Wechsel Garland is Jorg Follert, the artist formerly known as Wunder.
Through his previous incarnation he already has a reputation for sculpting haunting, sample-free soundscapes, and on this self titled album he manages once again to create a work of quite stunning beauty.
Originally the music enclosed on the album was composed for German choreographer Gabrielle Staiger, which helps explain the subtly ryhthmic nature of tracks like 'Falter', which is repetitive synth hum and slow tribalistic drums until the beats eventually recede to make way for more synth melodies and other-worldly electronics which zip past like shooting stars on the horizon.
The album doesn't merely stick to one moodcape of course; there are also tracks like 'Komm', which takes a short, ethereal vocal sample and repeats it over more emotive moodscapes that although simple, still hold a watery depth.
Speaking of water, the introductory harp plucks of 'Der Vorwand' are reminiscent of a dripping tap and lead us into more sparse but beguiling arrangements. 'Grosse Erwartungen' takes a similarly spacious approach, somehow keeping each instrument violin, piano, double bass - in their independent spheres instead of mixing them together as one.
'Staub im Licht' is a more classically arranged track which sweeps high and low with flutes, Hammond and melotrone while 'Wicklicher' and 'Ohne Strern' take a balladic approach - though naturally, with some twists involved. The latter exists as a minimalistic vocal refrain where repetitive bass and
secret saxaphone creep through.
By the end, it's difficult not to be wholly enraptured by Garland's naturally rhythmic and dream-like universe where somnambulists can relive childhood lullabies and where the outer cosmos is capable of playing out gently fantastical scenery to those who want to see it.
