Tangerine Dream - In Search of Hades: The Virgin Recordings 1973-1979

There’s no denying that Tangerine Dream have been around for nearly 52 years since their formation in Berlin. Despite the various line-up changes, they’re perhaps one of the early pioneers of what is known as Kosmiche Music (Kraturock) and one of the early beginners of Electronic Music. Germany has been home to bands/artists such as CAN, NEU!, Cluster, Popol Vuh, Klaus Schulze, and one of my favorites, Ash Ra Tempel, but Tangerine Dream have always been a part of my DNA since discovering their music in the fall of 2005 thanks to MOJO’s issue on the story of Prog Rock.

That and this 17-CD/2 Blu-Ray box set containing their golden years when they were signed to Richard Branson’s label, Virgin Records. Covering from 1973 to 1979, they were championed by not just Julian Cope, but the late great John Peel who played their music on his radio show. He would also introduce the band on the two performances that are on this box set including the Rainbow in 1974 and the legendary Royal Albert Hall performance in 1975.

When I heard that this box set was announced probably in May. I knew right away I had to get this straight away. So I went ahead and pre-ordered it from The Laser’s Edge website. To me, when I received it in the mail, it was like Christmas in June. And for Steven Wilson to have done some incredible remixes from the realms of Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull, Yes, King Crimson, and Hawkwind’s 1975 classic, Warrior on the Edge of Time, it must have been a dream come true for him.

He had remixed some of the tracks from Phaedra, Rubycon, and the full-length live recording of Ricochet. But one of the highlights on the box set, is the unreleased score that they did for playwright/actor Keith Mitchell’s play of Oedipus Tyrannus. This goes back to 1974 after Keith heard their fifth studio album, Phaedra. And he knew right away that this was the band he wanted to score for the play.

Listening to the whole unreleased material of Oedipus Tyrannus, you can definitely hear some of the early aspects of their Ohr years and bits of Pink Floyd’s Ummagumma thrown into the mix. There are elements that the band recorded these tracks inside a deep, dark cavernous place to create the effects of the water drops, medieval music, pounding drum sounds that sound like a train chugging at 100 miles per hour, and what would be known as one of the early beginnings of the post-punk movement.

Froese, Franke, and Baumann take the listener into those uncharted waters that haven’t been touched for a long time. And the trio can take you through those unseen parallel universes that have never been opened before. Whether it’s opening up the tombs of Egypt after escaping from the dangerous walking of the undead on the second part of Rubycon, entering the mellotronic landscapes with Sequent C as Wilson’s mix fills up the halls one by one.

Or entering a different section of the Moon with some middle-eastern vibes tuned into an action chase sequence on the first part of Ricochet, they can really take you places that are completely out of this world. But once you get into the mid to late ‘70s era where they moved away from their sound that they were once known for into more electronic and a rock-like sound, that’s where everything starts to change.

There’s the renaissance waltz between the harpsichord, bass guitar, and mellotron flutes turned eerie landscapes of Hell for The Big Sleep in Search of Hades, their US tour from the Encore album where they take the nod to Beethoven up a notch with Monolight as they began to sound a little bit like….should I say the Autobahn-era of Kraftwerk?

Edgar nailing down those guitar lines as the Synths do a chord before Froese channels his own instrument like a master at work for the Coldwater Canyon while Steve Joliffe handles the vocals by tackling the final battle that awaits our hero as he leads the sacrifice on a long corridor of the Bent Cold Sidewalk before landing into some of the 8-bit video-game like sounds on Force Majeure.

However the bonus tracks that are on discs 2 and 3 from the sessions they did at the Manor for the outtakes on Phaedra, are worth exploring. The mellotron’s and swirling synths set up the aftermath for the loss of innocence on the 20-minute piece, 2^nd Day, an earlier take of Sequent C with the Flute Organ Piece that reminisces some of the early sketches of Aphrodite’s Child’s 666.

But once you move into the midsection, there is a beauty of the caves wonder of the crystals coming to life as it makes these wonderful sounds as more mellotrons come to life on Phaedra Out-Take 1. The tempos going faster and faster probably on the VCS3 as it swirls back and forth on Phaedra Out-Take 2B while the chaos and nightmare excels from the banging and punching vocalizations throughout 2^nd Side Piece 2.

