Robert Schroeder - Velocity (2017)

Electronic composer Robert Schroeder was born in Aachen, Germany, on May 20, 1955. After receiving his first guitar at age 13, he began exploring experimental sounds and techniques, eventually giving up playing in 1970 to completely immerse himself in electronics and engineering. After high school Schroeder worked in researching and developing electronic instruments, in his off hours honing his own synthesizer sound; in 1978 he signed to Klaus Schulze's IC label, and a year later released his debut album, Harmonic Ascendant. The aptly titled Floating Music followed in 1980, and with 1981's Mosaique, Schroeder began combining electronics with live instrumentation; the follow-up, Galaxie Cygnus A, was created in conjunction with a multimedia presentation. In 1982 Pegasus was released without Schroeder's consent; his next official release was 1983's Paradise. After returning a year later with Computer Voice, in 1985 he issued his soundtrack to the 3D film Brain Voyager. After releasing 1986's Universal Ave. as one half of the duo Double Fantasy with Charly McLion, Schroeder returned to his solo career to issue Time Waves, his most acclaimed effort to date. With 1991's Hamaja, he formed his own label, NEWSmusic; subsequent releases included 1993's Mindwalk and 1994's Everdreams. After going on hiatus until the mid-2000s, Schroeder resumed his musical explorations and released a number of albums on the Spheric label, including 2006's Brainchips and 2007's Sphereware. ~ Jason Ankeny.