Rock On! Wednesday, 22 Janary 2025 – Tangerine Dream, Harmonia, Heldon, Synergy, Popol Vuh & Michael Stearns

Psychedelic, heavy, prog and more innovating sounds spanning the late 60s and the early 70s – Dan’s pick of the week: Tangerine Dream (Phaedra), Harmonia (Deluxe), Heldon (Interface), Synergy (Sequencer), Popol Vuh (In Den Gärten Pharaos) & Michael Stearns (Ancient Leaves).

Tangerine Dream is een Berlijnse elektronische muziekgroep, opgericht door Edgar Froese in 1967. De band is een van de pioniers in het elektronische genre. Aanvankelijk speelden zij avant-garde-rock, maar vanaf 1972 keerden zij de conventionele instrumenten de rug toe en speelden ze uitsluitend met elektronische instrumenten.

Sputnik Music review: “Phaedra is one of the most important works in the history of the electronic music. It’s a brilliant summation of Tangerine Dream’s early direction balanced with the synthesizer/sequencer technology just beginning to gain a foothold in non academic circles. “Phaedra” showed not only that the band’s set of equipment obviously had grown a lot bigger since the early days, but also that their musical expression had evolved and progressed without losing any of the depth and mysticism of their best works in their first phase. The most curious thing in their sound was the inclusion of complex sequenced electronic rhythm patterns that slowly evolved and changed the shape of the atmospheric sounds of Moogs, Mellotrons, flute and many electronic types of equipment massively used into their unique music. (…)

Conclusion: “Phaedra” is often regarded as a groundbreaking album that was shaped by an experimental sound, with structured sound sequences that present themselves to the listener in an atmosphere space like manner. “Phaedra” leads in monotone electronics at the beginning directly into the wide world of the universe and knows how to create a monotone trance in cosmically designed sound surfaces. In the further course, the cool unapproachability of the electronics unites with organic looking Mellotron inserts, which is accompanied by more rhythmic sound elements. The way into unexplored galaxies is, thus, effectively relaxed. Perhaps even more powerful as a musical landmark now than when it was recorded. “Phaedra” has proven the test of time. The 70’s was a time of music taste and intelligence, really.”

Wednesday, Wednesday, 22 Janary 2025 12:00 noon CET Brussels – 11 a.m. GMT London. Repeated: 16:00 & 20:00 hrs CET Brussels, 3 p.m. & 7 p.m. GMT London
Ends: 12 midnight CET Brussels, 11 p.m. GMT London.