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“Music for Paradise is the astral door of a fascinating universe which will propel Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock in the firmament of the inescapable figures of the contemporary EM scene” (Ambient, spiritual, tribal and Berlin School EM)

Finally, here's a first chronicle of Mind Over Matter on Synth&Sequences. And what of better than to begin with the very first album; “Music for Paradise”. But first let's speak about the man behind Mind Over Matter; Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock, aka Cosmic Hoffmann, whom the first steps in music were guided by the guitar and drum. It's when hearing symphonic rock that the German guitarist, born in Duisburg in 1951, has developed a passion for keyboards and synthesizers, but especially for the Mellotron with which Genesis' opening of Watcher of the Sky had totally enchanted him during a concert of the group in 1972. After having played with the German group Alma-Ata at the end of the 70's, Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock founds Cosmic Hoffmann at the dawn of the 80's. And then after several journeys to Asia, he created Mind Over Matter in 1986. The music would be inspired by the Hindus’ spiritual essences and would be a sensory sonic adventure for the imagination of which the first lines emanated from this long composition that KHH weaved for soon 3 years; "Paradise". A thing was clear; nothing would be comparable to Mind Over Matter. And more than 25 years later, Mind Over Matter and Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock always remain so mystic than incomparable. And here is by where this fascinating musical adventure began …

And it's a whole universe of paradisiacal idleness that Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock knits for our ears. Arpeggios in tones of glass fall in delicate periodic waterfalls, as a sound waterfall which flows of the sky to caress the trees and the singings of their inhabitants. Chirping of birds coo behind this weft of tranquillity where rises a fine morning mist and where quietly a soft, bewitching rhythm arises from the strings of a Heinz Weidenbrück's bass. Everything is weaved in softness in order to bring the listener towards a phase of meditative rest. "Paradise Being One (Air)" livens up of a fine tempo with Tablas percussions, drummed by Peter Jörgens, which accompany this soporific procession while that voices of gurus pray a song of hypnosis which makes itself very discreet, just like the erased chords from the guitar and by this piano with its delicate charming melody, behind a foggy music pattern became denser. We hardly perceive the fine crescendo of the movement while the guitar weaves fragments of a recurring melody and that "Paradise Being One (Air)" pours in our head from heaven with these strata of guitar which float behind an approach a little more bluesy. Suave, the Mellotron scatters its mist as much as its short fluty songs, while gradually we move forward in the very mesmerizing "Paradise" with "Changes of Being (Fire)" and its heavy guitar which spits solos of fire behind the clamors of a shady civilization. "Changes of Being (Fire)" is the highest point of "Paradise" with a more dramatic approach where the guitar tears out the ambiences became highly charged with shrill solos which will become the trademark, the musical signature of Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock over the years and still today. The awakening is as rough as the music can be so delicious. And "Being Home Again (Earth)" brings us back towards the contemplative phases with a Mellotron which blows of flute while taking back the thematic musical pattern as ambient than melodious of "Being One (Air)"

On the original release of “Music for Paradise”, "Paradise" occupied the whole side A of the vinyl version issued then on Innovative Communication (IC 80.059). "The End of Time" began side B with a heavy ambiospherical movement where Yves Greder talks about the end of time, and of its revival, in an intense multi-sonic where become entangled the shouts, as much as the spasms, of a wandering guitar and the breaths, as belligerent as harmonious of a Mellotron to the esoteric flavors. "Kandy Sweets" clashes in this ambient universe with a nice ballad which inhales a contemplative happiness. It's a kind of tribal folk song with an ambient rhythmic pattern undulating beneath the claws of a sitar which shares its harmonies with a mixture of guitar/synth and a delicate Mellotron which blows its fluty singings in a Sri Lankan rural universe. At that time, "The Silence" closed “Music for Paradise”. The silence is in the rhythms, because the track is rich in atmosphere with its long resounding black breaths which lets filter some harmonious particles which crumble out of a dark Mellotron and a very meditative keyboard. In 2007, “Music for Paradise” was reissued in CD by IC (872359-2) with 2 tracks in bonus. "Ganga (The Live Version)" is a lascivious spiritual dance with superb sounds of flutes which sing on a mesmerizing line of a piano which scatters its melody under a swarm of tribal percussions. The mood is very filmic with a high level of intensity where tribal sound elements such as sitars, bells, Sri Lankan voices and hoarse breaths of gurus polish up a slow rhythm which waddles in a state of hypnosis under the pharaonic breaths of the Mellotron. "North Star" borrows the atonal phases of "The Silence" while releasing a subtle bouquet of "Paradise". Some nice Mellotron there!

“Music for Paradise” is a phenomenal album where Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock stamps the EM world of a new seal for the ambient kind. It's a meditative ambient form, as much creative as progressive, where the relaxation music takes a quite new direction. When there is rhythm, it's slow and intuitive. When there are ambiences, they are rich and very ambiospherical, feeding every furrow of a sonic image which, although strongly influenced by an extremely rich musical universe, takes the shape we want. “Music for Paradise” is the astral door of a fascinating universe which will propel Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock in the firmament of the inescapable figures of the contemporary EM scene. A wonderful album, an inescapable, which I strongly recommend.

