Introducing The Tangerine Tree

Details

Created on Tuesday, 26 July 2011 19:53

Published Date

Hits: 1020

Electronic Music is big these days as was proven by the success of the Electric Daisy Carnival.  But the grandfathers of Electronic Music are Tangerine Dream (a.k.a. TD or Tadream).  Hailing from the days when electronic music was more of an oddity than a cool factor, Tangerine Dream was cranking out vast, classically inspired, cutting edge, sweeping electronic landscapes.

The band underwent many changes to its lineup, but always kept Edgar Froese at its center.  The classic lineup is generally acknowledged to have spanned from about 1970 to 1977, and at its peak featured Edgar Froese (1967 - Present), Peter Baumann (1971 - 1977), and Chris Franke (1970 - 1987). 

I first got turned on to Tangerine Dream in 1977.  Unfortunately, that was just after their epic American Tour that yielded the Encore double live album: four sides of vinyl each with about one track spanning the entire side.  An extravagance for the time.  Unfortunately, because their primitive synthesizers were extremely sensitive to vibrations, the equipment did not travel well, and the band suffered some catastrophic damage to their equipement while flying over the Australian Outback later that year.  Consequently, they chose to avoid touring overseas until the technology became more robust.  That meant they would not return to America for another ten years.  By the time they did, the classic lineup had dissipated. 

Peter Baumann left the group in 1977, but they carried on with some still excellent personnel, including Johannes Schmoelling (1979–1985), Paul Haslinger (1986–1990), and others, but the more the lineup changed, the more the music lost its pioneering edge.  When Chris Franke finally left the lineup in 1987,  I more or less gave up on the band, despite the fact that Baumann, Froese and Franke each produced compelling, if not excellent solo works during and after these years. 

Well it turns out I have a friend back in Cleveland who used to manage an email list directed at Tadream fans, and he was instrumental in setting up a live TD concert recording distribution tree during the Internet's earlier days. 

So I set him up with an ftp account on my website, and he was kind enough to bestow upon me 37 volumes of the Tangerine Tree, under the proviso that I not charge for the music, and not allow others to charge for it. These recordings span the band's many phases, from the mid-seventies to the 21st Century, including many gems from the classic era.

If you look to the left, you will see that the Tangerine Tree section of the menu has expanded out to list the various shows hosted here on the site.  Just click on the desired show, and another window will open with the tracks and a player.  To play a track, just click on its name, and the player will appear. 

And now, here it is.  Free to stream, free to download, provided that you do not further distribute it for charge or profit.  As long as you share it freely, it's all good. 

Enjoy, and share freely!