The three live recordings that include three performances from the box set that I’ve mentioned earlier, were recorded at the Manor Mobile. It includes not just the Albert Hall and the Rainbow, but the Victoria Palace Theatre as well in all of its glory. Two from 1974 and one from 1975.

Listening to these shows, you can just close your eyes and imagine yourself being at those three venues and watching the three masters, one of which Michael Hoening of Agitation Free who was a stand in for Baumann while he was on a road trip at the Albert Hall, showcasing their true visionary of bringing the sounds to life. The two Blu-Ray’s contains the 5.1 mixes that Wilson did on Phaedra, Oedipus Tyrannus, and Ricochet. Now some of the tracks were up-mixed by using the Penteo Software because some of the multi-tracks are missing.

Not only that, but rare clips including the performance at the Coventry Cathedral which was shown on The Old Grey Whistle Test on October 3, 1976 and as a bonus track from the Stratosfear disc, and a documentary about the band entitled, Signale aus der Schwabischen Strasse which was originally shown on NDR/SFB TV in Germany on May 23, 1976 which contains a performance, interviews with the fans, the band, Richard Branson, Monika Froese, John Peel, Observer critic/filmmaker Tony Palmer, and writer Barry Miles.

It includes a big gigantic 72-page book containing liner notes by Wouter Bessels, promo posters, photos of the band, multi-track tapes, loose flyer for the Victoria Palace Theatre, reviews, pictures, interviews with Steve Joliffe and rare interviews with the late great Edgar Froese. The only downside I have with not just with the book and the box set, but I just wished that Monika Froese, wife to Edgar Froese deserves a whole lot of credit for the visual aids she had done and the photos she took of the band as well.

But this box set might be in your alley. Yes there are some flaws, but when you are ready to embark on a sonic landscaping adventure, you might want to prepare to put your headphones on and turn it up because the adventure is only just the beginning to ride into the darkness of the Stratosfear’s of Phaedra.

Stratus Luna - Stratus Luna

Listening to Stratus Luna’s sole self-titled debut on the MusicMagick label and distributed by MoonJune Records, it’s like going back in time by revisiting those classic records from the hearts and minds of bands such as; Nektar, Goblin, Camel, and Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso. This band launched back in 2017 at their hometown of Sao Paulo in Brazil. They have done their homework very well to capture the spirit of the golden-era of the progressive rock genre.

And they’re making sure that the flaming fires doesn’t hit the ocean. The band considers Gustavo Santhiago on Keyboards and Flute; Ricardo Santhiago on Guitar; Giovanni Lenti on Drums, and Gabriel Golfetti, son of Fabio Golfetti and the current member of Gong, on Bass Guitar. From the moment I put on Stratus Luna’s debut release into my lucky earphones, I was quite surprised to hear something special in this band.

And believe me, they've knocked it right out of the ball park. They don’t need the massive mainstream of Late Night talk shows of Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and Conan O’Brien, they have their music that keeps the Stratus Luna train chugging well into the night. Some of the highlights that are on this album, you might really want to take note of.

From the shuttling keyboards that makes the jump to light speed with some Goblin-like structures with Nimue, it gives Gustavo a chance by giving Lenti and Golfetti a chance to punch through various doors as they share this incredible melody for a couple of seconds between guitar and flute from Gustavo to share this territory of Andy Latimer’s texture.

Should I also mention that Gustavo takes us back for another round up in the Milky Way by honoring Morgan Fisher’s keyboard playing during his time of the sessions on Nova Solis? I would take that as a yes. O Centro Do Labirnto sees the keyboards and guitar going for a chance to run towards the voyages on Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone as he awaits for his next story as we open up the doors into the oceans of Annot Rhul’s Levianthan-era.

Its part psychedelic, part mellotron-sque, part Leslie speakers, and quite mysterious to see and hear where Stratus Luna will takes us next.  NREM is locked into our solar systems as the atmospheric landscape of space and time opens up those whirly moogs to give us a sign to coming home back to Earth.

Pandas Voardoras is where the band walks to the sound of the Bluesy rhythms thanks to Ricardo’s riffs before some incredible Organ/Rhodes exercise. It then suddenly rises for a couple of seconds as Gabriel and Gustavo walk into the jazzy sidewalks as if Thelonious Monk had teamed up with Camel by creating his own magic on the piano for Lady Fantasy.

