jeffrey koepper: Press

Jeffrey Koepper is no newcomer to the business having been releasing material since 1985 in various groups and collaborations. This CD fulfils his aim to create a contemporary development employing vintage equipment. Those appreciating classic equipment will appreciate the use of "instruments by Oberheim, Arp, Sequential Circuits, Moog, PPG, Emu, Roland". Tangerine Dream fans will note familiar elements to this music, yet Steve Roach listeners will also find hints of modern ambient influence. Indeed Steve Roach is credited not only with mastering and 'enhancements', but he also contributed to the content of a number of pieces.

Eight pieces of pure synthesiser music performed on vintage equipment, rooted in the Berlin school aesthetic with an eye on the future. Momentium has a clean sound with emphasis on rippling sequencer patterns and evolving rhythmic arrangements. Variations in intensity, cycle elements, or melodic overlays lead the compositions onward, the interplay of layered sequences introducing a fascinating complexity at times. There are some ambient passages, such as the swirling 'Outside' where smooth pads and harmonious drones dominate, in other places pools of electronic mist and sonic turbulence boil and roll. In general the beats used on most tracks are somewhat underplayed, subtle structures playing second fiddle to rhythmic tone elements, maintaining a spacey elegance that ranges from warm themes into ashen, shadowy mystery.

As strong as Koepper's 2003 debut Etherea was, he raises the bar considerably on his sophomore release Momentium. "Byzantine Machine" features wonderful sequencing and deep pulsing bass, a cross between Tangerine Dream during their early 80s heyday and the early sequencer-based works of Steve Roach like Empetus and Now/Traveler. Melody and movement are balanced harmoniously. "Outside" is filled with far-away dreaminess and warmth. Deep space bleeps and blips are added, along with a softly cascading clicking pattern. "Godspeed 2" moves along playfully with bubbly percussion and bright synths. Each piece develops just so, with perfect pacing and panache. "Sense of Time" is another active piece, and sounds not unlike TD's Thief soundtrack with its chugging rhythms and edgy guitar-like synths. Sequencing is again first rate, looping hypnotically around itself. "Eternal Sea" is just as good if not a shade better, with a great pulsing bass line to drive things along. This is just fantastic classic Berlin school fare, very much like TD circa 1980-1984, but with a flair all its own, not sounding like any particular TD album or track from that period. The last two tracks merge seamlessly together as one gorgeous 20-minute epic of mid-tempo mesmerizing loops. As if all this great music weren't enough, gearheads will drool over the track-by-track listing on the back cover of all the equipment used. Momentium is exceptional from start to finish.
© 2006 Phil Derby / Electroambient Space

Working with museum-grade synthesizers and sequencers brings the realizations of Jeffrey Koepper all the closer to the electrical current at the source of all electronic music. His cache of late model gear operates at the mechanical level today's virtual modeling synthesizers attempt to recapture. Certainly Koepper's diagnostic familiarity with this equipment informs the music on Momentium. An interesting balance between sensibility, technology and technique, this album presents eight pieces which range from fluttering thought tones, to echoing synth pulses, to cerebral powered beatbox. Influence is an invisible shadow cast on this work, as Koepper is ever reverential to both the artists and engineers who pioneered the genre he now navigates within. His endless fascination with the sequencer, a device meant to provide a steady run of predetermined notes, dominates this disc. The interlacing latticework of patterns becomes an animated force carrying reverb laden harmonic figures into the foreground. Koepper's subtle real-time adjustments to timbre and counterpoint provides this work with enough variation to keep it out of the realm of minimalism while referencing this genre's pulsing motorlike motion and incrementally expansive growth. In his music, Koepper is seeking a sense of voyaging. Yet, as in all quality spacemusic endeavors, we do not leave the listening area. Momentium is a stationary adventure meant for the contemplative audience.
- Chuck van Zyl
STAR'S END

On his second CD, Jeffrey Koepper comes up with a disc full of surprises. "Etherea" was one of our favorite debuts a couple years ago, notable for its ability to continually take the listener right up to the threshold, and then to seemingly back off in ways that were extremely effective. With "Momentium," there are still subtleties in the music, but the tempos and rhythms are not part of that aspect, Much more sequencer-driven, dramatic and completely plugged into the electrical current at the source of current electronic music. His cache of late model gear including museum-grade synthesizers
and sequencers operates at the mechanical level today's virtual modeling synthesizers attempt to recapture. Certainly Koepper's diagnostic familiarity with this equipment underscores the tracks on Momentium, which presents eight pieces ranging from fluttering thought tones, to echoing synth pulses, to cerebral powered beatbox. Koepper is ever reverential to both the artists and engineers who pioneered the genre he now navigates. His fascination with the sequencer, a device meant to provide a steady run of predetermined notes, is what dominates this disc. The interlacing patterns become an animated force carrying reverb laden harmonic figures into the foreground. In his music, Koepper is seeking a sense of voyaging, and the ever-building momentum serves this well. Yet, as in all quality spacemusic endeavors, we do not travel so far as to leave the listening area. "Momentium" is a stationary, and momentary adventure which is aimed at and meant for the contemplative
audience that enjoys ambient space music, albeit with more beats than the norm, yet held in a container that does not stretch beyond its own self-imposed definition..
lloyd barde backroads music

