Ulrich Schnauss

When Berlin bedroom producer Ulrich Schnauss’s 2003 sophomore album A Strangely Isolated Place got the reissue treatment by Domino last year, electronic-lovin’ ears perked up all over the world to be soothed by this man’s endearing mixture of shoegazing swathes, beautifully simple uplifting beats and ethereal melodies. Back to front, the album is a masterpiece, so why not go and reissue Schnauss’s 2001 debut and show people where all this genius grew from? Fans of Strangely Isolated will lap up the fluid and similar Far Away Trains Passing By. Though not as consistently and completely mesmerising as his sophomore hit, Far Away Trains is still on the same track and calmly exhibits Schnauss’s knack for building up and crafting a catchy instrumental. "Molfsee” gives a clear indicator as to Schnauss’s inspiration with its lovingly blatant similarity to Boards of Canada, and outstanding tracks like "Nobody’s Home” and "Blumenwiese Neben Autobahn” are the blueprints for the creative developments that followed. The album-length bonus disc of unreleased material included here makes this reissue even more worth picking up and relishing in.