Chimes and Chains

If I had to pick a single favorite band, and only one, it would be Tangerine Dream.

I’ve been tempted over the last couple of years to give a focused, chronological re-listening to their music, and lay some thoughts down on paper – a short, personal review and reflection on each track as I go through their catalog.

[Not their *entire* catalog, because that would be silly and I probably don’t have enough time left on planet earth to take on such a gargantuan task.  I’ll just be blogging on my own personal library of TD - which is extensive enough.]

Since this forum has a sub-forum for such an endeavor with this ‘prog blog’ section, I think I’ll give this idea a shot.

I’ll also include whatever solo albums I have from TD band members (the “Big 4” anyway… Froese, Franke, Baumann, Schmoelling), just for my own fun.

The listening equipment:  AKG K240 headphones  |  Onkyo CR-N755 bookshelf CD player  |  U-Turn Orbit Special turntable with Ortofon 2M red stylus  |  Nakamichi CR-1A cassette deck

Tangerine Dream

ELECTRONIC MEDITATION (1970)

 Track List:

 Genesis  |  Journey Through A Burning Brain  |  Cold Smoke  |  Ashes To Ashes  |  Resurrection

I first bought this LP around ’81 or ’82, after having already become familiar with several other titles of the Froese/Franke/Baumann and Froese/Franke/Schmoelling recordings.  At the time, I was certainly intrigued by the wild, white & orange record cover with the headless baby doll and all the patch cables… and had high hopes - but initially (and for many years afterward) found the music boring and unlistenable.  It wasn’t until later in life that the early Tangerine Dream recordings began to really resonate with me.

10-6-2021  |  Listening state of mind: Calm, serene, sober.

Genesis:

Starts out a bit ambient and spooky, but quickly morphs out of the ambient and into the psychedelic arena with some free-form, effect-heavy cello, violin, flute - and a young Klaus Schulze banging away on the drums as if there was no tomorrow.  Froese’s weird guitar noises (I would not call them “riffs” haha) come in, and then the piece ends [too soon, in my opinion] with an abrupt transition into track two.

Journey Through A Burning Brain:

Edgar’s guitar noises continue to be in the forefront on this longer piece, where there are actually moments of organ melody/chord progressions… the organ chord progressions then shares center stage with the electric guitar, but there is still plenty of dissonance.  About 5 minutes into the piece, a rhythmic guitar fires up in the background, and Klaus comes in with some radical drumming.  Still plenty of weirdness and processed noises going on throughout the piece, but the track maintains a bit of structure and melody throughout.  (I use the word “melody” in its loosest possible sense.)  The structure seems to cavitate around the 9 minute mark, and it gets more free-form and frantic.  Around the 11 minute mark, the drums drop out, and the organ and flute become center, and the piece mellows out (and ultimately fades out).  Good stuff.

Cold Smoke:

Another longer piece, which begins ambient-ish, with abrupt moments of discord frequently interrupting a more mellow organ background.  At about 3.5 minutes in, the organ starts pulsing a bit, with Klaus doing some faster-tempo drum work.  The organ begins to rock steady with Klaus, and at 6 minutes or so into the piece, things build (and continue to build) with Edgar bringing the electric guitar back into the mix.  Some weird vocal noises appear after the 9 minute mark.  Maybe the most “rocking” piece on the album… and at the height of the heavy rocking, the piece cuts out entirely and the odd beginning of track 4 begins.   

Ashes To Ashes:

The immediate drop of the cacophonous ending of track 3 is juxtaposed here with 4 deep human breaths, in and out, before a slower paced groove of organ, drums, guitar, and various weird noises commences.  I really like this piece, I think it may be my favorite track on the album.  The flute I’m hearing, in the background and panned right, is high-register and wild, and a subtle but integral component.

Resurrection:

Organ and backward voice open this final track.  The voice drops out after a minute or so, the organ fades, and the piece returns to the opening Genesis sounds, completing the circle.

Some brief thoughts after this re-listening:  I adore this album.  When I’m in the mood for weird psychedelic music, this is definitely one of my go-to recordings.  It’s really grown on me over the years.  It’s definitely not the album I’d play for someone to *introduce* them to the band, but it is a great debut for the very young and experimental band - and has stood the test of time with a vengeance, in my opinion.

Tangerine Dream

ULTIMA THULE (1971)

Track list:  Ultima Thule (Part 1)  |  Ultima Thule (Part 2)

This 7” was not something I had ever heard of until the late 1990’s.  I had saved up several hundred dollars for a music shopping spree, and had been told that there was a CD shop in Burien, WA (“Soundwaves”) that specialized in prog.  One Saturday morning, I went there with my wallet full of cash to get some good new titles for the collection.  Sure enough, it was a really great CD shop.  There was only one other person in the store when I got there, some younger kid, clearly high on something… jittery and talking to himself.  I had already picked out a dozen or more titles, and had a stack at the counter I was going to purchase.  The kid was watching me flip through the music, and soon came over to chat.  I happened to be flipping through PFM CDs, and the kid scoffed, “Everyone’s heard of PFM.  That’s not prog.  The only true prog band is Brainticket.”  I was trying to be polite, but also really did not want to engage with him much.  The store clerk spoke up from the counter – “Don’t bother the paying customers!”  (Which got a slight chuckle out of me.)

Anyway, after having browsed through the whole place, and after picking out a couple tall stacks of CDs to buy, I asked the clerk, “Do you have any… oddball recordings behind the counter?”  (My way of trying to be discreet about bootlegs.)  He asked what bands I was looking for, and I said “Tangerine Dream, Jethro Tull, and Kate Bush.”  He pulled out a brand new 4 CD bootleg of TD called “Electronic Orgy,” and said “80 bucks for this one.”  He also pulled out some live Tull stuff that I also bought.  He didn’t have any unique Kate Bush stuff.

Those familiar with TD bootlegs will know that “Electronic Orgy” was a treasure trove of previously unreleased & rare material.  So that’s where I first heard these two short songs.

[It ended up being a good investment.  I burned myself a copy, and put the original on eBay and got $250 for it.  My days of collecting for the sake of collecting rarities is long gone.  I’m just interested in listening to the music.]

Ultima Thule (Part 1):

The track definitely has some charm as a non-traditional Tangerine Dream “rock jam.”  I honestly don’t know what else I can say about it, it’s short, structured, and simple… but kind of fun.

Ultima Thule (Part 2):

Less driving and forceful than Part 1, and more in-line with what one would expect from TD in 1971.  More reliance on the organs than the guitar – in fact, I’m not even sure if I heard *any* guitar in it.  I think I hear an electric bass in the background, toward the end of the piece.  Still pretty energetic, though.

I don’t have any real comments or conclusions on this one.  It doesn’t blow me away by any means, but it’s not… bad.  Just sort of an unusual nugget from them.