Sylvain Lupari (September 8th, 2013 – Synth&Sequences)

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This album is just superb. Fender Rhodes electric piano, Minimoog, DX7, Mellotron... these are just some of the great instruments Klaus plays on this must-have new-age record. The atmospheres are just beautiful, and listening to this music really puts you in a trance. Try to listen to it on headphones, in bed at night, to get the full effect.

www.synthmania.com

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Wie der Covertext ankündigt, kann man die Platte tatsächlich als "kreativmusikalischen Gedankenanstoß" benutzen:
Vogelsang und Glockenspiele
hat´s im Paradise viele,
und durch des Synthies Nebelschwaden
hört man dunkel einen Guru klagen.
Ach, zu diesen wonnevollen Tönen
läßt sich innerlich gut stöhnen.
Und schon wieder dämmert eines Klanges Blase
dicht vor unsrer Nase,
eine nächste kommt dahergezogen
auf eines schlichten Basses Wogen.
Grade will der Schlummer uns gefallen,
fängt der Guru wieder an zu lallen:
Meditieren solln wir heuer -
Paradies ist Wasser, Feuer
und auch Erde, Luft -
schon ist der Gedankengang verpufft.
Ganz der watteweichen Wonne hingegeben
beginnen wieder wir zu schweben,
doch umspielt von künstlichem Gewaber
duselt eines Apokalyptikers Gelaber,
und so vollendet sich des Künstlers höchster Wille
erst am Ende dieser Rille
- Stille!

KEYBOARDS 7/87   (ungekürzte Original - "Kritik")

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4 1/2 Jahre später urteilt das gleiche Blatt über die gleicheProduktion:
Noch ein erfreuliches Re-release: Der Erstling des Keyboarders, Gitarristen, Bandleaders und Weltenbummlers Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock, dem vor allem im fast 25minütigen Titelstück mit seinen windgebauschten Synthesizer und Mellotronschleiern, Ethnosamples aus Indien, Sri Lanka, Thailand und Bali und feinen Akzenten von Bass, E-Piano, E-Gitarre, Flöte, Gongs, Zimbeln und Tabla eine ebenso intelligente wie sinnliche "World Music" geglückt ist. Schon die LP von 1986 bestach mit einem transparenten Klangbild: Der noch deutlich verbesserte Remix macht die CD-Edition, die zudem zwei ausgezeichnete Bonustracks enthält, zum Genuß für audiophile Elektroniker.

KEYBOARDS 1/92

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Mich freut es, daß dieses Album jetzt auch in digitaler Qualität zu haben ist. Diese Musik ist wirklich für das Paradies geschaffen, könnte man meinen, wenn man den Beginn dieser CD hört; allerdings am ehesten das Buddhistische. Man merkt, daß Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock von seinen vielen Thailand- und Indienreisen nicht nur Fotos mitgebracht hat sondern auch tolle Sounds. Er beweist, daß man nicht unbedingt die modernste Technik benötigt, um gute Elektronische Musik zu machen, nein, er benutzt eigentlich recht wenig Equipment (sogar ein altes Mellotron kommt zum Einsatz). Seine Musik hat ihren unverwechselbaren Charme, einen sanften und betörenden Klang. Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock spielt die E-Gitarre so, wie ich es noch kein zweites Mal gehört habe. Ich wurde etwas aus meiner Trance geweckt, als plötzlich jemand in zweiten Track zu sprechen anfing. Ansonsten fügen sich die musikalischen Impressionen aus den asiatischen Ländern sehr gut in die Musik ein. In dem Bonustrack "Ganga - The Live Version" bekommt man unglaubliche Flötenklänge zu hören, wie sie Deuter nicht hätte besser spielen können. Die Stücke sind remixed, und es sind auch noch zwei Bonus-Tracks auf der CD. Der Klang der CD ist bemerkenswert: Schön warm, nicht so kristallhart wie bei den meisten heutigen Produktionen. Ich kann sie nur weiterempfehlen.

WAVES 12/92

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Hinter dem Projektnamen Mind Over Matter verbirgt sich der Musiker Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock. Durch zahlreiche Aufenthalte in verschiedenen Regionen Südostasiens hat er eine persönliche Erlebensweise über Wirkung und Sinn von Leben und Musik gewonnen. Auf dem 1986 erschienenen Album "Music for Paradise" werden asiatische Musikelemente mit westlichem Klang strukturell verbunden. Der Titel ist Programm: Hoffmann-Hoock versteht Paradies als inneren Ort der Ruhe, als Kraft und Energiezentrum der Selbst-Heilungsressourcen des Menschen. Er möchte seine Musik als eine in Klänge gegossene Meditation, als Parabel auf den Weg des Suchenden verstanden und erfühlt wissen. Die in Asien aufgenommenen Originalklänge reichen von Friedensbotschaften von Stammesfürsten in Indien über Elefantentrompeten im Dschungel bis hin zu Mönchsgebeten in Kathmandu und dem Wellenrauschen in Bali. Eingeflochten in seine Kompositionen ergeben sie eine klingende Reisebeschreibung zur Meditation.

ESOTERA 1/90