Gulan is one of the stalwarts in the universe of electronic music known under various names such as space music, ambient, or new age music. It is a kind of fusion music that touches several genres, but doesn’t confine to a single one. The music creates deep feelings in the mind that touch the consciousness of the listener. It is popularly used as background music for relaxation activities such as meditation and activities improving mind power and concentration. It creates a kind of otherworldly effect in the minds of the listeners as stand-alone foreground music also.

Gulan And His Music

Gulan was born in Latvia in 1974. In fact, Gulan is a pseudonym. He was interested in music and showed his musical talents during the childhood itself. His first dabbling with instrumental music was through piano in a music college. Later he learnt keyboard and synthesizer through private lessons. After that he got plenty of opportunities to show his raw talent through electronic synthesizers. This experience made him a master of electronically generated music and sounds.

Gulan made the full use of his experience when he launched his first album at the age of 19. The album was released in 1993 and was titled Airway. Instantly the music world noticed his charmingly different tunes and the gripping fusion of his music that transcended various genres. Several other songs followed the success of the first song. Notable among them are Electronic Symphony, Sunrise, and Electronic Etude. Later, he formed a band in his own name, which became synonymous with space music. He also founded a music studio called Gulan Music Studios in Latvia. His music has been broadcasted from radio stations of various countries including the USA, the UK, the Netherlands, Australia, and South Korea.

With a string of beautiful songs that confidently bore the technical mastery of their creator, Gulan became known as a young virtuoso among music enthusiasts. Not only were the music pundits impressed by the dazzling array of never-before-heard kind of music, ordinary people also started feeling the hypnotic effect of the new brand of spacemusic. It was as if he was bringing a new genre of music from the outer universe.


Reviews:

Gulan – Sphere.

Another release by Gulan whos work is inspired by the music of Klause Schulze, Michael Stearns, Robert Rich, Tangerine Dream. Nothing wrong with that I here you ask and as It happens I like them as well.

The tracks range from ambient electronica to more of a Berlin-school feel. His compositions are full of nice sounds and phrases creating cosmic associations. Interesting combinations of synthetic and acoustic sounds and effects, unusual constructions of musical phrases give to his music its originality and mysteriousness.

“I am not usually into “meditation” music, and frankly bought Sphere because I liked the sound clips that I heard. But, after listening to the CD front to back, I was amazed at the journey that this music takes you through. Unlike other ambient music that sounds like “repetitive sheet music”, this album comes off like a work of art with great ingenuity.

Beautiful passages with slight variations that sweep your mind into the journey that is Gulan.

The first two tracks start with much motion and activity, the long third track Altai changes the mood with placid tonal passages, then tracks 4-6 bring you back into a flurry of mind trips. The last track, Synthetic-x is a fitting poignant ending. I just hope that there is a sequel to this album – I will certainly buy it!”

© Elton Baermon


Gulan - Cassiopeia

Gulan's super-cool voyage through spatial and galactic soundscapes is quite extraordinary

Beautiful spherical and cosmic sounds full of enigmatic music constructions give to a listener a chance to touch the mystery and infinity of the Universe. This album consists of songs both with dynamic sounding and with mellow ambient effects. These songs will send you to a distant and unforgettable space journey where you will relax, dissolve and sink into delight and pleasure…
But no worry – you will be surely back on Earth keeping warm memories and experience. Just put the music on, close your eyes… and happy journey!


“Cassiopeia” is an album filled with 71 minutes of very interesting electronic space music. It is nicely kicked-off by the title track, split in three parts. Some grand velvet textures merge with some twinkling sequencing while some light solo’s float on top. This rather active part is counter pointed by the free form soundscapes of the second part, which float on in gentle ways. Next comes the lofty excursions of two-fold “The Infinite” before we arrive at the excellent “Return Home”. This piece has a beautiful fairytale-kindred flavour with nice expanding textures. This highlight is followed by the same titled second chapter, another strong, drifting piece featuring melancholic undercurrents, entering heavenly spheres. “Delerium” is again a sequenced, more active track, after which the cd ends with a remix-version of the title-track.

“Cassiopeia” is rather stunning release, so ambient/space fans out there: make sure you don’t miss this one!

© Bert Strolenberg
SONIC IMMERSION