Atem [Original recording remastered]

Tangerine Dream | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 22, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Castle - Old Numbers
• ASIN: B00004C4KZ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #593,806 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Atem

2. Fauni-Gena

3. Circulation of Events

4. Wahn

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Pick of early Dream, May 10, 2000

By 

Steve Benner "Stonegnome" (Lancaster, UK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Atem (Audio CD)

"Atem" was Tangerine Dream's fourth album, released in 1973. In many ways, it marks the group's furthest departure from the world of rock and pop and the closest they ever came to the sound world of the classical avant garde.

The opening title track, 'Atem' (the German word for 'breath') clearly builds upon earlier TD material, like 'Alpha Centauri' and 'Zeit', being similar both in scale-it is over 20 minutes long-and style. In many ways, it is an updating of "Electronic Meditation", with Chris Franke's tom-tom drumming providing the main impetus over mostly organ and synth sounds in its early parts, and for its almost organic overtones. 'Atem' is a beautifully structured work and has an exquisite central section, with a quiet heartbeat pattern played on tom toms, over an eerie mellotron loop and some beautifully textured patterns of white noise and, later, throbbing VCS3 sounds.

The next track, 'Fauni-Gena' is another largish work (almost 11 mins) which continues in a similar vein. The sound world here is suggestive of the primitive rainforest, with, once more, a haunting mellotron loop over the sounds of exotic birds and other creatures (whether real or synthesised is never obvious) carrying the listener's imagination off to far away times and places. 'Circulation of Events' is another typical early TD meditative piece, featuring sustained organ and synthesiser notes over a rising VCS3 pulse. The final track, 'Wahn' (another German title: this one means 'delusion'-in the sense of that which gives rise to insanity!) is unique in the Tangerine Dream canon, however, in consisting of little beyond vocal utterings (grunts, mutterings, screams, shouts and so on) echoed and reverbed, until a rising percussion line restores some semblance of decorum and a gentle mellotron theme sings the work to a close. This is a track owing more to Ligeti's 'Aventures' and 'Nouvelles Aventures' and works of that ilk, than to anything from the rock or pop world. Perhaps the closest you can get to this nowadays would be Trevor Wishart's 'Vox cycle'.

This CD is a remastered release from original master tapes by TD's own Eastgate studio, so is probably as definitive a release as could be achieved. Its analogue origins remain apparent throughout, however, with tape hiss being quite prevalent, especially through the quieter passages, of which this disc has plenty. This needn't put you off, though, as the material more than makes up for these technical shortcomings, and I'm happy to report that the release is free of any particularly disturbing remastering artefacts.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The pick of early Dream, January 27, 2003

By 

Steve Benner "Stonegnome" (Lancaster, UK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Atem (Audio CD)

"Atem" was Tangerine Dream's fourth album, released in 1973. In many ways, it marks the group's furthest departure from the world of rock and pop and the closest they ever came to the sound world of the classical avant garde. It is interesting to note that, for the first time, no guest musicians are credited, suggesting that the group of Edgar Froese, Chris Franke and Peter Baumann was settling down to working together and becoming more confident of their sound world.

The opening title track, 'Atem' (the German word for 'breath') clearly builds upon earlier TD material, like 'Alpha Centauri' and 'Zeit', being similar both in scale - it is over 20 minutes long - and style. In many ways, it is an updating of "Electronic Meditation", with Chris Franke's tom-tom drumming providing the main impetus over mostly organ and synth sounds in its early parts, and for its almost organic overtones. Present for the first time, though, is the distinctive sound of the mellotron, which was to become so much a Tangerine Dream trademark throughout the mid- to late-70s. 'Atem' is a beautifully structured work and has an exquisite central section, with a quiet heartbeat pattern played on tom toms, over an eerie mellotron loop and some beautifully textured patterns of white noise and, later, throbbing VCS3 sounds. At this point, TD comes close to the sound world of the electroacoustic musicians, especially of the French Canadian acousmatic school.

The next track, 'Fauni-Gena' is another largish work (almost 11 mins) which continues in a similar vein. The sound world here is suggestive of the primitive rainforest, with, once more, a haunting mellotron loop over the sounds of exotic birds and other creatures (whether real or synthesised is never obvious) carrying the listener's imagination off to far away times and places. Once more, it is highly redolent of the acousmatic school of composition.

'Circulation of Events' is another typical early TD meditative piece, featuring sustained organ and synthesiser notes over a rising VCS3 pulse. The final track, 'Wahn' (another German title: this one means 'delusion' - in the sense of that which gives rise to insanity!) is unique in the Tangerine Dream canon, however, in consisting of little beyond vocal utterings (grunts, mutterings, screams, shouts and so on) echoed and reverbed, before a rising percussion line restores some semblance of decorum and a gentle mellotron theme sings the work to a close. This is a track owing more to Ligeti's 'Aventures' and 'Nouvelles Aventures' and works of that ilk, than to anything from the rock or pop world. Perhaps the closest you can get to this nowadays would be Trevor Wishart's 'Vox cycle'.

This CD is a (1996) remastered release from original master tapes by TD's own Eastgate studio, so is probably as definitive a release as could be achieved. Its analogue origins remain apparent throughout, however, with tape hiss being quite prevalent, especially through the quieter passages, of which this disc has plenty. This needn't put you off, though, as the material more than makes up for these technical shortcomings, and I'm happy to report that the release is free of any particularly disturbing remastering artefacts. Although its 40 minute total playing time is less than generous by CD standards, this was typical of its day and this disc remains highly recommended to anyone wanting to explore the realm of early Tangerine Dream, or other works out of the mainstream of 1970's pop.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Symphony, June 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Atem (Audio CD)

The dark side of Tangerine Dream. In this recording, they summarized all previous experiments with sound. The result is stunning, and there is no doubt why John Peel, a BBC DJ decided to promote a completely unknown electronic group back in early 1973. Creepy and dark music. Best consumed at night, on headphones. The title track contains all elements that I appreciate in the oldest vintage Tangerine Dream, namely: creepy, monumental tones, the feel of space and distance, danse macabre of these early analog instruments, no conventionality and lack of musical conformism. If Zeit was the interlude, then Atem is the symphony. Never later they managed to record such a creepy record. I always have goose-bumps when I listen to Fauni-Gena. After you meditatize yourself completely, at the very end of the record there comes Wahn, a grotesque track. Putting aside the modulated sound of acoustic percussion, one might say that this is a live recording of a BDSM session. Brrrr. See for yourself. Highly recommended for those who want to extract the best from their experimental years.