Perception transformations: Sessions IV by Tangerine Dream

The fourth volume of live compositions, whose presence in Tangerine Dream concerts by now have become a firmly established tradition, continues to be a highly valuable addition to one's Berlin School electronic music collection.

As stated before on this blog, whenever attempted to pour into some words the rather indescribable previous Sessions releases, these lengthy live compositions constitute a stunning return of the vast live soundscapes that one could hear during Tangerine Dream concerts from many decades ago - but with an entirely up-to-date sound.

The two compositions on this album were recorded live in Oslo, Norway and in Pisa, Italy, during August and October last year.

The first track Persepsjontransformasjon (or, aptly called, Perception Transformation) is a perfect overture for this CD...

Hearing the gentle mellotron choirs, then the patient build-up of the piece, one can again realise: what others may describe, about other music pieces, as something reaching its "inexorable conclusion", in the case of Tangerine Dream we, once again, have inexorable development.

There is no self-indulgence here, despite the powers that can be unleashed, there are no static repetitions of some patterns or catchy accidents that improvising musicians may have stumbled onto and fell in love with.

As with all other Tangerine Dream sessions, the discipline that is again combined with imaginative treatment of the live music elements is remarkable.

We have a steady development of ideas, culminating in a fiery mid-section of sequenced Heaven. The superb organic textures produced by the violin, the semi-organic mellotron flute,  and the gentle piano sounds that arrive when the tight and hypnotically powerful sequencers fade away are not elements that stand out as contrasting ones to the eminently electronic discourse.

The second track entitled Four Degrees Parallax, which has another splendidly dreamy beginning, proves the same point: the intimate and gentle personality of the violin brought to life by Hoshiko Yamane, the mellotron and acoustic instrument-emulating textures emanating from Thorsten Quaeschning are in no way playing the role of gimmicky sonic contrasts against the high-octane sequencer sounds from Ulrich Schnauss and Thorsten,

As this second track eminently shows, the mind-blowing sequencer sections are making, as paradoxical as this may sound to those who have not yet heard Tangerine Dream or these Sessions, a perfect home for the gentle sounds rooted in acoustic instruments (real or sampled).

One can easily substantiate these claims by inviting the listener to really track how the fiery sequences pull back, dissolve in piano chords and sublime violin dialogues, then run alongside these hand in hand - to finish off with profound bass pads and an achingly beautiful violin hovering above the electronic landscape.

As someone once said about a German baroque composer, there are no straight lines in his music, only curves and waves.

Here we could easily say, well, paraphrase, that there are no cutting contrasts in Tangerine Dream Sessions, only fluid dialogues - between instruments with vastly different characteristics. There are no excesses nor self-indulgent show-offs, only seamless development of countless musical ideas.

Once again, Sessions IV is a two-part journey. Once again, it is a true adventure that will not disappoint, with a full range of experiences ranging from utterly dreamy passages to fluid and ever-changing melodic textures to mind-expanding sequencer fireworks.

As unbelievable and perhaps biased it may sound in the second decade of the 21st century, in terms of form, structure, execution and artistic intent, one finds it virtually impossible to find such electronic music that simultaneously can tick so many boxes.

The band's trust in the listener picking up on the myriad ever-changing elements and joining the band in its adventures has not changed since the first inception of the live Sessions - so those pampered listeners may say that it is impossible not to expect, even audaciously demand, further Sessions releases...

Cosmic dialogues: Tangerine Dream's 'The Sessions III'

When recently the first live composition sounded at a Tangerine Dream concert, the new line-up immersed the audience in a sonic world they, and TD fans in general, have not had the chance to hear since the pioneering 1970s.

These structured improvisations, first unleashed on the wider audiences on the CDs Particles and then Sessions I,  have shown that yes, in the second decade of the 21st century, Tangerine Dream is still synonymous with a type of electronic music that is eminently human.

These live compositions are not only spirited jams one would traditionally expect to hear only in rock and jazz concerts, but also show that for TD, technology never became an all-dominating factor nor an end in itself.

Sessions III continues the series of CDs started by Sessions I and II, both covered on this blog, too. The listeners, who may not have had the chance to witness the live material in Hamburg or Berlin, are being treated to two lengthy live pieces again, the album totaling 77 minutes.

There is something rather poetic about the by now well-established titles, which always contain the exact time when the live pieces were born. The musical content is rather timeless, hence the timestamps even more poignantly suggest the ephemeral and one-off way in which the pieces were created...

Hanseatic Harbour Lights was recorded in February 2018 in Hamburg. It runs for a highly pleasing 35 minutes, and it is has everything old and new fans of TD like - most notably, the disciplined, never self-indulgent introduction of characteristic sequencer patterns and the floating meditative section. The presence of the violin in the vast electronic vista is sublime as usual, adding a very organic and intimate-sounding element...