Stratus Luna’s debut release is not just an incredible album this year, but this is where I think that this band has got something up their sleeve. Leonardo Pavkovic has hit more homeruns this year so far with the MoonJune label. And with Stratus Luna, this is an album that you might want to experience and knowing the score very well.

Mediæval Bæbes - A Pocketful of Posies

Since their formation in 1996 by Katharine Blake and the late Dorothy Carter, Mediæval Bæbes are one of the most successful folk ensembles to come out of England. They’ve released eight studio albums, two live albums, and had three chart-topping releases whilst selling out international tours. Including two Emmy nominations for their soundtrack to the ITV hit period drama, Victoria starring Doctor Who alumni, Jenna Coleman in the title role.

Their ninth studio album, A Pocketful of Posies, follow-up to 2013’s Of Kings and Angels, showcases both the folklore and meanings of the connecting history on Nursery Rhymes. Blake made these embryonic arrangements to the songs with her husband and partner Nick Marsh, singer-songwriter for The Urban Voodoo Machine, and From the Deep back in 2015.

Unfortunately, things took a different turn when Marsh was diagnosed with Cancer in 2014. Sadly, after a 15-month battle, he passed away in June of 2015. Katharine continued working on the album. And throughout her tragedy, music was her reliable hope in escapism. It has these dark and nightmarish visions throughout listening to A Pocketful of Posies. Not only you can feel her pain, but the struggle and the courage to move forwards.

Some of the centerpieces on A Pocketful of Posies, showcases Mediæval Bæbes’ structures of these Nursery Rhymes to a different level (With a little help from Kavus Torabi and Charlie Cawood of Knifeworld). Bye Baby Bunting has some of these operatic vocal arrangements that goes for a few seconds before transcending into this surreal arrangement of the Northettes (Barbara Gaskin, Ann Rosenthal, and Amanda Parsons).

They were a vocal trio that made contributions between Egg’s third and final studio album, The Civil Surface and Hatfield and the North’s first sole self-titled debut album while the voice of a little girl opens up with “Aww, poor Humpty!” begins the dramatic fall of Humpty Dumpty. The sound of piano strings being strummed and the harp having this free-improvisation to the vocals, opens up these minimal approaches that showcase the demise of Humpty’s head being cracked open to deliver some scrambled eggs.

The Grand Old Duke of York begins with Ben Woolacott’s militant drum intro by setting up the medieval (no pun intended) themes of early consort music as the vocals are combined into one by going in one direction and another as they increase the levels of the sound of children having fun in the background with Oranges & Lemons.

From its late ‘60s baroque introduction, There Was a Crooked Man sends the listener into the deep, dark forests by witnessing the old man’s intability to walk before returning to the Canterbury genre in acapella sound that Katherine sings with an eerie scenario on London Bridge is Falling Down. The storm and ominous chills of the magical saw section from See Saw Margery Daw becomes this cackling laugh by creating this nightmarish crime scene gone horribly wrong.

This was my third listen of A Pocketful of Posies and my introduction to the world Mediæval Bæbes. I have to say I was very impressed because I wanted to check them out after I believe reading about them in PROG Magazine many years ago. I’m not quite what year and issue it was, but this was a great introduction to discover this amazing ensemble that captures the styles of Consort, Renaissance, Classical, Minimal, and Folk rolled into one.

With A Pocketful of Posies, Katharine brought everything to a standstill and bringing the Nursery Rhymes into a different scenario. And it works very well. I hope that one day, I will check out their music to see what I was missing. Because this is a very good beginning for me start to delve into the waters of Mediæval Bæbes music.

Rosalie Cunningham - Rosalie Cunningham

"House of the glass red/where we repeat all our past regrets/in a dream from which we never wake/don’t we know/house of glass red’s the end." The lines that Rosalie sings from the third track of her sole self-titled debut album, delves into this darker view of insanity and revealing our own worst enemies are about to unfold.

I could imagine she took some of the inspirations from Damon Fox of BigElf, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, and Lewis Carroll by taking it a step further and moving beyond the sounds of Purson. After the band folded in 2017 with the release of their farewell single, Chocolate Money, Rosalie took a break. That same year, she recorded an incredible version of The Beatles’ Strawberry Fields Forever with help from her Dad on drums and percussion.

