Rolf Maier Bode, founder of famous RMB duo, with which he was celebrating many triumphs and success around the world, came back to the music business with his solo album titled Thirteen Stories. This time we have to deal with completely independent release which is totally devoid of any form of commerce. Album had his premiere on 3rd of March 2009 and it’s distributed via traditional mail after prior registration on official Rolf’s site (link - click) (ed. since 4th of March 2010 all tracks from this album are available to buy online at amazon.de - click).

Thirteen Stories were created for a long time and with the successive stages of formation of individual tracks and their samples everyone could know at official Rolf’s blog (link - click). Record has 13 compositions from which every brings with her one of stories and is also an invitation for individual perception and interpretation. It is indeed music book which while listening we are devouring her with bated breath and from which we can’t get away. Thirteen Stories introduces in new age of electronic music, full of different concepts and inspirations, which also contain many solutions known from earlier Rolf’s creation. And without a doubt you can venture to declare, that we are are dealing here with the genius of musical compositions.

The cover of the record is kept in blue climate and such a color fills most of free space. There are also visible skyscrapers standing in equal row over river’s edge where are located barges moored to the riverside. When we spread on the cover and count all buildings, we will realize that there is exactly 13 of them! The mystery is also encrypted name of the artist on the top cover by the squares. After opening the digipack on the left side appears 16-page booklet, overflowed with different abstract photos. On the right side is waiting CD for putting her to the CD player, which contain 13 new compositions by Rolf Maier Bode.


Truth And Light – this song opens the record and it was called as Jupiter Jesus while being a work tune. This is also one of few tracks which was enriched with vocal (in this case his voice lent Saner Ariduru). First notes welcomes us with the sentence „I see the darkness behind you. But don't look back, there's nothing to fear”. Amazing track which represents the essence of synthesizer’s music with broken beats. Truth And Light brings unusual energy and also fills with peace and positive mood. It has also hidden message contained in the words „Leave the past behind. Begin to feel free!” which means that we always have to go forward in our life and don’t look back after something what was and never come back.

Second song on the record is State Of Flux which really quickly got acknowledgement from large number of readers of Rolf’s blog. We are finding here combination of mood guitar (played by Norman Jonas) and piano which hits with her uncommon expression of muffle and relax. State Of Flux is without a doubt a musical masterpiece which will impact on received regardless of his mood. In the middle of song suddenly we are hearing amazing transition and muffle which for some time grows up, flavoring listener for the chills on the body. The whole of song is enriched all the time with climatic acoustic guitar (being here as guiding motive of the song) and it’s the essence of truth musical journey after land of senses and imagination.

Challenge is another song which beginning is kept in mood of silent blowing wind. Again guitar and piano was used here which is a really killing mixture for the receiver. After a moment quiet melody starts to be mixed with aggressive trance bass. Therefore we are dealing here with a very interesting combination of mood and dynamics. End of the song says goodbye again with calm piano melody and whole thing reflects internal struggle which a man must fight, while struggling with another life problem.

Fourth track on the record in order is called The Cube which really experimental tone can be detected from the first tact. Leading role again takes here guitar and climate of this song can remain a little bit some older Depeche Mode recordings. In The Cube percussion is presented in really interesting way. There is also noticeable of using an instrument named duduk (plated by Norman Jonas) which sounds are close to cello and saxophone.

Beginning of another composition, called mysteriously 1971/7/4 welcomes us interesting sounds subjected of a filtration. This track is spinning up really slowly, exactly 3 minutes! After lenghty intro comes muffle and soon appropriate content of composition begins. Song is kept in typical, not so fast trance mood. Next we are dealing with repeat of whole schema and this track doesn’t surprising us with any new solutions till the end.

Sixth composition on the record named Echovalley is one and only where woman’s vocal was used (voice lent Doris Lauerwald). Beginning of the track is really calm and moody, filled with the sounds of strings. After a while comes strong, trance beats which wakes up the listener from transient lethargy. Centre of a composition is a typically muffle for Rolf’s creation after which comes return to the hard beat, connected with classic, repeated and not so expanded melody. Echovalley breaks unexpectedly, opening by this again imagination of the receiver.

Stellarium welcomes with unusual wonderful and energetic melody played on piano. After a while listener experiences a slight shock in the moment when from the speaker starts to come strong and melodic bass line with trance percussion. For some time piano is still listenable in the background but in some moment it disappear and song slowly turns into a phase of muffle. We can hear here again leading theme which after few seconds starts to be enriched with trance melody. This melody, accompanied with percussion, introduce listener to the tension and after a while sound explodes with amazing energy! Without a doubt this is a Rolf’s bow to the faithful RMB fans, accustomed with these kind of music variations and simultaneously thirsty with real and old trance. End of the track mainly lacks of melody line played on piano (listenable only from time to time in the background) and melodic and hard bass line becomes here as main theme.

Muxed introduces to the climate of journey and can be associated with long travel by train to nowhere. Breakbeat rhythms, enriched by an unusually experimental bass line and calm melody are doing specific climate of innovation and modernity. After a while appears muffle and on the first plan comes sounds of strings and trumpets. This track by his outstanding and originality remains some experimental motives which can be found for example on composition Zeitwand from RMB’s album called Mission Horizon from 2001. It makes determined jump from previous songs from whole Thirteen Stories album.

Next composition titled Blinding Lies was known earlier as Vierfarbillusion for the faithful readers of Rolf’s blog. It is an amazing electronic solution which main theme are words „This world is an illusion” effectively influences on the imagination of receiver and inducing to reflections on the everyday of our life. We can find here also extremely gorgeous connection of bass, broken and rhythm beats and climatic musical setting.

Beginning of next track named Liqud Rite is quite calm and got enriched with a sounds coming from the beats into filled glasses. Soon, against original intention, composition unexpectedly turns on and again we have here small back to the roots. After 4 minutes of trance mood comes really interesting transition and in the background we can still hear sounds comes from beaten glasses. Although this is not typical classic RMB song, however you can hear here more references to earlier Rolf’s work.

Vertigo is another experimental composition where again sounds from beating of filled glasses were used. Beginning of a song is kept in breakbeat climate and in this one stands for the most of time. Vertigo is rather monoton track because not so much is happen here except two standart transitions based on muffle schema.

For the end receiver has only two tracks. First of them is All In by which without a doubt we can say that there is no end of Rolf’s musical experiments. We can find here primarily breakbeat and underground sound which at the end touches even Drum’n’Bass climates!

Thirteen Stories is closed by a peaceful and calming song To You in which we can hear again piano also with guitar played by Norman Jonas.


Without a doubt issuance of a new album by Rolf Maier Bode indicates that in the age of universal domination of not so much ambitious music there are still exists some artists who are putting extremely so much heart in what they are doing, tuning every important detail of the composition.

I would like to recommend purchase of this unique music release not only to all who have deal with creation of RMB band in the past but also for these ones for which Trance music is not unknown and they don’t have the fear to penetrate new experimental electronic sounds.

I invite for official Rolf Maier Bode (link - click) page and also for his blog (link - click) where you can read about how this record was created and which stories are hidden behind each of songs located on Thirteen Stories.

V-12/Tropyx
Szczecin, 03.04.2009 r.

English translation done by V-12/Tropyx on 11.03.2010.