Calaboose Islands By Mike Hans STEFFL

 

Calaboose Islands

By

Mike Hans STEFFL

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

I always appreciate the music of other electronic musicians; it always pleases me to hear their creations and then draw inspiration from it. Here Mike Hans STEFFL has produced one of the most exciting and certainly most moody albums, with the release of his latest work entitled Calaboose Islands.

The perfect prison was, and I imagine still is, a concept that a judiciary system seeks to purvey to its populace, taking the criminals out to a far flung region and leaving them there, almost like a nature version of the French oubliette. Here the artists paints an interesting musical juxtaposition of the then and now, incarceration and natures reclamation of land over time.

This is a superb electronic music album, filled with mood, thoughtful textures and exciting symbioses, from the ever so mournful opening piece entitled Makronisos, a track with a heartfelt refrain and a deep moving arrangement to pieces like Asinara, the longest piece on the release, and is a dark pervading tones of a mysterious and introspective nature. Mike Hans STEFFL produces a crafted intelligence on synths and keyboards that offers up a duality for us to explore through his music.

This wonderful 7 track collection of shadowy works is a sublime collection of electronic genius, the artist even raises the energy and rhythms on tracks like Con Dao, which then swirls into incredible levels of musical uncertainty, this is truly quality material, if you are a fan of artists like Thom Brennan or Steve Roach, then you are going to adore this great album.

There is nothing to dislike on Calaboose Islands, it’s an electronic music fans Narnia, and while the long form opus of Pianosa drifts on the four winds of yesteryear, the ever inexplicable and deeply perplexing halls of Alcatraz conclude our custodial voyage, with a vibrant powerful and imposing slice of electronic wizardry.

Calaboose Islands by Mike Hans STEFFL is a fine example of top quality electronic music, the keyboard and synth skills are sublime, the creativity and artistry doubly so, the musician also has a wonderfully pronounced imaginative flair, thus opening up the genre of electronic music with a berlin style, to become more accessible to all.  Calaboose Islands by Mike Hans STEFFL has been one of the most enjoyable electronic music albums I have listened to this year; I see big things on the charts for this most profound of albums.