In 1980, Tangerine Dream became the first West German rock band to perform in the GDR. That it came about was also thanks to East German composer, pianist and singer Reinhard Lakomy. As a result, he was even offered the chance to join the group. This did not happen, but there was a West-East transfer of a Moog synthesizer that had once belonged to Mick Jagger. For East German rock music fans it was a sensation in 1980, for the West German "Spiegel" editors a marginal note: "Tangerine Dream on a GDR trip". The West Berlin electronic band, which had so often "complained about poor performance possibilities at their place of residence", was now allowed to present their synthesizer sounds "optimally" in Berlin for the first time - but in East Berlin: For 31 January 1980, two concerts including a laser show in front of a total of 5800 spectators were planned in the Palace of the Republic, the Hamburg news magazine announced the historic event
When Edgar Froese died on 20 January 2015, the end of the electronics pioneers Tangerine Dream, who were celebrated worldwide in the seventies, seemed to have come. But the father of the Berlin school had taken precautions. It was his express wish that Tangerine Dream should complete the "Quantum Years" with the current cast Thorsten Quaeschning/Ulrich Schnauss/Hoshiko Yamane. After two live recordings there is now also a new studio album. Quaeschning, Schnauss (with them since 2005 and 2014 respectively) and Froese's widow Bianca Froese-Acquaye provide information on "Quantum Gate" and the future of the electronics institution.
eclipsed: The decisive question right at the beginning: Will you only fulfill Froese's last wish or will Tangerine Dream continue to exist?
Tangerine Dream don't yet come with a completely new studio record without Edgar Froese, but this double CD marketed as an EP already offers a lot of new high-quality music. Actually TD in the line-up Quaeschning/Schnauss/Yamane play in the half-hour (!) "4.00 PM Session" in the very best Krautrock manner: Cosmic music at its best!
After many years, the former Tangerine Dream musician, who belonged to the classic trio formation of the style-defining band in the 70s, returns with his own material. What feels marketing-driven after the death of Edgar Froese was actually still agreed with him. A return of Baumann to TD was planned, now he works with the remaining members on the production of "Quantum Gate".
"There is no death. Just a change of cosmic address." This was Edgar Froese's lifelong credo, with which he philosophically tricked the reaper. His wife Bianca Froese-Acquaye organized a special event in honor of the cosmologist in Froese's hometown Berlin: a mixture of art show, reading and music. The foyer in the "Haus der Berliner Festspiele" is a suitable place, as the founder of Tangerine Dream received a scholarship from the "Berliner Akademie der Künste" in the early sixties. Friends, long-time fans and media representatives have now paid their respects to him. Among them are prominent guests such as director Volker Schlöndorff, star photographer Jim Rakete and fellow musician Christopher von Deylen (Schiller). Almost two hundred people were invited to the event, which focused on Froese's artistic oeuvre.
In contrast to the German Krautrock bands like Amon Düül II, CAN, Kraftwerk or Faust, who started at the same time, Tangerine Dream always had the one central star, the Kraftzentrum, which fired the fate of the internationally celebrated electronic pioneers. Therefore it is clear with the death of Edgar Froese: After 47 years the story of Tangerine Dream has now come to an end.
LED ZEPPELIN
Whole Lotta Phallus
It was pure sex, above all. Along with Jimmy Page's ubiquitous guitar and John Bonham's powerful drums, he seemed to be the driving force in the Led Zeppelin cosmos. Their highly potent and vibrant hardrock seemed like a permanent penis to the audience of the late sixties and early seventies.
CARLOS SANTANA
Number 4 lives!
Vienna, one of the first days of spring after a mild winter. The man who turned music history upside down with "Phaedra" forty years ago is sitting in a venerable café on the Ring. The years have left their mark on Edgar Froese's face, but his unrestrained desire to fable, experiment and provoke has not been harmed. Music was and is never an end in itself for him. Froese wants to get to the bottom of things and put everything into a big world context. To the left and right of his table, diplomats and business magnates palaver about the future of Europe, while Froese lets his gaze wander unsentimentally into the past and future, chatting in a good mood about a great adventure.
eclipsed: "Phaedra" is an album that takes on new form and form in every life situation, environment or era. How is such a plate made?
