By Jim Rowland
In 1974, Tangerine Dream released ‘Phaedra’, a pivotal album not just in the vast catalogue of the German electronic music pioneers, but in the entire history of electronic music. Fifty years later, the current line-up of Tangerine Dream returned to London’s Barbican for a special night honouring that landmark work by reimagining it for a new era, plus plenty more besides. New release ‘50 Years Of Phaedra: At The Barbican’ captures that performance for posterity.
Clocking in at not far short of 2.5 hours in total, ‘50 Years Of Phaedra: At The Barbican’ is split into two halves, with the first dedicated to the ‘Phaedra Suite’, reimagining the original album, and adding significant extra pieces to it.
Part of the importance of the original album was that it was ground-breaking in its use of early sequencing, although given the early nature of this the original sequences were never truly quantised, their timing drifting unpredictably through the Moog’s analogue circuitry. That subtle instability became part of its charm – a human pulse within the machine.
Fast forward fifty years and of course today’s technology allows for fully quantised sequencing, which is what the current band offer here. The result is certainly recognizable if you are familiar with the original, but at the same time has a fresh appeal and feel to it.
Like the original, it has an atmospheric, ambient and dreamy vibe, which, with this being a live recording, is quite at odds with the rapturous applause received from the adoring audience, which can be a bit jarring if you are listening to this “in the zone”.
The second part of the show visits numerous other eras of Tangerine Dream, is noticeably more up tempo with its rhythms, features old favourites like ‘Sorcerers Theme’, ‘Logos’ and ‘White Eagle’ along the way, and is as equally innovative and enjoyable as the first disc.
Today’s Tangerine Dream doesn’t feature any of the original members from the band’s 1970s or ’80s heyday, with main man Edgar Froese having passed away in 2015. But it is becoming more common for vintage bands with a huge legacy to carry on in that fashion, retaining the true spirit of the band and respecting its legacy. Today’s Gong is a prime example of that.
This hugely impressive recording, for those, like me, less familiar with what TD did after those iconic 70s and 80s albums, shows that today’s TD is in safe hands, forging ahead with that true spirit of its forefathers.
- ‘50 Years Of Phaedra: At The Barbican’ will be released via Kscope on Friday (30 January);
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