RARITIES

Artist: Syndromeda
P: 1999
Moog sololines with interesting sequencing. Berlin School style with lots of nice sounds inbetween. Music that reminds the listener to a little more modern version of Ricochet.
Long tracks with the typical Syndromeda melody style.

Here the last copy of the original Groove CD release!

Artist: Syndromeda
P: 2001
This release offers 71 minutes recorded live at the Jodrell Bank Planetarium in England on May 5, 2001. Here, Budts produces all new material that celebrates a meeting ground for earth and sky, where humanity benefits from its own questioning nature. A lot of live sequencing.

Here the last copy of the CD Version!

Artist: Synergy
P: 1975 / 2003
Electronic Realizations For Rock Orchestra was the debut album from Synergy and was seen as a huge step forward for synthesizers in rock music when it was first released in 1975 and received not only critical acclaim but also positive commercial acclaim also. This re issue has been re mastered for this release and contain sleeve notes by Larry Fast and will be the first in a series of re issues that will see the entire Synergy back catalogue re issued over the next twelve months.  This version of Electronic Realizations includes a bonus track of an earlier version of Classical Gas than was to later appear on Sequencer.  this earlier version actually appeared on the Sire/Phonogram European release of that album (months after the US release). It's been placed in the same running order to re-create on CD the way the Electronic Realizations LP appeared outside of North America back in the mid 70s.

Here the last copy!

Artist: Synthetik
P: 1993
If you like fast rhythms like Kraftwerk and synthesizersounds played like Andy Pickford, you are right here. This is the rare original first version.
 

Artists: T-Bass UK
P: 1999
LTD 50
Limited edition released at Alfa Centauri 10th April 1999.
Track 1 recorded live at EMMA IV, 31st May 1997.
Track 2 recorded 23rd March 1999 at Newcastle Arts Centre.
Tracks 3 to 5 taken from the album Generator

Here the last Copy!

Artist: Tales
P: 1998
From France, Tales is the work of keyboardist/percussionist Jean-Luc Berthelot. The music is an ambient electronic effort that at times reminded me of Kitaro's mid-80's albums and at others fell fully into early Tangerine Dream territory. Dreamily spacey with lots of sounds and effects, the music absorbed me into it's aural universe as Berthelot weaves his floating electronic textures. I enjoyed the music, but it falls too close to New Age fluff to stay interesting for long. One element that I do consider a strength is that Berthelot doesn't slap on layer after layer of keyboard orchestration. Much of this is quite subtle. At times there will be only percussion and synths accompanied by a flute-sounding melody line. Lightly pulsating keys provide the backdrop for soundscapes that at other times are less for melody than to create atmosphere, or even an entire environment. Listening to this in the dark conjured up images of a nighttime sky filled with millions of twinkling and shooting stars.

Here is the last copy!

Artist: Tangerine Dream
P: 1993
"220 Volt Live" is a recording from Tangerine Dream's tour of the USA in 1992. It is also the companion CD to the "Three Phase" video of the same tour featuring the same music. All in all, the concert is an inspired mix of the traditional Tangerine Dream elements of massed synthesiser choirs over sliding sequencer-driven rhythms with the newer elements of Linda Spa's bluesy sax playing, Zlatko Perica's guitar lines and a heavy drum-kit driven rock beat, so characteristic of many 90s Tangerine Dream studio albums. The main set consists of nine numbers, played in the usual TD live manner of two half-hour seamless segues. The concert opens with some trademark Tangerine Dream synth calls, announcing the start of 'Oriental Haze', a beautiful synthesiser ballad over a rising sequencer pulse into which a soaring sax line integrates effortlessly. The synthesiser rhythm track continues into 'Two bunch palms', this time beneath a powerful guitar lead which takes us into the heart of the concert's first set with '220 Volt' and 'Homeless', both of which are classic Tangerine Dream blends of chorused synths and singing guitar lines over a restless, ever shifting, sequencer pulse.The second h alf of the concert starts in traditional Tangerine Dream manner, too, with some unusual and tantalising synth voicing on 'Sundance Kid' with its sliding, overlapping sequencer pulses pulling the rhythm around again, more hallmark Tangerine Dream. 'Backstreet Hero' starts out reminiscent of much of the earlier album, "Le Parc", but gradually the pure synthesiser elements in the music are squeezed out by rhythm guitar and drum kit. The transformation from old to new era TD continues in 'The Blue Bridge', where some traditional Dream synthesiser themes are gradually overpowered by the saxophone lead, before returning briefly as introduction to the soaring guitar-driven heart of the second half of the concert, 'Hamlet'. The main set closes with 'Dreamtime', in which the saxophone, guitar and rock drum-beat domination over the synthesisers announces in no uncertain terms that the old Tangerine Dream is dead! Long live Tangerine Dream! The disc has two fairly feeble encore pieces (one of which is a cover of the immortal Jimi Hendrix number 'Purple Haze', about which, the less said the better, Grammy nominated though it may have been; the other, entitled 'Treasure of Innocence', is a synthesiser ballad typical of those that TD use to send people home from their concerts -- a sort of musical after-dinner mint) to finish what is otherwise an excellent Tangerine Dream performance. Once again, Froese demonstrates that he is at his most inspired when called upon to entertain a live audience. There is over an hour of excellent music here (and that's ignoring the encores!) so even if you buy no other Tangerine Dream record of the 90s, make sure you have this one!

Here the last copy of the first Miramar version.
 

Artist: Tangerine Dream
P: 1989
CD-5 single included an extended non-album version besides the LP version of this track.
This was a very unique 1989 project for Edgar Froese, as the soundtrack is for a 360-degree movie that was shown at the premier of the Imagine 360 theater in West Berlin.
With Paul Haslinger, Froese delivers a much more metallic edge to the soundscape, though it is a vision from the sadness/bitterness of separation. Alexander Square is the foundation piece to the work. The music obviously comes from the heart and Froese takes a journey past the man-made wall and barbed-wire to musically gaze into the soul of the people.

Here the last copy!

Artist: Tangerine Dream
P: 1997
Ambient Monkeys began its life as pre-concert music for Tangerine Dream's 1997 European tour, and was later released on their TDI label at the request of their fans.
The album is aptly named, as the compositions fade in and out over a constant bed of prominent sound effects (which, aside from the aforementioned monkeys, also includes surf and trains). It is also ambient in the Brian Eno sense of the word, meant to be listened to as much passively as actively. Indeed, the repetitive sounds actually discourage intense listening.
The music itself includes themes from a couple classical works, altered songs from albums such as Optical Race and Green Desert and some original pieces, most of which don't linger long enough to make much of an impression.
Because of these features, it probably served its original purpose quite well. As an album, however, it is more of a curio.

Here the last copy!

Artist: Tangerine Dream
P: 1987
Composed in the spring of 1987, "Canyon Dreams" was available only via the VHS video until 1991, when finally Miramar decided to publish it on CD. The digital release does not include the introduction track, a short but interesting piece of music. What we get instead, is a bonus track, composed and performed by Jerome Froese, a regular member of the band in 1991. It's absolutely divergent from the musical style, spirit and quality of the material, and thus I can't possibly see the reason for its inclusion. For fans, it was the absolute LAST chance to hear music from TD while Chris Franke was still a part of this great band.

Here the last copy of the Miramar Version!