in the late fifties and be able to discover Peter Hammill around Van der Graaf Generator's H to He Who Am the Only One and then following him record after record for thirty years (and counting!), growing old with him. Today, I am very happy. I have discovered Dagmar 41. She's 26 years old, just like me. We will be growing old together, her releasing many records as touching as Ivyation, me listening to them. Dagmar 41 (born Dagmar Klein, the 41 coming from Jethro Tull's tune Dharma for One) is a young and very charming German lady known to Peter Hammill fans for her contributions to the ph7 mailing list. She is also a writer / composer /singer. After a few home-made cassette releases, she recorded Ferric in 1998, a self-produced CD-R that, even though it lacked a lot in production, did show a strength in writing that was out of the ordinary. Finally, Ivyation, her first legitimate (as in on a record label) release, shows all that she is capable of. And that's a lot. The major influence at work here is Peter Hammill and she won't deny it either. Ivyation has been recorded with the help of Stuart Gordon (Hammill's violinist for over 10 years) who also plays on a couple of tracks. Other comparisons draw links to Tori Amos and Kate Bush, but Dagmar has an identity of her own : complex, rich, deep. She blends pop, progressive and avant-garde to create songs of strange beauty that will make you laugh and cry. If that reminds you of someone, you're right : Dagmar has the intensity, the emotion and the creativity of Peter Hammill. But she is not Hammill, or another Hammill. She is Dagmar. And she is wonderful. Need I say more? I could comment each of twelve songs found on this record. How Swim bears a striking beauty only the Kate Bush's strangest songs had (on her fantastic The Dreaming); how The Admiral Is Seeing Archangels, within six minutes, develops like an epic work; how Life Without Men & Axioms sounds like the Imperial Zeppelin Hammill meeting Kurt Weil with a oh-so-cheesylee-great guitar in the background; how Ivyation is made of multiple tracks of vocal improvisations creating a striking avant-gardist maelstrom (remember Hammill's Mediaevil?); how Ten Nine Eight moves me every time I hear it (what a mood this song has!), etc. An important moment in history just occured : the birth of an artist who, I am convinced, will be surprising and moving us for years to come. You should fall under her spell right now. Then, you will be able to tell your children that you were there from the start... and they will be wishing they had... © 2000 François Couture, Delire Musical. DAGMAR WEB SITE back to band list Price: £3 # 062(CD30) |
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A New Day Records 75 Wren Way Farnborough Hants GU14 8TA |