Imagination - Pictues - Music
(2001, invisible shadows, ISCD 010111)

El Cordero Sinfónico - Fanzine de Rock Progresivo

Foreign Spaces

Successors of the tradition of the electronic music of Germany.

[Native speaker should read the text in spanish]

The style incarnated by Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze or Popol Vuh in the seventies finally has a succesor in its own country.

The story about Foreign Spaces started in Germany in the year 1979 as the singer Georg Reiter found an old analog Crumar synthesizer in the studio of his band. Extremely exicted while working with the rediscovered instrument he took the opportunity to change from vocals to keys.

In 1980, joined by Felix Kühnel, the owner of the Crumar synthesizer, Georg Reiter started to explore the world of electronic music. Shortly afterwards Thomas Geldhauser (organ, synths), Werner Kolb (synths) and the mainstay Reiter (synths) formed up to a band. The name was Foreign Spaces.

During this first period the band was completed by a new member: Serge Dowe (keyboards, vocals). At the end of 1983 they recorded in a studio  among other titles "Spherical Dream", a 10 minutes piece of music that was broadcasted on the radio. Due to disagreements in the band the release of an LP was depraved.

Abandoned by two members Reiter and Geldhauser completed Foreign Spaces with Eduard Eck (guitar and vocals) and Christian Obermayer (keyboards). This new formation had also musical differences and so until 1986 the original duo continued to produce extensive music, that is characteristic for Foreign Spaces to date.

From 1986 on Reiter was participated by Alexander Mamach (guitar) and later by Stefan Ambs (guitar, bass, synths) and Marcus Stahuber (synths). During this time music was composed for theatres, art exhibitions, soundtracks and promotion videos for companies. This period ended in 1990 without any release even on CD.

In 1994 Reiter decided to continue with Foreign Spaces and was joined by Christian Feher (synths). In this formation a CD called "Ufo Breakfast" appeared in 1995, which received a lot of commendable reviews in Germany.
This initial is a series of songs in the tradional german electronic music style of that time. The logical continuation in 1996 "Being a Creature" included a track of 18:57 minutes named "Nebular Dawn".
This album marked not only the future of the band, but the renewed appearance of the german electronic music in the world and a renaissance of this style. Another album was realized the next year: Dark Star within the parameters of its predecessors.

Reiter and Feher initiated a new period of creativity to produce at last a double CD. But the arriving of a third member, Lothar Lubitz marked a change in the demands on the group. No thought of two discs containing all compositions, but creating a single album with prefered pieces. This ended 2000 with the presentation of "Phaeton", a more conceptual work than its predecessors and including the art work and coproduction of Lubitz. This concept album is based on the existence of a tenth planet in our solar system called Phaeton and his history, spherical architecture and moonless appearance. Science Fiction always accompanied electronic music albums like 'Cyborg' by Schulze or 'Blade Runner' by Vangelis.

The latest CD of Foreign Spaces called "Imagination-Pictures-Music" is a collection of tracks, recorded between 1985 and 1989. As Georg Reiter declared, the contribution of Lubitz will be more as than producing and designing on the next album.

We will wait with pleasure for the continuation of  "Phaeton" created by these successors of the tradition of the electronic music of Germany

(Pascale and Egmont, Oktober 2001)
(Translation by Rey, September 2001, completed by Lothar Lubitz, April 2002)