Wow you guys are harsh on Tangerine Dream. Though not exactly in their defense I have to admit a fondness for Edgar Froese's first few solo albums, namely "Aqua" and "Epsilon in Malaysian Pale". True there's a lot of noodling but the albums are still pretty dynamic with lots of effects and drones, before both Froese and the band got too...I guess I'd say New Agey, for lack of a better term. Actually I even picked up a T.D. album the other day from the early '80s, not expecting anything good, and it was mostly trivial except for a few songs that were beatless and droning. Still I would have been pretty disappointed had I not paid $2 for it.
All this talk of Kraftwerk-like bands reminded me of 7, with an album called "7", that came out years back on the relatively bland Hynoptic label. The album is cold, simple, sterile, slow, and somewhat trance-inducing, but it my German friends all liked it, so I think that counts toward some sort of credibility. I mean I liked it too.
Also I got a copy of the Senor Coconut "El Baile Aleman" album, and I think it's pretty impressive. I love Latin music, and Atom Heart, so I'm biased here, but I'd have to say it tops both the Balanescu Quartet album and Terre Thaemlitz album of Kraftwerk covers both for novelty, originality, and its well thought-out quality. I don't know, though, what sort of fans I would recommend it to.
Mr. Unlucky
- ---
Mr. Unlucky presents Shoot To Kill, a weekly hour of action/crime/spy jazz and soundtrack music, on Supersphere.com, Thursdays, 11 a.m. (CST).