If you long for the days of classic TD then MOMENTIUM is for you. Its dense layers
of neo-symphonic sound are accented by crisp sequences that will have your head pulsing in rhythm to the surging riffs. When you are about to fall over dizzy,
the sound then devolves once into the most exotic cerebral tone colors
you can imagine to cool you down.
EUROCK

Momentium is Koepper's new solo release after his debut CD ETHEREA. On this one he amps-up the energy with a flow of pieces created around the sequencer as a tool to give the music momentum. Koepper is a long-time proponent of analog and hardware synths, thus allowing his hands-on approach to become essential in shaping the flow as it occurs. The first track alone is worth the price of admission, calling up the ghosts of Tangerine Dream in their glory days. Warm tones and hypnotic patterns intermix into a fine result throughout the entire set. Steve Roach was integral in the final arrangement, mastering and finishing treatments of MOMENTIUM.

This east coast synthesist uses all vintage analog gear on his latest recording which is a sequencer delight echoing the rhythmic works of tangerine dream, michael hoening, & ashra. highly recommended.
analogue haven

Jeffrey Koepper, Momentium

Analogue devotee Jeffrey Koepper unleashes a storm of classic-style electronica on his new release, Momentium. Unabashedly old-school, the disk revels in the hypnotic chatter of the sequencer, tinted with hand-touched chords, recalling every bit of Tangerine Dream idolatry ever committed to tape. Layer by programmed-synthesizer layer Koepper builds his tracks, like a hurricane picking up force off the coast until, in full-blown landfall, it hits with perfect force and a bank of keyboards are playing off each other’s robotic-perfection rhythms and tones. The disk open with “Byzantine Machine,” where thrumming bass chords accent a lightly Middle Eastern-flavored melody that soon takes urgency from the sequencer and we’re off. “Outside” pairs slowly shifting chords with bits of knob-twiddle nature-imitating sounds. (Woodpecker, anyone?) It’s the quietest of the tracks here, sort of a primer on the possibilities even old analogue systems present. Koepper immediately ups the beat with the short track “Godspeed 2,” which rolls a toe-tapping melody under the sequencer groove. Then it’s into the depths of “Sense of Time,” which enters on a rush of synthesized spacewind that gives way to somber bass tones—the slow buildup to another intense, densely packed ride. Its follow-up, “Eternal Sea,” takes much the same tack, rising up from low tones, adding higher pitches and ever more layers. Something about it, however, something almost indescribable, makes it feel richer and more hypnotic. Easily the best track on the disk. Then it’s back to the lab for the odd, experimental “2600 A.D,” four minutes of pure electronic sound-collage. (Is the “2600” a nod to Atari, Jeffrey?) “Sequential Meditation” returns to the layers-upon-layers motif, but it’s an easier-paced work that doesn’t build to a frenzy. Rather, it just gets thicker and more intimate as it goes along. Momentium closes with the airy bounce of “Awakening,” a potently upbeat track with a slight Asian flair. Admittedly, there’s a degree of sameness of Koepper’s work—sequencer runs don’t vary all that much in the first place—but his work with the old gear is masterful, and his commitment to it is laudable. Considering the technical limitations imposed on him by his chosen instruments, the music Koepper produces is consistently interesting and imbued with a strong sense of creating aural imagery and emotion. (Finishing touches by Steve Roach assist the process.) For listeners like myself, fed on a diet of this kind of stuff at an early age, it’s a well-made homage to the foundation of the genre.

Koepper's first release, 2003's Etherea, is also well worth checking out. More strong sequencer-based pleasure, including Koepper's signature track, "Between Dreams."

