It all starts here for Radio Massacre International. That most creative English band that almost single handedly brought back the Berlin School trio format back to prominence. All three perform on a raft full of analog keyboard equipment (mellotron, Moog's, etc…), while one doubles up on electric guitar. Sound familiar? Sure it does. Not that RMI was content to just sit in that same zone, as many of their albums followed other trends of German Kosmische, but primarily RMI were all about sequencer and atmospheric mid to late 70s Tangerine Dream. And the double CD Frozen North is the perfect place to start . We are talking 2 hours and 15 minutes of Encore meets Rubycon. Not a mere copy, but rather a completely unique take on a classic sound. To say it is essential for fans of Berlin School elektronik music would be understating the matter.

This album is inspired by the history of the Hundred Years' War in the 15th Century, in which the brave and - in modern terms - emancipated young woman Jeanne D'Arc, the Virgin of Orléans, played an important key role. It is a musical hommage to the brave of this world and the principle of revolutionary thoughts and acts.
Jeanne D'Arc - the French heroine immortalized and appreciated in electronic music. This studio album was recorded shortly before the live concert in the Friedrichstadtkirche (French Cathedral) in Berlin in July 2005. Enjoy this exciting musical tribute.

In June 1999, Tangerine Dream performed a one-off concert during the Klangart Festival in Osnabrück in Northern Germany, presenting the then brand-new album Mars Polaris. The complete album was performed, though the track order differs from that on the album. The music performed is essentially identical to the studio versions, with some additional guitar and percussion work.

Stratosfear, the last Tangerine Dream album by the great Baumann/Franke/Froese threesome, shows the group's desire to advance past their stellar recent material and stake out a new musical direction while others were still attempting to come to grips with Phaedra and Rubycon. The album accomplishes its mission with the addition of guitar (six- and 12-string), grand piano, harpsichord, and mouth organ to the usual battery of moogs, Mellotrons, and e-pianos. The organic instruments take more of a textural role, embellishing the effects instead of working their own melodic conventions. Stratosfear is also the beginning of a more evocative approach for Tangerine Dream. Check the faraway harmonica sounds and assortment of synth-bubbles on "3 AM at the Border of the Marsh From Okefenokee" or the somber chords and choral presence of "The Big Sleep in Search of Hades"…

This was the first TD album to incorporate lyrics and vocals (from Steve Jolliffe, who also contributed wind instruments and keyboards). By this point, the nucleus of the band was down to Edgar Froese and Christopher Franke, with the sound centering more on shifting arpeggiation over percussive rhythm structures, with "Madrigal Meridian" being an impressive example of this. Jolliffe's vocal contributions on "Bent Cold Sidewalk" and "Rising Runner Missed by Endless Sender" provide an aggressive edge that effectively catapults the listener from the hypnotic pulse that Tangerine Dream are best known for - still, it's by no means a failed experiment, though it does make Cyclone one of the least useful TD albums for working up a good meditative state.

In the late 1970s, Jean-Michel Jarre's albums Oxygène and Équinoxe sold in their zillions, demonstrating that electronic music could be embraced by mainstream tastes. Almost 40 years later, the list of Jarre’s collaborators on Electronica 1: The Time Machine reads like a who’s who of electronic music, including Massive Attack, Moby, Air, Vince Clarke, Laurie Anderson and John Carpenter. True, by assembling such a stellar lineup, Jarre is reminding us of his status as a pioneer. But this does not feel like a cynical exercise - perhaps because Jarre was shrewd enough to work in person with his collaborators rather than remotely by sharing digital files. Jarre’s soaring washes of chords are present on tracks such as Conquistador (with French techno artist Gesaffelstein) and Zero Gravity (one of the last recordings of the late Edgar Froese of Tangerine Dream)…

Phaedra is one of the most important, artistic, and exciting works in the history of electronic music, a brilliant and compelling summation of Tangerine Dream's early avant-space direction balanced with the synthesizer/sequencer technology just beginning to gain a foothold in nonacademic circles. The result is best heard on the 15-minute title track, unparalleled before or since for its depth of sound and vision. Given focus by the arpeggiated trance that drifts in and out of the mix, the track progresses through several passages including a few surprisingly melodic keyboard lines and an assortment of eerie Moog and Mellotron effects, gaseous explosions, and windy sirens. Despite the impending chaos, the track sounds more like a carefully composed classical work than an unrestrained piece of noise…

The Sessions VI contains a long instant live composition from the current Tangerine Dream line-up Thorsten Quaeschning, Ulrich Schnauss, Hoshiko Yamane and new TD member Paul Frick. This live session was recorded at the RBB Sendesaal in Berlin (November 3, 2018) during the Elektro Beats Festival organized by Radio Eins. Tangerine Dream are very much enjoying their new respectively revived concept of performing a so-called real time composition session at the end of their concerts.

