La Vie Electronique, Vol. 4

In addition to his albums, Schulze released several large, limited-edition boxes of studio outtakes and live recordings; one such 50CD monstrosity, The Ultimate Edition, was broken up into the La Vie Électronique series, which ran to 15 3CD sets and a 5CD concluding volume. For the most part, the series was chronological, and LVE 4 consists of solo concert recordings from 1975 and 1976. The first disc, “Just an Old-Fashioned Schulze Track,” is a nine-part, 74-minute suite, while the second and third discs include a few short(ish) pieces bracketing live epics named for science fiction works: “I Sing the Body Electric,” “The Andromeda Strain,” and “Make Room, Make Room!” (the novel that was adapted into the movie Soylent Green). This is peak cosmic synth music, perfect for lying back on the couch and just drifting away for an hour or so.