Synergy - Electronic Realizations for Orchestra. 1975 Passport (LP). I remember hearing Synergy for the first time going back to my initial foray into electronic music in the early 80s while still in high school. Perhaps I was already gaining a bit of snootiness, but this just seemed so cheesy compared to the classy German musicians that I was into. Haha. Well... Larry Fast's debut is definitely a well put-together album, and it's his only feature of mellotron, but there is a bit of pop classical thrown in that is disturbing. If I didn't have racks of music like this already in the collection, I'd probably load up on Synergy. I'll also try his others as I find them, just for comparison. For music such as this, it's surprising how much copy was sold originally here in the States. (Dec)
Tangerine Dream - Frankfurt June 11 1983, Fassbinder Memorial Concert. 2004 Castle. This is the last CD in The Bootleg Box Vol. 2 and it's entirely superfluous. They really should have added a better show. Essentially this is the same concert as Logos with bad sound. And again, completely prescriptive and familiar. This isn't being counted as part of my collection though of course it remains inside the box. Very disappointing end to a great box set. (Oct)
Tangerine Dream - Turn of the Tides. 1994 Miramar (CD). Thrift shop find (Oct). As mentioned before, I've made the decision to pickup any and all Tangerine Dream post-Underwater Sunlight if I find them at a thrift shop. I found this along with Rockoon. I didn't write about Rockoon, but it wasn't terrible - had a few decent ideas. Turn of the Tides is similar but better. Plenty of good guitar here though the saxophone addition was never a good idea. It's too adult contemporary for a band like Tangerine Dream. 'Jungle Journey' is the highlight for me, recalling their early 80s efforts. As I will say ad infinitum, just not enough room to keep everything.
*Djam Karet - Suspension & Displacement. 1991 HC (CD). Collection revisit (Apr). Bought this when it came out, famously with its cousin CD Burning the Hard City. For most of that time since, I held the other CD as the better of the two. Now I'm not so sure. My mental image of Suspension & Displacement was that of a boring electronic / space rock album. But I had dismissed the full band effort here, and there are many organic moments, including much needed warmth instruments like acoustic guitar. A definite +2, and I have a whole new outlook on this, some 31 years after the fact.
Klaus Schulze - Beyond Recall. 1991 Venture (CD). Collection revisit (Mar). Klaus tells us this is his 23rd solo album. That would be not counting archival releases, otherwise it would be his 2,300th album. There's really nothing at all wrong with these past-his-prime Schulze releases, but they aren't particularly enlightening either. 77 minutes of Schulze at this stage is purely background music. There's a lot of what sounds like acoustic guitar here, but it's just more synths. I don't have any nostalgia towards this title, as it came along way past my initial discovery and enamoration (not a word, but it should be!) for the artist. My electronic collection grew out of control about 17 years ago, and it's time to trim some of that tree. And this is a low hanging branch.
*Robert Schroder - Harmonic Ascendant. 1984 Racket (1979) (LP). Continuing on with my irrational love affair with 80s electronic (OK, 1979...) is Robert Schroder's debut. He has a million albums, but this is the first one I've heard. One of the early Klaus Schulze disciple recordings, that Schulze released on his IC imprint. Must have been a big hit in their native Germany, as there are many re-pressings. Wonderful Berlin School, though more melodic than usual and not as sequencer based. Maybe too much vocoder on side 2, though if you've had enough drinks, it starts to morph into something more pleasurable... (Feb)
Neuronium - Heritage. 1984 Jive Electro (LP). Bought this one when it came out, but didn't survive the 90s purge. Now that I'm reliving my 80s Euro electronic experience, I thought I'd give this one another go. Mostly satisfying though the drum machine here is superfluous, without invention. And I have to admit that A2 is pretty dull. So yea, not the pick of the litter after all. (Feb)
Neuronium - Invisible Views. 1983 Roadrunner (LP). I sense a theme. Yet another repurchase, though I originally bought this one later in the 90s. A little bit better than Heritage, and the guitar is still present. These Neuronium's were part of my long game, but they're certainly enjoyable on the whole. (Feb)]
* - Keeping for the collection
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