Dream Sequence is an electronic wandering through this German band's most familiar instrumental endeavors. The two discs are made up of tracks stemming from such monumental albums as 1974's Phaedra and 1976's Stratosfear, merging right into some of their finest material from the early '80s. Fans of full-length Tangerine Dream tracks should take note that three of their most popular offerings are only excerpts, including "Rubycon Part One." The rest of the album is comprised of delightful synthesized washes that represent Tangerine Dream's mind-numbing electronic voyages, like the spaciousness of "Cloudburst Flight" or the finite complexity of "Logos Part One." Not all of their music basks in the coldness of keyboard machination though…

Recorded in 1976 and released the next year, Body Love, Vol. 2 was intended as a soundtrack for a pornographic film. Nothing wrong with this in and of itself, but it is hard to imagine that Schulze's trance-inducing electronic improvisations would be considered an appropriate soundtrack for sex. "Nowhere - Now Here" has a basic beat and spacy synths, but after 18 minutes, when the harpsichord solo starts, the simple prog rock absurdity of it shows that Schulze isn't taking his assignment too seriously. The dubbed-out introduction to "Stardancer II" shows a different side of Schulze's muse, but as it gets interesting, the regular synths start up and things return to normal. "Moogetique" is an atmospheric closer, 12 minutes of slowly undulating synths and ambient echoes…

CD reissue of this title from the innovative German Electronica outfit, one of the most influential instrumental outfits of the 20th century. Tangerine Dream has never produced anything calculated to make the masses jump off their chairs and start screaming Top 40 tunes, but they have managed to have an immense impact in the world of Electronic and soundtrack music. Their studio, live and soundtrack releases have their own driving hypnotic pieces that might differ from release to release, but they are all uniquely Tangerine Dream. Personnel: Edgar Froese, Jerome Froese (guitar, keyboards); Zlatko Perica (guitar); Linda Spa (saxophone, keyboards). Recording information: Scottsdale Mall Amphitheater (1992).

In Blue is a double CD from the great Klaus Schulze. This set has almost 160 minutes of pure "Klaustrophobia." That means that these three long-form compositions are full of sequences, dense atmospheres, and drawn-out synth washes. Schulze invited Manuel Göttsching, his former Ash Ra Tempel partner, to play guitar on one of the compositions, "Return of the Tempel." Each of the compositions has several movements, each relating to blue - the color or the mood. Schulze is in rare form on this set. It has textures and timbres of minimalism. The sequences are gentle and subtle. It had been four years since Schulze had done a regular studio album and this - after a Wahnfried disc, a classical CD, an opera, and a live release - is refreshing. He shows that he is just as adept at ambient as he is at the Berlin school.

Paul Ellis is one of the two brains behind Dweller at the Threshold. It’s immediately clear that this is a professional musician who knows what he’s doing from the way the fragments are glued together, smoothly leaving no trace. The sounds he uses are perfect for the atmosphere he has in mind - and there are a lot of atmospheres on this album. The title is divided into three parts, all clocking in at around 15 minutes. The way the three parts float together is very listener-friendly; no fear for disturbance of a break in the special atmosphere Ellis has left you in. Whatever you want, it’s here; heavenly choirs, broad outstretched symphonic planes, cosmic fascination and killer sequencers. At times Jarre-esque, but with more effects, at others surging Dweller-patterns full of wondrous complexity…

Angst is a unique soundtrack for a documentary film about judicial scandal in Austria. The music came first and the film was edited to fit the soundtrack, so the score drives the film. Klaus Schulze called upon his many influences to build this project. The primary style is Berlin school, but Schulze uses his symphonic synths, his classical training, and his atmospheric sensitivity as well. For the most part, it does work as a stand-alone musical event, but loses some of its impact with the rhythmic pieces. They have drama and mystery and are, undoubtedly, important to the score - they just don't stand alone.

Electronic music pioneer Klaus Schulze has released Silhouettes, his first album of new music in 5 years. “In the wake of your 70th birthday, you naturally find yourself looking back at the past,” notes Schulze. “So the result is a reorientation, a renewed awareness of what is really important.” With this album, Schulze says that he has tried to reduce his music to its essential elements. “No great distractions, nothing to force your attention in a certain direction, no major effects or gimmicks, no frills or dominant rhythms,” he explains. “ It was important to me to paint the pictures in the depth of the space, the sonic fields of tension and atmosphere.”