Sven Vath, Title: the harlequin- the robot and the ballet-dancer Label: Warner

Different kinds of techno here, some ambient, some more danceable, often with some definite jungle influence. There are a few good tracks here, though it all has a problem with a creeping Windham Hill sound.

The whole CD by the way does not get anywhere near telling a story or acting as a soundtrack, as the packaging might suggest. There's also nothing to be gained from listening to it straight through, as the "author" suggests. -- Joe B. (the Voice of Doom)

1 5:04 intro - nice collection of drones and random sounds and traces of meoldies in the background, with a deep funny Mr. Troll kind of voice in a few places (reciting the title).

2 9:12 harlequin plays bells - slow techno (114 BPM). Decent, slight cheese factor though.

3 9:57 harlequin-the beauty and the beast - Beat 123 BPM, though it seems faster because of some complicated (almost tuba like) stuff around the beat. Sparse, with echoy flutey stuff. Cool.

4 12:44 harlequin's meditation - quiet, spacey, beatless intro, gradually fills in with a slow, major chord piece, kind of like Jarre discovers Shangri-La.

5 10:04 the birth of robby - sparse for over a minute, random noises with ocassional swelling music, then a complicated jungle-type beat starts and stops before it takes over completely.

6 7:43 robot - kind of cheesy electronicy (robot, get it?) sounding piece. 144 BPM.

7 0:50 ballet-romance - slow movie sounding orchestral piece, not bad for what it is.

8 9:11 ballet-fusion - strings and piano, doing a contemplative quasi-classical riff. Several minutes in a really fast beat kicks in (252 BPM?) and later a heavy 4-4 beat at 132 BPM comes in over it. Returns to the quasi-classical by the end.

9 8:03 ballet-dancer - contemplative piano with and a distant howling sound (violin?). Fills in with some lush technoy sounds. Beatless. Not bad, though a little too Windham Hill.