ATEM

'Atem' is 'Zeit' in miniature. A snack-sized helping of the starch-laden ambient drone of 1972, 'Atem' is leavened with percussion circa 'Electronic Meditation' and some familiar instruments, bringing this release just a little closer to what might be recognised as 'prog'.

No expense is spared, either, in bringing us this ambient soup. FROESE, FRANKE and BAUMANN are finally together without other musicians, and aim the mellotron, VCS3 synths, percussion, piano, guitar and voice at their composition with intent. The first-mentioned of these devices were rather expensive toys, and give the resulting soundscapes a slightly more familiar cast - though it must be said that 'Atem' is still much more avant-garde than anything TD did subsequently.

Personally I prefer the uncompromising approach of 'Zeit', but 'Atem' was a transitional album, prefiguring the amazing 'Phaedra' that followed - if not in the music, at least in the album's structure. One long composition, one half-side track, and two shorter pieces. What this album emphatically does not have, however, is the trademark FRANKE sequencer sound, that rich pulse which provided the solid underpinning for FROESE and BAUMANN's noodling.

Like its three predecessors, this fourth TANGERINE DREAM album ought to be purchased only by fans of ambient soundscapes and avant-garde music. The casual progger would be best to start with their 1974 release, 'Phaedra'.