Jeffrey sent me this CD out of the blue; I'd never heard of him, even though he's a homeboy from Baltimore. This is an album of electronic space-music and it's a good one. He's definitely influenced by the classics, but he also has a more modern sound mixed in, which makes this release more than just a homage to the classics. Really nice if you like this sound! "Jeffrey Koepper has been creating electronic music since 1985. He has released material in the past with the groups Pure Gamma and Immortal. Etherea and Momentium, both produced with ambient legend Steve Roach, are his full length solo releases. His influences by early electronic musicians Tangerine Dream, Jean Michel Jarre, Klaus Schulze along with Steve Roach will be felt in his music of warm pulsing meditations, sequential rhythms and serene soundscapes. These influences were the spark that ignited his creative spirit. True to his roots, Koepper uses a variety of analogue synthesizers and analogue sequencers to create his evolving sound-world sculptures. He strives to create the music of tomorrow with the technology of yesterday. His desire is to continue in the fine tradition of classic electronic music while bringing forth his unique approach of creating warm, emotionally crafted music." [Air Space]
wayside music

Etherea is an analogue masterpiece created in today's digital domain. Jeffrey Koepper Created these atmospheres and soundscapes on a variety of electronic instruments and devices -- both digital and analogue. (Steve Roach calls him "Analogue Jeff.") His goal was to create an analogue sound in his Analogueland Studios. Steve mastered it in The TimeRoom and is listed as the co-producer. This is a delightful set of retro space music compositions that stand proudly with the best of the Berlin school -- 1970's, 1980's, 1990's and the new millennium. Jeff's style and technique allow this adventure to unfold and evolve at its own pace. He does not force the issue. Deep drones, dark atmospheres and heavy sequences surround and interact with the listeners' psyches. In that regard, this CD offers more than traditional electronica. It has psychoacoustic and psychoactive properties that provoke and evoke deep responses. This is an exceptional and charming CD!
~ Jim Brenholts

