Discolor - "III"
(Mizmaze/Lizard 2001, CD 0021)
Discolor - "III"
(Mizmaze/Lizard 2001, CD 0021)
From Aural Innovations #18 (January 2002)
Discolor is a guy from Nuremberg who goes by the name of Stefan Lienemann and he is also known as Limo in certain circles. He has released over twenty albums of psychedelia under different guises since 1986; most of these were released under the name of The Shiney Gnomes and Fat & Limo. This is the third Discolor release to date and it is an eleven track epic lasting over sixty minutes. On it Stefan plays Guitars - Bass - Sitar - Keyboards - Drums and Vocals. Harald Strecker - Micromoog, Lotsi Lapislazul -Vocals and The Nereide Neith Trio - Strings, also join him on this CD.
The music is quite mellow for most of the album and it is packed with interesting atmospheres that bring forward an almost hippie feel to them. There is a lot of effected Vocals and soothing string arrangements on here. The effected Vocal can be likened to those on the song 'Rosemary' from the Grateful Deads 1969 album Aoxomoa. They conjure up a similar feel whilst the music is a total opposite in reflection. Yet there are similarities in places, possibly parts of the more acoustic pieces. 'Sparkle Plenty' is a one of these pieces that I refer to. In nature it is not that far removed from certain Grateful Dead mellow acoustic moments. Discolor's Synth work is layered well over the top to make for more interesting listening. The feel & flow envelops a unique style. This style is also prominent on 'Sirius', a 10.00 minute totally instrumental piece and possibly my favourite because it has a feel that reminded me of the acoustic guitar piece in the middle of 'Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast' from Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother. 'Solar Bird Fly' is an interesting piece that offers other things, mostly out of it Synths with what sounds like a Cello drone behind obscure piano notes. It makes for a 7.49 minute interlude that moves on one plane whilst expressing another.
I found the whole album was filled with similar sounding tracks that were very relaxing and mellow. They flow in a very stoned vibe and I found the CD was a surprise in places. There are certain elements of different styles on this CD as the Sitar and Acoustic Guitars have their moments to shine as well as the Strings and not forgetting the spacey atmosphere conjured up by good Synth work.
There is a nice selection of songs, all are mellow and not all are acoustic in nature. A friend of mine said they sound like Spiritulized but I couldn't say. I thought that they have a sort of ambient sound that produced similar stuff to Transonic, but with a difference. So if you like relaxing compositions done with a professional approach and great production, then this CD is for you. I would like to hear the other two. Although not all tracks on this album struck a chord in me I must say a lot did.
For more information you can email Mizmaze at: Mizmaze@tiscalinet.it.
Contact via snail mail c/o Mizmaze; Via F. Villa 6; 20134 Milano; Italy.
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Reviewed by Albert Pollard