In 2018, she presented some of the material she had been working on last year on her YouTube page on January 13^th. And in October of that same year, she launched a PledgeMusic campaign for her solo album. But then, it took a different turn this year. According to the articles by Tosten Burks and Colin Stutz on January 24^th from the SPIN and Billboard websites, eight of the acts told Billboards that the website owed them money for completed campaigns.

PledgeMusic which launched 10 years ago, allowed fans to not just pre-order music, but help some of the indie acts fund the albums through direct sales with their fans whose pledges pay out within 30 days for the completion on their projects. But throughout some of the accounts that several managers and artists are struggling to receive payments from their campaigns with PledgeMusic.

It must have been a crushing blow for Rosalie to receive this devastating news in which she talked about the situation along with Danny Vaughn who mentioned about the nightmares of PledgeMusic on his YouTube page on January 23^rd. But then on March 28^th, something wonderful had happened. She landed to the world of Cherry Red’s Esoteric label.

Home to reissuing bands/artists such as Squackett, Fruupp, Curved Air, The Move, Barclay James Harvest, Renaissance, and Anthony Phillips to name a few, she feels right at home to be a part of the Esoteric Recordings family. Her sole self-titled debut release, is a welcoming return of brining her music that she worked on for two years, is a flower that is ready to burst open.

From its opening riff, Ride on my Bike is Rosalie pounding both the guitar and piano chords through a swirling orchestrated adventure by riding towards the psychedelic dooming grooves that is worth the trip. So you might prepare yourself to do some head-banging in that section before it changees to the fork in the road as she channels some early Pink Floyd by swimming towards The Piper at the Gates of Dawn while the bursting guitars and the drums sound like a tidal waving climax before returning to the center stage for Rosalie to land back on Earth with a high note.

Listening to F**k Love, I could tell that she uses the piano that Bob Dylan did during the sessions for Highway 61 Revisited, but with a different tone as it shares the same journey with the string sections of the Mellotron. Rosalie is very much like the master of ceremonies throughout this song that is about…..well, you get the general idea.

It has this 1920s ragtime sound during the Scott Joplin-era while featuring more of those swirling riffs with a vaudevillian twist that can take you towards the highest landscapes with some heavier clean rhythm sections. I love how on Riddles & Games feature the Marching rhythms with a ‘60s Vox Organ sound before they revved up the motorcycles to kick in with a Garage-Rock attitude.

You can imagine Rosalie is ready to use the battering ram to swing down very hard to blow the doors open with a hardcore punch that is ready to hit at any second. Butterflies is Rosalie’s nod to The Beatles White Album sessions as she tips her Homburg to the fab four as acoustic guitars and mellotron’s fly towards the heavenly snowflake skies.

A Yarn from a Wheel begins with the melodic structure of Dumbo’s Pink Elephants on Parade that Rosalie sings in the style of the composition before changing into a mellowing bluesy tone, revved up rhythms, and into the progressive structures of Peter Hammill as if he was making tea for the Welcome to my Nightmare-era of Alice Cooper. This isn’t just a prog epic, but it has everything in there that goes beyond the Purson sound and Rosalie nails the closing epic to channel both Van Der Graaf Generator and It’s a Beautiful Day before screaming her heart out in the last three minutes of the piece.

I have enjoyed listening to Rosalie’s debut solo release this year. And this is a welcoming return to let the fans of Purson know that she’s back in action and she’s not stopping for anyone blocking traffic for her. She continues to keep the flaming fires burning. And it will keep on burning for eternity.

Gong - The Universe Also Collapses

“Flicking through the pages/I’ve forgotten every word/The lines are meaningless/The photographs are blurred/And when I close the book/The story opens again.” The opening lines from the closing track of The Elemental shows that Gong are going strong since the passing of its co-founders, Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth. But keeping their spirit and legacy alive with their follow-up, The Universe Also Collapses. 

I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve listened to Gong’s music. Maybe four years or so that I haven’t gotten back on board with their Flying Teapot. But it’s time to head on board again with their fifteenth studio album released on the Kscope label. Their follow-up to Rejoice! I’m Dead! Is quite an achievement as Kavus continues to keep both Daevid and Gilli’s spirit alive as a new commander and the new captain of the Flying Teapot.