With an able assist from Steve Roach (who did the final arranging and mastering as well as adding "xpander atmospheres" to some tracks) Jeffrey Koepper's Etherea is a wonderful ambient/EM recording that delightfully blends warm analog/retro electronic music with state of the art ambient and spacemusic elements to create a 21st century hybrid that should offer strong appeal to fans of all the aforementioned genres. No doubt owing (at least partly) to Roach's involvement, the engineering and overall "sound" on this disc is impressive with a capital "I." The analog keyboards (be they the real thing or synthesized) glow with a warm naturalness and evoke pleasant nostalgia, as evidenced immediately on the opening track, "between dreams," which offers up assorted midtempo beats, floating keyboards, spacy synths (a la Jarre and others from that era), all gathered together in a celestial mixture of textures and rhythms. It's a truly outstanding way to start an album, and the entire disc holds one treasure after another. One of the things I came to admire most on this album was how imaginative Koepper was in balancing both the rhythmic tracks and the more free-form ambient ones, as well as the spacemusic side and the more EM-focused elements. At times, there is a strong European influence detected (not necessarily Berlin school, but sometimes English and French school, if there is such a thing). I certainly heard it on the opening track, as well as later on during the piece "timeless" which reminded me of David Wright in how Koepper blended melodic elements with more overt electronics. However, the artist also sometimes aims for the stars (i.e. spacemusic) such as on the cosmic-sounding "distant light," a fairly minimalist excursion into sustained minor key synth chords which slowly reverberate and sustain into an inky blackness. Stretched out over twelve-plus minutes, some artists would either let the music stagnate or purposelessly alter the motif for variety's sake. Koepper finds a middle ground and allows for minor deviations to keep listener interest up while maintaining continuity throughout the song. Other tracks worth special mention (the entire album is solid, though) include "ancient sunlight" (high-pitched retro synths undulate and pulse eventually morphing into a mildly propulsive Berlin-school number, with laser-zapping synths crisscrossing the soundfield), "passage" (which unfolds patiently and deliberately with musical elements reminiscent of John Carpenter's and Alan Howarth's soundtrack work, albeit in a non-foreboding vein), and the brooding "moments in time," (a rhythmic piece that bounces slow tempo bass synth beats against a wonderfully evocative lead keyboard line, evocative of cold and barren polar beauty). The CD concludes with the nearly fourteen-minute "while we sleep," as classic a combination of spacemusic and drifting EM/ambient as you will find these days. It's hard to believe Etherea wasn't received with more accolades and fanfare. It's astonishingly well-done, both from an artistic and an engineering standpoint. Even with all the assistance of Steve Roach, make no mistake about it - this is Koepper's music. I was hard pressed to recognize Roach's "touch," except for the meticulous mastering. Jeffrey Koepper has a bright future ahead of him, regardless if he walks the EM, the ambient, or the spacemusic path. They all lead the same place - outstanding music. Highly recommended!
info@windandwire.com
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Jeffrey Koepper has a time machine in the basement of his trim Northeast Baltimore home. There's barely room to walk among all the light-blinking, knob-bedecked hunks of machinery. Miles of wires connect the contraptions, looping around the perimeter and sprawling along the ceiling overhead. Daunting electronic panels that wouldn't look out of place in a nuclear power-plant control room dominate one corner. Their switches read attack delay sustain release and envelope transient generator. When the lanky 35-year-old fires up his equipment and starts tapping some of the thousands of keys, I'm suddenly transported back to the early 1980s. I'm once again a skinny college kid with a penchant for thin ties and hair mousse. No, I'm not talking H.G. Wells here, but Gary Numan and Thomas Dolby. For Koepper is a synthesizer player, collector, repairman, and rabid enthusiast. His basement is brimming with keyboards, modulators, drum machines, and sequencers dating from the golden age of wires: the analog era, before digital technology reduced music to a series of ones and zeroes. "Most of this stuff is from the late 1970s to early '80s," Koepper says. "I'm a purist. The sound quality you get from modern equipment is nowhere near this stuff. This equipment has an organic, flowing nature to it. To me, digital sounds hard and cold and sterile." What you don't see down in this sonic cellar are any computers. Koepper wrinkles up his nose at there very thought of having a monitor and mouse down here. "I should put up a sign reading no computers," he says. Koepper doesn't even know how many synths he has. Dozens, easy. They're literally stacked up everywhere, and most are hooked into a bank of sound processors and a huge mixing board. He bought his first in 1985--a Crumar Spirit, still plugged in and playable--and has been accumulating them ever since. The most common makes are Moog (which rhymes with "vogue"), ARP, Sequential Circuits, and Oberheim. Since, as Koepper explains, "anything can wrong with them at anytime," along the way he has become a self-taught synth technician. It's even turned into a sideline business. Some replacement parts are still being manufactured, but many are not. "You have to have a keyboard junkyard," Koepper says, nodding to the heap of forlorn synths stacked in a corner of his workroom--all giving up their capacitors and transistors so that others can keep playing. Koepper, who studied film at Towson University (then Towson State), is also a self-taught musician. He walks over to one of his myriad keyboards and effortlessly taps out the bouncy little principal riff from Gary Numan's 1979 hit "Cars" (perhaps the first synth-heavy new-wave hit on these shores). He's been in bands since age 15, recording and playing out with outfits such as Social Skill, Immortal, Limited Express, System X, and Still Life. Presently he is teamed up with an old high-school friend, guitarist/bassist/vocalist Piotr Wolff, to form Machine Age. A tap of a button sends a song from the group's recent EP filling the basement. And back I go in time, once again, to my dorm room. All the Big '80s touches are there: the shimmering, jittery guitar and snaking bass lines, the plaintive vocals, and, of course, the rich bed of swirly, whirly synth sounds. It's Flock of Seagulls meets Ultravox meets Human League meets Depeche Mode meets, well, 2004. (Listen for yourself at www. machine-age.net) "The sound is definitely coming back," Koepper says, adding that a full-length Machine Age CD, as well as club appearances are in the offing. But there's really more to Koepper sonic tastes than what he terms "early-'80s electro art rock." There is also the less dancey, more trancey "space music," wherein his equipment is called on to create moody ambient soundscapes. His heroes in this latter style include Tangerine Dream and Jean Michel Jarre. Notable ambient artist Steve Roach helped Koepper produce his first CD in the genre, last year's Etherea. While Koepper clearly feels the analog synths are undergoing a sonic resurgence, he dates the equipment's initial demise to 1983, when Yamaha released its DX7 digital synthesizer. This very popular keyboard lacked the proliferation of output-altering knobs, which are the hallmark of analog equipment--and, Koepper asserts, the source of its strength. These knobs, you see, are twirled and tweaked in combination to create custom sounds. "When they took the knobs away, everybody just played presets," Koepper says. "Everything sounded the same. You could buy a cartridge with sounds on it and just pop it in. What's really important to me [is] making my own original sounds. It's almost like audio sculpture. It's in the moment--if I change the knobs, that sound is gone forever." As it turns out, Koepper's in-house subterranean synthesizer playpen may also soon be gone forever. In the very near future he faces the arduous task of moving all his equipment to a rented studio space. His machines make sounds both time-warping and otherworldly, but they're banging up against something grounded and practical. "My wife," Koepper says with a slight grin, "wants to make a family room down here."

© 2003 Baltimore City Paper. All Rights Reserved.

