Both "Episodes" cds are remasters of two oldies from 1994 by Guido Meyer from Germany. His latest release, "Towards The Blue Horizont", was awarded 4,5 stars by me so I was very curious about these discs. They do not disappoint although they are not as good as "Horizon".
Clearly, "Episode 1 & 2" are earlier works and here Meyer is still searching to add variety to his style. Most tracks are rather monotonous without too many alternations. This in itself evokes a pleasant drone-like effect but each of these tracks is in danger of becoming too drawn-out to maintain its grasp on the listener’s attention. This typical EM music from the late eighties and early nineties is slightly reminiscent of Peru in their "poppier" guise, which is not a bad comparison in itself.
If you liked the last cd by our friend Guido it should be worth your while to listen to these two discs, and I especially recommend part 2 because it contains somewhat stronger compositions.
André de Waal / SonicImmersion.org
German musician (now living in Switzerland) with a rhythmic / melodic style. Guido Meyer was born in 1971 in Worms and started to play guitar at the age of seven. The first demo tape called simply "Guido Meyer" was released in 1987. By the early 90's, he had developed an interest in keyboards and MIDI technology. The first proper release (after three demo tapes and some unreleased works) was Episodes 1, in 1994. It features a set of melodic, rhythmic synthesizer tracks with heavy electronic drums (Simmonds-like) and nice programming.
The first track, "Epedic", is very represetative of his style, featuring nice melodic lines, electronic rhythms and sequenced piano notes. I think this would sound great while driving. The music is in the EM style typical of the late 80's and early 90's. Anyone into late 80's Tangerine Dream (circa Tyger) should like this.
"Emotion - E" continues in this direction - once again we hear sequenced piano notes, heavy laid-back electronic rhythms and great melodies. Pure 80's! Great for those who like it straight, rhythmic and melodic. Once again I have to remind that if you're into TD circa 1987 - this should be exactly to your liking.
"Mosquito" is more chunky, upbeat and features a theme that could be a great soundtrack to a detective story, for instance.
"Contact" features sustained tones, around which the track gradually builds, adding sounds on top of that base and settling into a groove, with nice symphonic solos appearing a bit later.
"Cold-Romance" features an upfront bassline, that keeps repeating, serving as the base for this exciting upbeat track. The Simmonds-like electronic drums are very prominent here.
"Mute" closes the album on a relaxed note. Nice resonating sequenced bass is a special extra that really makes the track work for me.
This album will sure appeal to fans of melodic rhythmic EM compositions.
Artemi Pugachov / Encyclopedia of Electronic Music