3.5

Release data:

Konrad Kucz – Railroad Paths
CD, Generator.pl, 2008

“Railroad Paths” contains lots of beautifully rendered vintage sounds and choir textures, fx’s and sequences, which almost immediately made my mind wander back to the great analogue days of the late ‘70s.

The music is split in five “paths”, which creates a great moody atmosphere, featuring some very nice mellotron strings.
After the tasty 10-minute introductory track, “Path 3” starts off with heavy sequencing, later shifting to a rhythmic piece with some nice vocoder vocals, while “Path 4” features some great Berliner School sequencing with Schulzian ‘70s soloing on top as the trains pass by on the background. The ending of the piece with mellotron strings evokes a strong sense of nostalgia.
The final “Path 5” sounds a bit more disturbing between the lofty textures and mellotron flute melodies, while the metallic sounds bring Kraftwerk’s “Trans Europa Express” to mind.

As a bonus, the four minute Kraftwerkian “Robotic Missions” is a dynamic, poppy track with vocoder vocals, but a bit out of place here in my opinion.

All in all, “Railroad Paths” is a well composed, produced and mastered album keenly fusing vintage sounds with contemporary techniques.
Nicely done, Konrad!

Website: www.kucz.net