Jeffrey Koepper "Etherea"

stunning, enchanting, inspired.
slowly building, growing, taking shape, "Etherea" by Jeffrey Koepper is a fine example of organic ambience similar in style to the work of Tangerine Dream. produced by ambient pioneer Steve Roach and using a variety of classic analog equipment, "Etherea" is a stunning journey through almost living soundscapes.
from the opening tones of track 1 "Between Dreams" you can feel the pulse of the music, gaining form from the addition of instrumentation and melody. melodic elements develop, patches rise and fall in strength, it's a beautiful thing. track 2 "Distant Light" relies on a more subtle, more traditional form, where slow pads drift across the soundscape, pulling like waves at the listener's conciousness. track 3 "Timeless" blends the two styles in an elegant mixture of melody and dreamscape ambience. lovely work. skip ahead to track 7, "Passages", where percolating tones play on the periphery of awareness, while a subtle droning melody floats underneath. ahhhhhh...
what more can be said? the artistry in this disc is undeniable. one can't help but be swept up in it's charms, enraptured by it's beauty. check it out for yourself, i'm sure you'll agree.
rik - ping things

Jeffrey Koepper - Etherea
(self released cd ; 2003)
Jeffrey Koepper, who has send me his first full lenghth cd just a short
while ago, wrote he has been making electronic music since 1985 and has
played in 2 groups, resp. Pure gamma and Immortal before starting this
solo-effort. During these years he has collected a proper & varied
collection of analoque devices and fine synths to finally create this
stunning debut. Etherea offers in depth positive as reflective
soundscape-textures in which a lot of emotion is involved. Warm, soft
pulsating and cyclic elements are featured throughout the whole recording,
in which slowly evolving patterns are obvious. Introspective soundwashes
keep rolling on and on such as featured in the morphing 2nd track Distant
Light which makes you wander off to some milestone ambientalbums of e.g.
Thom Brennan or Steve Roach (Structures... or Quiet Music). Jeffrey really
knows how to treat his sophisticated equipment as he leads the way for over
70 minutes into a vast landscape of serene and meditative textures. This
delicately composed music easily carries you away into some distant
(dream)lands, a perfect drift-off making you feel at ease within mintes. The
album was superbly enhanced and spatialised by ambientguru Steve Roach,
which makes the recording sparkle all the way through.
All in all, this heartfelt composed CD is an absolute must-have for every
self-respected ambientfan.
Bert Strolenberg
Klem Magazine
The Netherlands

Jeffrey Koepper is one of Baltimore's best kept secrets when it comes to superb
electronic music. On his first release "Etherea" one can hear the finest moments of
Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, Kelvin Smith, and Steve Roach. The sound is highly
atmospheric, highly ambient, and more about vibration than it is about melody.
In short, this is one excellent chill out cd! Highly recommended

jeremy morris jam records

Jeffrey Koepper, though not entirely new to the space/ambient scene,
offers his essential debut release here with "Etherea" which is
loaded with reflective soundscape-textures in which a lot of emotion
is involved. Warm, pulsating and cyclic elements are featured
throughout the whole recording, with slowly evolving patterns and
drifting drone effects used for balance. He places his music in
tracks of varying tempos, with reference points that might easily be
Thom Brennan, Giles Reaves or Steve Roach. Jeffrey's delicately
composed music easily carries you away into some distant
(dream)lands, with a perfect opening to make you feel at ease within
minutes. The album was superbly enhanced and spatialized by ambient
guru Steve Roach in the Timeroom, which makes the recording sparkle
all the way through. The manner in which Koepper keeps bringing the
listener to the threshold of more active ambient sounds and then
backing off into more serene spaces provides a unique artistic
counterpoint that is used very effectively. His high-grade equipment
and technology is put to great use and effect, never sacrificing one
degree of the human element. For space fans, this new CD is a must.
Along with Jon Hopkins (on Just Music) we are going to have some
tough competition for debut of the year in 2003.
Lloyd Barde
c/o Backroads Music
www.backroadsmusic.com

If you are in search of space (music), then this album will teleport you to
the furthest reaches of the universe. Co-produced by Steve Roach, the sound of
ETHEREA is deep and expansive with rich layers of synthetics layering and
overlapping mystically, enhanced by a multitude of undulations and imaginative
sequences intertwining. The sounds and effect conjured up reflect a myriad of
tone colors from delicately soft to dark and primal. This is ambient space music
at its best.
Arhie Patterson
EUROCK.com

