Now Is A Timeless Present (Outtakes, Demos & Fragments)

Ulrich Schnauss’s career retrospective collected his five solo artist albums together, remastered and with extensive reworking of the two most recent, but it was the inclusion of 18 outtakes, demos, cover versions and fragments, 14 of which had never been released before, which was of most interest to fans. 

Highlights included a gorgeously glitchy triptych Attraktor 1, 2 and 3, which saw Schnauss at his most spacey, with hints of Detroit techno futurism in its elegant pads and delicate introspection. Shine is at the other end of the Schnauss musical spectrum, its spangly guitar lines and drifty soporific vocals exemplifying his shoegaze/indie mode, and he also managed to locate the euphoric in his suitably atmospheric cover of Scott Walker’s It’s Raining Today. The five solo albums are impressive when grouped together, while the unreleased tracks are of a high enough quality that feel like a rediscovered complete Ulrich Schnauss album.