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Reviews

Frank van Bogaert — Docking
(Groove Unlimited GR-043, 2000, CD)

by Mike McLatchey, Published 2001-03-01

Docking Cover art

Van Bogaert’s electronic leanings remind me a lot of 70s Vangelis and more symphonic-oriented electronic music like Tomita or some Kitaro. Throughout the 11 tracks on the CD, there is a tendency toward the orchestrated, bombastic and sweetly melodic. Whether the style is a TD-like, sequencer-led piece or one fronted by a much more prominent beat rhythm, the accent is usually on a grandiose soundtrack-like thematic movement. Examples of this are “Churches,” which fades in slowly with warm synth patches, develops a sequencer rhythm and line, and then starts its thematic development with a church organ patch, and “Hymn,” which evinces an extremely romantic flair that often dominates Van Bogaert’s music. Van Bogaert’s strengths are definitely in his playing, as can be seen on the fluent piano in “Beauty” and “Epilogue,” and his melodies are developed and well-played. Yet only those with the taste for the sweet will be able to absorb more than a minimum quantity of this constantly dramatic music. Tracks like “Guitars” and “Landfall,” with their boppy dance rhythms are just well outside my tastes.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 21, 2000 releases

Related artist(s): Frank van Bogaert

 

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