One just knows, simply knows, that things will happen when the first metallic sequenced notes appear - and the track develops into a full-blown cosmic journey. That sentence may sound so 1970s - but the music is not a retro nostalgia exercise, far from it...

This is 21st century Tangerine Dream with the breadth and the trust in listeners' attention span that was characteristic of electronic acts of some heroic early decades. Once again, this track demands attention and it is a rewarding demand on the listener - as it takes us from the ethereal first drone through sequenced textures to gentle, meditative piano improvisations floating on top of the electronic ocean.

The energy is carefully dosed, never too abruptly, no rigid shapes, no harsh angles, just waves and swirls exist here. Same goes for the second track, recorded at the Synästhesie III Festival in Berlin...

A masterclass in Berlin School-style electronic music in... Berlin, it doesn't get more superlative than that. Although edgier and more heated than the first piece, it has its oases of quiet ambience, with the inevitably and achingly beautiful violin and Mellotron flutes.

One experiences that Ricochet-era feeling: it is perhaps satisfying to keep track, up to a point, of what is going on - but one can be absolutely sure, it will not be possible to catalogue every inter-twined sonic sequence and layers upon layers of textures... and then comes the best moment, when listener has to give up and just let him/herself float away on the currents of this electronic ocean.

As this track also demonstrates, in the TD sessions each section is important and never rushed - we know the expositions and the middle sections can be mind-bending and expansive, but so are their sonic constructs in the closing parts.

The trio, namely Thorsten Quaeschning, Ulrich Schnauss, and Hoshiko Yamane, have again delivered a pair of live compositions that, for the entire length allowed by the physical medium, take us on a spellbinding musical journey.

Sessions III continues the series that show: the new Tangerine Dream line-up remains absolutely connected with one of the core principles that has always characterised the band: make, even if channeling something from other galaxies, eminently living and pulsating rock music that happens to employ electronic instruments...

Tangerine Dream's The Sessions II : sonic visions on a cosmic scale

Recorded live at the E-Live Festival in the Netherlands, the fresh double CD by Tangerine Dream comes shortly after their 50th anniversary of continuous electronic music making.

As one of the pillars of the so-called Berlin School of electronic music, their musical output has always been a demonstration of how often the most cutting-edge technology can be just an instrument in, rather than an overpowering dictator of, an artistic vision.

While Kraftwerk is currently touring with their decades-ago created music that had built a unique aesthetic of a future world that is by now firmly in their (and our) past, Tangerine Dream has not stopped creating and imagining new sonic worlds. The latter visions are not those of some Mensch-Maschine, on the contrary - once again, Tangerine Dream creates an eminently human sonic Universe.

The two tracks, both of almost fifty minutes in length, are live improvisations.

As the band founded by the late Edgar Froese has been doing, this album, too honours the listener with a high degree of trust: in a world where attention spans are shrinking to a point singularity, Tangerine Dream trusts us to follow their journey through tens of minutes of continuous musical adventures.

And adventures they are indeed...

Both Tulip Rush and The Floating Dutchman unleash vast powers from analogue and digital engines at work on stage - but this is no self-indulgent showing off.

While largely improvised, the discipline with which the sonic paintings are structured, elements are introduced and layered, the way in which the technological beasts are unleashed and tamed in mind-blowing cycles is quite remarkable.

The sheer expanse of the musical pieces benefits from the possibilities of the medium itself - we could not imagine this in the era of vinyls, exactly as Klaus Schulze in the past could not truly expand his lengthy sonic visions to their full scale.

There is something about Mellotron (or nowadays Memotron) flutes, choirs and strings that is simply addictive, especially when Tangerine Dream layers them with, or sets them up as counterpoints to, pulsating and mind-bending sequenced patterns.

These two vast tracks are no exception, and if we wish to feel nostalgic about the tonal world of let's say Rubycon or Phaedra, then yes, even for just that one aspect, this double CD is a must-have.

But... the double album is so much more.

It does not do justice to the tracks to pick out elements or details, and one would highly recommend to actually treat the two pieces as a single sonic experience...

However, who can forget even after a first listening session the way in which in-between Earth-moving unleashing of sequencer improvisations (oh yes, Tangerine Dream have always shown us this is not a contradiction in terms), Hoshiko Yamane's violin gently steps in with soaring improvised lines that float above the electronics?

It is a testament to the eminently human, and not man-machine, electronic music produced by the band that one of the most organic and emotive instruments, the violin, finds a natural-sounding cosy home among the electronics. It does not sound like a sonic contrast, on the contrary, it blends in seamlessly with the synthesized textures.

Or, how those Mellotron flutes delicately soothe us before and after the tectonic movements caused so thrillingly by the intricate and complex multi-layered sequences that still to this day only Tangerine Dream can truly execute, in a live setting no less...