In an interview that Dave Strut and Kavus Torabi have done with The Quietus on May 15^th written by Sean Kitching entitled, The Strange World of…Gong, Kavus was asked how Gong’s music was in their DNA, “For me, it was always about the way that all of us write songs and the way that all of us write songs and the way we approach music. We’re applying this to Gong, but we’re not trying to ape what Gong did in the past.”

“I think we’ve all been affected enough by Gong for it to be in our DNA and for it to be a way of operating that, we’re doing new music in that framework.” And that is what the next generation of Gong are doing, is bringing a new form of sound in the structure of Gong’s music and where would the flying teapot would take them on their new adventures that awaits them for Kavus, Dave, Cheb, Fabio, and Ian.

Clocking in at 20 minutes and 30 seconds, Forever Reoccurring starts off with some early Tangerine Dream before Strut’s synthesizer’s sets up the controls up and running before the sliding guitars go up and down and go beyond the outer limits of space and time. Kavus is like the master of ceremonies by telling the listener on what is about to happen in the years to come before the planets collapse in front of our eyes.

Not only that, but it gives Ian East’s saxophone through some passages and Torabi creating some challenging lines throughout his guitar before heading back down on dry land and going into the Carnivals of the unknown. Torabi’s riffs on If Never I’m and Ever You, sets up these spacey punk sections as East goes in for the kill on his instrument with a stop-and-go moment before going into the next parallel universe.

My Sawtooth Wake follows you back into the Isle of Everywhere with some crunchy riffs that have these little structures of Raymond Scott’s Powerhouse before Kavus becomes this faceless figure of what has happened in the storyline featuring some creepy vocalizations as Torabi channels the visions of both Daevid Allen and the late great Robert Calvert from Hawkwind. As Gong sets up this intensive moment in the 7-minute mark. Now this took me about three listens to whether or not I liked The Universe Also Collapses.

And I had absolutely no idea of what my eardrums were going to say. Well, my eardrums welcomed Gong's new album this year. As I’ve mentioned earlier, Kavus is making sure that the spirits of Daevid and Gilli’s legacy is alive and well. Yes, there will be some dividing line in the sand whether to accept the new generation of Gong or not, but what they have done, is to honor and staying true to that legacy. And The Universe Also Collapses, is the next adventure for the new cadets on board the Flying Teapot. Okay everybody, repeat the following chant, “I Am, You Are, We Are, Crazy!” Now we’re ready!

Markus Reuter featuring Sonar & Tobias Reber - Falling For Ascension

Markus Reuter has made a name for himself as a musician, composer, producer, and an instrument designer. From his collaborations with Stick Men, The Crimson ProjeKCt, and producing bands/artists such as Gentle Knife, Yang, and Sonar’s Stephan Thelen, Reuter has been around for nearly 23 years. And there is not a stop sign for him, because he is still going strong and never giving up.

Two years ago, he released an album by teaming up with Sonar and live electronic Tobias Reber called, Falling For Ascension. Released via Ronin Rhythm Records, Nik Bartsch’s label, Falling For Ascension gives Reuter, Reber, and Sonar a chance to dive into the waters of some unbelievable nightmares. Markus wrote some of the early compositions between 1985 and 1987 when he was in his teens.

To bring both Sonar and Reber by lending Reuter a helping hand, this is an interesting combination, but it works. The album was recorded in one day similar to what John Coltrane had done with his 1965 classic, A Love Supreme in one session. Reuter wanted to have it done under his direction as the pieces were prepared as modules with the 12-tone system as he assigned the instructions to each member.

Frank Zappa once said, “Music in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something.” And that is what Falling For Ascension is, the sculpture of Reuter’s compositions being done from start to finish with some insane results.

Condition I is following in the veins of the ‘80s-era of King Crimson by keeping the fires burning. Markus and Sonar walk into this dangerous tightrope that goes from the Grand Canyon to the edges of the unknown. You can feel the levels go up a notch as Christian’s bass line and I believe it could be the electronics done by Tobias Reber. It goes into this bass and dark-like piano tones to set up the traps in its right place.