Subject: Etherea by Jeffrey Koepper
Time: 11:46 am.
Jeffrey Koepper is a new artist to me, though according to
his press release he has been making electronic music sice the 1980s. His
first solo CD, Etherea came as quite a pleasant surprise for me. Jeffrey has an
analog synth collection to die for, and he's unafraid to use all of it--I've a
feeling gearheads will enjoy this music on a completely different level than I
am capable of. Even if you are musically ignorant, as I am, you will find more
than enough to enjoy in these sublimely textured seventy-two minutes.
Take a deep breath of Etherea, and you will find yourself entranced by
carefully woven sequences, light, warm atmospherics, and cascading, slow
melodies. The first track, "Between Dreams" marries slow sequences with "breathing synth" lines, creating an effect not unlike entering the dreams of the title. The
track builds sonically, gradually introducing some rich bass tones and
electronic percussion, reminding me strongly of many tracks on Thom Brennan's
Mountains album. As we'll hear, much of Etherea would not be out of place on a Steve
Roach or Brennan CD. This is not idle copy-catting--Koepper does it just as well
as these two classic artists. So well, in fact, that I feel his tracks are
often indistinguishable from similar work by those I've mentioned. A perfect
example of this, track two, "Distant Light," sees Koepper operating in the
desert ambiance of Roach releases like Quiet Music and Western Spaces (minus the
quite newage sounds from Kevin Braheny). I also detect a very pleasant
similarity to A Produce's epic track "A Smooth Surface." It's easy to imagine drifting
off to sleep with this track, or perhaps gazing upon a static landscape that
appears to shift ever so slowly the longer you look at it.
Koepper's interest in rhythmic sequencers comes to the fore during tracks
three and four--both recall flighty drifts along azure skies or crystal-clear
ocean surfaces. Track three, "Timeless" reminds me of Michael Hoenig's classic
work; sequenced and possessing a liquidity unusual for this electronic
sub-genre. "Spiraling" follows these two tracks, reminding the listener that
ambient drift can be very, very trippy as well. Fantastic spiraling synths swirl about
the listener, rather like a momentary drop in altitude, following the warm air
currents of the total album. Fans of David Parsons' atmospheric driftwork will
enjoy "Silent Age" as Koepper pilots us ever higher to more mysterious
terrain--is that subtle phasing I hear? Perhaps there is an ancient settlement
resting atop the mountain range we drift above, but it is difficult to say
whether or not it is inhabited. Track seven, "Passages," was a slight misstep for me;
the sequences were a bit too metronomic and familiar. I found that they
detracted from the fine atmospheres of the track, instead of propelling them
forward over the six and a half minute duration. Tracks eight and nine follow a
similar slowly sequenced, and fairly static mien, working as a slow, pleasurable
drift into the climax: "While We Sleep." Unquestionably, "While We Sleep" is one
of the strongest atmospheric floaters I've heard since Jonn Serrie's classic
" Stratos." Almost fourteen minutes of enthusiastic abandonment on waves of
hypnogogic ether. This track stands alongside classic ambient atmospheres in its
depth, foggy ambiguity, and sheer beauty. The misty ambience is almost
palpable. It's quite easy to imagine oneself in nearly any introspective
situation hearing this track and feeling an overwhelming sense of pure
mind-drift--certainly a calling card of the best ambient music has to offer.
Frankly, this final tour de force is worth the price of admission alone.
As a totality, Koepper has created one of the most intriguing and
professional-sounding debuts I've ever heard. Also of note is the added cache of
crisp, clean Steve Roach production work on the disc. This is the kind of release that
will appeal to fans of both Berlin School electronic and the light
stratospheric forms of ambient music, rather like Craig Padilla's fine Vostok.
I cannot recommend Koepper's CD highly enough to fans of Roach or Thom Brennan. As a whole, the music, professional packaging and art, and the excellent production
make Etherea an ambient debut not to be missed. I've a feeling this is an
artist to expect great things from in future.
Etherea is released on Koepper's own imprint Air Space Records, and is
available on his site.
Brian Bieniowski
windandwire.com

Every week I normally receive about 2 to 5 demo or preview CD's. And
unfortunately most of them are "or" to New Age, to badly played or recorded
(false notes and out of timing) so that most of them are not entered in our
catalog. But every now and then there is a CD that's really nice to listen
to, so in the coarse of time we did find some nice gems of electronic music.
So as a reminder for you of our (Kees included) efforts to get these new
artist in our catalog... Here are a few names from the past:
Alpha Wave Movement, Thomas Berkley, Robert Carty, Meg Bowles, Hagen.
And this week I received a CD that knocked me out of my office chair:
" Etherea" (ok, I had my doubts to when I saw the title :-) from Jeffrey
Koepper. Jeffrey's music style reminds me the most of the soundscapes from
Steve Roach and my own CD "Ghost of a Mist".
Especially the opening track is from a unique beauty.
The CD was mastered by no one else than "Steve Roach" and Jeffrey, who has a
great collection of older analog and newer synthesizers that makes him get
the music just right. This is his first CD but I'm already looking forward to what he will do in the future. So if you like ambient soundscapes, quiet music, slow space stuff.
If you like Steve Roach or if you like "Ghost of a mist".
If you like great electronic music.This is the one you should get.
" Etherea" by Jeffrey Koepper. The best new entry in the Groove catalog this
year. (in my opinion of coarse)
Ron Boots
grooveunlimited.com