The listener is treated to lush chords, serene intros and interludes between these cosmic tidal waves of power, delicate melodic elements and self-confident power trips. Something is always changing, evolving, and nothing loses its way into some kind of self-indulgent technology showing-off.

This is TD, with an unmistakable and trademark sound - the post-Edgar Froese line-up of Thorsten Quaeschning, Ulrich Schnauss and Hoshiko Yamane take us on a very human and utterly passionately improvised journey that fully benefits from the possibilities of current digital media.

Recently, after the utterly superb Quantum Gate and Sessions I albums, the topic of whether the present TD is "still TD" has come up in an internet discussion. One may have the audacity, after having listened several times to the full Sessions II, to state that if there was a fresh and resoundingly affirmative answer to that question, then it is this live release.

Anybody familiar with the introspective, but at the same time expansive and perfectly structured, Tangerine Dream compositions is guaranteed to enter a familiar, but even after half of a century, a constantly evolving and surprising sonic world.

Tangerine Dream - The Sessions I.

It may seem like an overstatement after fifty years of existence and a vast discography, but Tangerine Dream's new release, The Sessions I., represents a truly key moment.

The electronic legends released their first live album, Ricochet, in 1975.

Around the time when other legendary pioneers were using sequencers for intentionally static patterns (Kraftwerk), for abstract fluid textures (Klaus Schulze) or pulsating melodic motifs to punctuate floating soundscapes (Jean-Michel Jarre), Tangerine Dream were creating something eminently different.

Ricochet and subsequent live albums by the band have shown a unique approach to electronic live music.

TD were producing high-octane sequencer-based improvised materials, with sequencers having been actually played on stage - such that the mind-bending multiple patterns were jamming hand in hand with electric guitar solos and keyboard improvisations.

The reason why The Sessions I. album is a notable moment is that the band, after a few decades of live renditions of studio album tracks, have returned to that dazzling art of extra-long improvised live compositions. After a session recorded and released on the album Particles, this is an hour-long journey.

The two, around half an hour long and largely improvised, tracks by Thorsten Quaeschning, Ulrich Schnauss and Hoshiko Yamane were recorded during the Edgar Froese memorial concert held in 2017 in Budapest and during a later live performance in Hong Kong.

If one makes here some references to albums of the past, it must be emphasized: this is not because the new album is a self-imitating nostalgia trip trying to just resurrect some old sounds for the long-standing fans... The references are being made merely because they may, to some extent, be suggestive of the tone and mood of the soundscapes on this album.

The opening track Blue Arctic Danube is something we have not heard for some decades, and again Ricochet or Encore spring to mind. This, in itself, is quite something, but even more remarkable is the fact that the material sounds fresh and brings a unique sound even in the electronic music scene of 2017.

Fans can immediately and instantly conclude, this is absolutely characteristic Tangerine Dream - from the first ambient textures to the trademark intertwined sequencer patterns to the arrival of achingly beautiful and softly played mellotron sounds (or of its digital resurrection rather, the Memotron).

The 30-minute musical journey is phenomenal, and without any previous knowledge of TD discography, one can be taken on a dazzling trip across many inner states - from mellow meditation to highly energetic pulsating sonic roller coaster rides to cinematic vistas constructed from sounds.

It is light-years above the way in which even now many use electronics and sequencers on stage - and with the live improvisation bringing in the various building blocks in a, one can safely say, typical Tangerine Dream manner, the listener cannot avoid being drawn into the musical dialogue that happens between the band's current three members.

Gladiatorial Dragon is of a different tonal register and it, too, is of a highly satisfying duration of just under 30 minutes - and fans of the Poland live album may perk up immediately, when they hear what is unleashed in this track.

While it starts with deceptively soft choir-like harmonies, a typical sneaky appearance of metallic sequencer patterns tells us something big is about to happen.

Well, indeed, TD never lets fans down when they decide to tease with such build-up. We know something is coming, and, by god of electronica, it does arrive.

The ultra-high-energy improvisation unleashed by the trio lifts the roof, this is electronic rock without electric guitars - but instead of guitar pedals being put through their paces, here we have nonstop changing filters driven into whistling self-oscillations, envelopes tightening and loosening the grip on the onslaught of sequencer notes, ring modulations and who knows what else unleashed by humans on their state-of-the-art electronic gear.

Yes, while it sounds highly technical, this is again a superlative lesson in how to make eminently electronic music in eminently human and passionate manner, without sliding into merely abstract sonic explorations or safely staying in the realm of some crowd-pleasing rhythmic content.

Nothing stands still in either of the two long tracks, one can hear the humans on stage improvising with vast powers at their fingertips and playing with and against each others' musical parts, as a jazz-rock band would.

If there was a live album in  the electronic music of the 21st century that can demonstrate to skeptics how the apparent contradiction between the nature of technology and the needs of highly organic live improvisations can be eliminated, then The Sessions I. is it.