Condition II sounds like a Space Jazz Rock voyage that crosses over the Moonmadness-era of Camel, Herbie Hancock, Hawkwind, and Gong’s The Isle of Everywhere with it’s rhythmic melody. Throughout the loops and some of the Jonny Greenwood territories, it sends you towards a Clockwork Orange-like scenario with some insanity that is ready to unlock the prison doors so that the inmates can run the asylum.

The larger sections of the forests get even darker on Condition IV. As it gets bigger and bigger by the second both Markus and Sonar walk into, the piece is even more dangerous as Reber’s spooky atmosphere shows that the killer is on the loose by raising the heat gage level to 500 degrees. The closing track that clocks in at 22 minutes is Unconditional.

Listening to this train chugging riff that is on a loop, I can imagine that Markus is tipping his hat to Lainey Schooltree and her 2017 Rock Opera, Heterotopia as if they’re plaing the style of the final section, Utopia with a Crimson twist. But it goes into the Starless & Bible Black-era as Reuter knows exactly where he wants them to go into this final light at the end of the tunnel.

The music itself becomes brighter and brighter by thesecond as if to get out of those muddy tunnels. They know that once they reach the final mark, you could tell that this was one of the challenging structures of music that has have been a part of. And they deserve a gigantic pat on the back.

Now while this album itself didn’t grab me that much, it took me about a year or so to appreciate this album as if ears would accept Falling For Ascension or not. And for my ears accepted it. Now mind you, this album is not your typical prog-rock album, but Reuter, Reber, and Sonar finally release some magic underneath their sleeves and they nailed it.

Kuhn Fu - Chain The Snake

It’s been two years since Kuhn Fu have released a new album after the release of their 2017 album, Kuhnspiracy. So for me, I had completely forgotten about them. Until this year. Their follow-up Chain the Snake, shows them that the band are going strong. And this time it is filled with vengeance. Christian, Ziv, Esat, and George have the battering rams ready to burst the doors down with a hardcore punch.

Marco Messy Millionaire starts off with a brassy punk attitude as Christian channels both the Diablo Swing Orchestra and the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo by singing in the styles of Danny Elfman. It delves into some of the territories of Captain Beefheart as Christian and Ziv do this intensive challenge between each other as they raise the stake to see where both rhythm and improvisation go into some free-Jazz punk like structures that honor the WorldService Project.

Gargamel sees Kuhn Fu delve into the gems of Frank Zappa’s Weasles Ripped My Flesh. You could tell that Kuhn is like a composer by giving Ziv, George, and Esat some ideas on where he wants the band to march right into before going into this late ‘60s mysterious atmosphere with some wah-wah grooves. Traktus is one of their darker compositions by delving into the waters of the Rock In Opposition movement.

They channel parts of Henry Cow, Present, and Univers Zero before Christian Kuhn screams in the styles of Magma’s Christian Vander for a couple of seconds as Ziv’s clarinet and the dooming string bass sets up this nightmarish bloodbath as it switches into more of the punky movements as if Kuhn Fu are giving Green Day the big giant middle finger!

Gustav Grinch is a ska mode meets avant-jazz approach as Kuhn and Ziv crawl into this tiny little mouse hole by doing some alternate cartoon scores honoring Ren and Stimpy and the Robert Clampett-era of Looney Tunes. You can imagine Kuhn Fu are tearing down the rule books by going into the sounds by creating their take of making music for the 1942 short, Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid as if Beaky Buzzard has finally achieved his goal by capturing Bugs as if to please his mother.

Listening to Wolf’s Muckenkagel, Hadow’s tidal-wave intro on his drumkit is going through the sounds of The Ventures and The Surfaris. The chanting vocalziations go into a middle-eastern Malaguena motif as the chords makes these crashing sounds by setting up the final sequence of Clint Eastwood’s character of The Man with No Name in the final part of the trilogy, The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly.

Kuhn Fu have scored another touchdown in their own take of Football with Chain the Snake as if they brought everything from the kitchen table of Jazz, Swing, Ska, Punk, and the Rock In Opposition genre into a delicious Wasabi Mango Pineapple Smoothie. And Christian himself has delivered more than just a smoothie, but a volcanic eruption that is ready to explode.