Dirk Star
Group: Members
Posts: 1331
Joined: Sep. 2007 |
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Posted: Oct. 14 2008, 20:48 |
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Tangerine Dream are a band I`ve started to become very interested in again over the last few months,after I kind of give up on them at some point during the mid-80`s.Lots of reasons behind that really,including some of my own changing personal tastes as well I suppose.But I think more than anything was that I just got bored with them seemingly releasing the same old tired formula over and over again.Since then I`d always wanted to kind of re-discover them in a way,but the sheer volume of albums/e.p.`s and soundtracks they put out is a little bit intimidating I have to say.Anyway I was kindly given a copy of one of their many "latest" albums just recently called Views From A Red Train and well I basicaly hav`nt looked back.I mean I`m not going to sit here and recommend everything they`ve ever reorded,but the amount of great stuff they have put out is quite staggering.The amount of great stuff they`ve put out over the last two years alone is unbelievable.I`m just really enjoying myself at the moment going through all these fantastic albums I`ve missed.And in a strange way the "formula" if you like is still there really,it`s just that I can understand and "feel" it more now somehow...What on earth was I thinking about?..
A couple of recent albums/projects I do want to mention though because they`re just too good not to I feel.Are firstly an album entitled Madcap`s Flaming Duty which was recorded as a tribute to Syd Barret and features vocals from a guy called Chris Hausl.Now I had serious reservations about this album when I first heard of it because well basicaly Tangerine Dream "songs" in the past have just not been to my taste at all.You know even 90% of their fanbase don`t like them doing songs,it`s kind of Mike Oldfield territory all over again I guess.But honestly this album start to finish is just a complete gem,fantastic stuff.And this guy Hausl sounds maybe a bit like Dave Gahan/Pete Murphy to me but with a much greater vocal range and more dynamics.I don`t know he`s like Ian Curtis meets Morten Harket or something,if there could be such a thing??,,But either way I really love his voice though,and it works so perfectly set against Tangerine Dream`s music here.And they sound so fresh,exciting and new,it`s unbelievable to think they`ve been around for forty years now.But above all else is the vast pallete of emotion conveyed on the album as Pertou alludes to earlier with this band I suppose.And at 70 plus minutes long..man does this thing wear you out.I just can`t get enough of it.One of the tracks is actualy their own interpratation of a traditional song called The Lake Of Pontchartrain,of which somebody has made a great little video for up on youtube here. Quite possibly my favourite song of the year for me though errr even though it came out last year I guess.. 
Secondly I`d like to mention a very ambitous project they`ve undertaken or rather Edgar Froese himself called The Five Atomic Seasons.Froese was commisioned for this work by an 82 year old Japanese buisnessman who lived through the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.You can read a little more about the project here So far they`ve only released the first two parts Spring In Nagasaki and Summer In Nagasaki.I think the third part Autumn In Hiroshima is due for release soon,or it`s just been released I`m not too sure? Again all I can really mention here is the wide range of emotion Froese manages to convey in the work.As well as some of the images those emotions relate to regarding the work itself I suppose.A couple of things that article does`nt mention I don`t think are the fact that Mr H.T. lost his then girlfriend in the blast.And that after the bombing of Hiroshima he spent some twenty years in a monastery.Of which I`m guessing the fifth part "The Endless Season" will be attempting to convey.But obviously though it`s a very interesting story behind what is imo some fantastic/thought provoking music.And certainly very brave of them,no question.
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