Renowned for his technical abilities and restorative powers, Jeffrey Koepper
has become distinguished for his work in maintaining, reviving and often
performing miracles on vintage electronic music equipment. Elsewhere, he is
(along with Kelvin Russell) known as half of Pure Gamma, the duo that brought
together the old school ambience of the '70s with the techno/chillout culture of
the '90s. In 2003, Koepper has finally popped his head up from behind his vast
museum's worth of gear and presented the world with a long-awaited studio album.
On Etherea (72'12"), Koepper demonstrates a mastery beyond the technical side
of his craft. The 10 tracks alternate between the analogue bubbles and digital
ice of the American synth 'n sequencer revival of the '80s - and bright,
smooth and spacious tonal landscapes where wide swaths of stereo phasing, thin
lines of sawtooth buzzes and soft clouds of revererant strings paint the air
with an enduring ambience. Building on familiar Spacemusic forms, figures and
themes, the genre calls for Koepper to add that immeasurable factor: his own
individual human component - which ignites the sonic imagery of his music. With
Etherea, "Analogue Jeff" the gearhead is transformed into Jeffrey Koepper the
artist. By applying his vast technical knowledge of music making equipment
towards programming beautifully evocative ethereal sounds and strong rhythmic
designs, Koepper has put together an album of impressive depth and rare
intelligence.
- Chuck van Zyl
STAR'S END
1 June 2003

Momentium is Koepper's second solo release. This release features more of Jeffrey Koepper's rhythmic sequencer compositions.

Jeffrey Koepper has been releasing excellent electronic music since 1985 in various groups and collaborations.

Koepper is a unique electronic composer in today's world in that he uses a wide variety of vintage synthesizers and sequencers to create his emotional evolving sound-worlds.

His mission is to create "The music of tomorrow with the technology of yesterday." Instruments by Oberheim, Arp, Sequential Circuits, Moog, PPG, Emu, Roland and others were put into service in the creation of Momentium.

The use of the instruments is evident by the smooth lush organic textures that are not possible on modern instruments.

All of the songs were created through live real time sound-sculpturing with the composer interacting directly with the tactile interface of the analogue synths and sequencers to make them live, breathe and come to life.

Then the individual tracks are then mixed in real time using an analogue mixing desk and a variety of vintage effects devices.

The composer melts the tracks into each other to create these beautiful soundscapes and rhythms.


Steve Roach was integral in the final arrangement and finishing treatments of Momentium.

Jeffrey Koepper "Etherea"
(Air Space Records, 2003)
10 tracks, 72.12 mins
Who is Jeffrey Koepper? First off, Steve Roach considers him worthy of
co-producing his CD, so that alone grabs attention. I'm happy to say that the
music on the disc does as well. It might seem a slight to describe the opening track "Between Dreams" as pleasant, but I mean that in the best sense of the word. It is simple and elegant, a pleasure to listen to. The themes running through it remind me of stronger material by the likes of Pete Namlook and Alpha Wave Movement. The disc is aptly named, as both the title and the music within conjure up images of light, of heaven, of space, of dreams. "Distant Light" borrows a trick from Steve's Structures From Silence. Long notes hang in the airand dissipate into nothingness, returning only after a second or two of silence leaves echoes of the previous note hanging in the subconscious. This is perhaps the most delicate track on a disc full of wondrous subtleties. "Timeless" sounds across a deep expanse, then a temperate sequence carries it off withease. "Ancient Sunlight" cavorts along brightly, with layers of sounds vaguely suggestive of the opening track of Roach's Dreamtime Return. Occasionally thereis the slightest touch of melancholy, as on "Silent Age" and "Moments In Time." However, the disc as a whole is so enjoyable it's hard to imagine finding much to get down about. The meditative 14-minute epic "While We Sleep" is an appropriately soporific finish to this ethereal journey. Sweet dreams.
© 2003 Phil Derby / Electroambient Space

