My review of "No Sleep 'Til Wilmersdorf" CD by ['ramp]

[richardgurtler]

['ramp] "No Sleep 'Til Wilmersdorf" CD

It took me almost ages before Stephen Parsick aka ['ramp] landed on my radars and as I already have mentioned somewhere, I still feel really ashamed of this mistake. Fortunately, since summer 2017 I stay deeply focused on this German virtuoso of profoundly nebulous and vigorously sequenced insignias. The end of August 2017 also marked a big return of ['ramp] with "Synchronize Or Die" CD, after 5 years of silence. Its follow-up "No Sleep 'Til Wilmersdorf" is out since May 2018 in a limited edition of 222 copies on Stephen's Doombient Music label.

The album is a journey back to the childhood days in the late 1970s, when Stephen Parsick lived in Wilmersdorf with his parents, at that time a village near Berlin. These memories are precisely displayed also by a 12-page front insert (designed by Bernhard Wöstheinrich). 11-plus minutes long "Compact Phasing A" unlocks this strikingly attractive ride with intensely evocative arrangements, languidly meandering and introspectively narrating. Beauty! "No Sleep 'Til Wilmersdorf", the title composition clocking to nearly 17-minute mark, swiftly shifts into hauntingly elevated sequencer realms, where persistently pulsing signatures commingle with sinuously reflective traces. Soulfully kicking Berlin School reminiscences at its most hypnotic!!! The next piece, "Clouds Should Say", as indicated by its title, moves into serenely floating spheres persistently permeated by remotely ambiguous meridians and intangibly glimmering traceries. 8-minute "Haunted Hills" quickly returns to vividly textured sonic blissfulness, propelled by mesmerizingly sparkling sequences bridged with picturesquely evocative cascades. Perpetually oscillating and euphoniously magnificent performance showcasing ['ramp] at the very top of his musicianship!!! Bravo, Stephen, this is a Hall of Fame composition!!! "Salomon's Road" attracts with its joyful scenario, where pulsing vintage glitters relentlessly juxtapose with euphorically traversing storytelling. Another strikingly melodious masterpiece! "Oedipus" directly dives into enigmatically subterranean domains and nearly 11 minutes long "Orphelia" safely keeps venturing through these terrains, although reinforced by resistantly curlicue helixes. "The Last One To Leave Is To Turn Off The Lights" closes the album in gorgeously serene solitude.

76-minute "No Sleep 'Til Wilmersdorf" needs to be explored and celebrated for its outstanding artistry, where a lush array of retro Berlin-School ingredients and sinuously darker time-lapses ignite an all-inclusive ride driven by unmistakably earmarking arrangements of its solitary spirit. A headphone listening is highly recommended for a fully rewarding sonic pleasure!!! "No Sleep 'Til Wilmersdorf" album ranks among many of my fave ['ramp]'s and Stephen Parsick's gems including "Oughtibridge", "Return", "Ceasing To Exist" (with Markus Reuter), "Synchronize Or Die", "Cambrium: Music For Protozoa" or "Hoellenengel" for example. Big applaud for ['ramp]!!!

Richard Gürtler (Aug 29, 2019, Bratislava, Slovakia)