Jeffrey Koepper has the requisite germanic name to ignite the fires of true
synthafficianados. Neu! Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream can be felt on this.
Fear the power of the moog! Etherea is the title, and it has ambience. It is
not ambient. There is a difference. This man is a master.
Music Monthly newspaper, reviewer Laurin Wollan

There are a lot of sounds flashbacks that cross me ears listening the intro of Part I. From No Man’s Land (TD’s Hyperborea) to Equinox (JM Jarre), Quadranteon’s intro starts on cosmic steam which wave such as auroras borealis and roll as starlit foams waves. A sweet intro, with slow perfumed oscillations of synthesized breezes which mould a sweet and progressive rhythmic tangent that skips in a sound universe stuffed with synth to droning waves. Of this fine movement, animated of a warm synthesized life, flees tones of felted sirens which cross a spatial nebulosity battling against permutated sequences and fabulous solos of a poetic delicacy. Jeffrey Koepper's world is in constant harmony with a warm and boiling spatial music. An euphony created with accuracy by its analog gear and its personal vision of a fanciful cosmos, to moving constellations.
This 5th studio opus from the American synthesist pursues its mythical collection of the cosmic tones elaborated from sound searches, a creative imagination and a strong work of composition. Quadranteon is divided into 4 parts: 2 are very full of rhythmic lives and the other 2 are more atmospheric. A skillful musical blend that pushes the listener through 2 existential possibilities: the being and the non-being. If Part I is slowly animated by a pleasantly progressive rhythm, Part II plunges us into the spheres of a distant cosmos which we gravitate with sweet intoxication, as an ascent slowed down by the effect of weightlessness. Arpeggios float in echo, orbiting slowly Quadranteon timeless stairway. The sound world is skillfully built. Dressed it is by super analog effects which sway lazily on of beautiful skin-tight and waltzing stratas as well as minimalism chords which indicate and trace out the celestial way to be followed. A length (it is the first impression) but delicious journey as astral as meditative which overflows on the wild and biting Part III.
Juxtaposed synthesized waves float with romantic at the opening of Quadranteon best track. Part III is livening up on a synth to biting reverberations, announcing a pace which hems with a felted heaviness. Linear and minimalism chords follow with a sober frenzy which is accentuating with a new layer of keys so much minimalism, but intertwined by more crystal clear ones. Part III becomes more ardent and fuses of melodious synthesized tones which involve perfectly in this astral jungle to variables rhythmic pulsations which feed a structure more and more complex, all wrapped she is of heavy pads from a synth to the multiple musical variances. A brief atmospheric moment cuts the piece, which returns with a new hooked rhythmic structure mainly on a beautiful bass sequence coated progressively by a synth as vaporous as warm. A very beautiful and powerful track which joins the analogical lineages of the French era with Jarre on Equinoxe and Mercier on his delicious Music from France.
It is in the peaceful spatial that concludes Quadranteon, with the morphic and unctuous Part IV. There where the effect of floating in our head is also omnipresent as on Part II, but in shorter. A sweet and slow black waltz where furtive sliding cadences prevail on this binary measures. Beautiful and soft, warm and inviting! Reflecting this beautiful and poetic cosmic ode of Koepper who, year after year, invites us to his analog musical rendez-vous so unique in these days of contemporary gestation. If Jean Michel Jarre's first works appeal you, the music of Jeffrey Koepper is simply a must.

Jeffrey Koepper is a master when it comes to emotional electronic soundscapes. This is his fourth installment and so far the best, in my opinion. The equipment used is typical mid to late 70′s early 80′s analog synthesizers. It all sounds very vintage and some tunes are really aching towards the Tangerine Dream sound that many of us are so familiar with.

The opening sequence of ‘Reflection’ is a masterfully done piece of art, followed by the more soft and touching ‘Light And Truth’. This is what I call first class imaginary space music!

But the voyage doesn’t end there. Some of the more experimental tracks we find on this disc are ‘Artifacts’, ‘Life Clock’ and ‘Transmission’ which are incredibly moving aswell and takes you on a immersive voyage through space & time. Those tracks contains some very lush sequencer work and are very hypnotising and makes you drift away somewhere into another dimension.

The only track that didn’t quite grab me 100% was the last one called ‘Rising Sun’, mostly because it sounded too much like a few of Koepper’s other tracks on his previous releases, but then that might just be me. It’s not really a dull track, but perhaps not one I would return to again and again.

After a few listenings I can only say that this CD is a must have if you liked Jeffrey’s previous CD’s, especially if you liked ‘Etherea’, or if you are a big fan of early Tangerine Dream!

Highly Recommended!