Customer Reviews

Atem

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"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.

"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.

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.

I have often wondered why Tangerine Dream never seems to go away. The stuff they've done in the last 15 years or so is so generic that it's not even funny, their music during that time period seems pretty indistinguisible from any countless incidental music found on TV shows and movies. In my opinion, TD should have called it quits after they released Force Majeure in 1979. My opinion of Tangerine Dream in the 1970s is totally different and I found what they did some of the most interesting music I have ever heard. Atem is their final album from Ohr, and apparently they left the label because they were sick of Rolf Ulrich Kaiser (the owner of Ohr) marketing the band like freaks (R.U. Kaiser changed the label name from Ohr to Kosmische Musik after Atem and Ash Ra Tempel's Join Inn were released), this was the exact same reason why Klaus Schulze also left Ohr/Kosmiche Musik as well. It could also be the fact that BBC Radio mogul John Peel loved Atem and gave the band exposure outside of Germany and so a British label showed interest in them (in this case, Virgin). By Ohr standards, Atem is by far TD's most accessible album during that era (1970-1973), but even that album is quite inaccessible, but still easier to get in to than Zeit or Alpha Centauri. Listening to this album, there is absolutely no evidence where this band was headed when they signed to Virgin (no sequencer heavy synth patterns here, it's still pretty much the same vein as Alpha Centauri and Zeit). Atem opens with the title track which features this really cool Mellotron and percussion and as the intensity builds up to a climax, there's this explosion in which the sound dies down to some really cool droning. "Fauni-Geni" is basically a demonstration of Edgar Froese's Mellotron, with tons of cool effects that sounds like it came out of a jungle. He'd later expanded on the style of that cut on his second solo album, Epsilon in Malaysian Pale (1975). "Circulation of Events" is another really disturbing droning cut, while "Wahn" features some really disturbing screaming that even disturbed my mother (and she's used to the music I listen to). All the music has that really creepy atmosphere and the cover, created by Edgar Froese himself, really fits the music very well. The baby on the cover is that of Edgar's son, Jerome Froese, little did anyone know back in 1973 that some 20 years later, that baby, who would be grown up by that time, would be a member of this band (unfortunatley they were no longer worth listening to by that time).

Tangerine Dream was going through a slow period of transition from 1970's "Alpha Centauri" to 1974's "Phaedra". This album represents a step in that transition where the band finally begins to embrace electronic instruments as their primary tools, while still holding on to some of their "Alpha Centauri"-type experimental approach. This is the last TD album released before they went to England to record with Virgin, and also the last studio album to feature drums until 1979's "Cyclone".

Personally, I find this album somewhere between the industrial freakouts of "Electronic Meditation" and the icy moonscapes of "Zeit". There are some wild and crazy moments, but the disc is dominated by a sense of space, and empty quietness. Quite a lot of the album sounds like Zeit outtakes or backing tracks waiting for a solo, but they provide a nice contrast to the louder, more upfront moments.

This is the first TD album to feature the Mellotron, which would become a staple of the Tangerine Sound in the following decade. The album is drenched in Mellotron, but the instrument is most prominent in the first two tracks, the sidelong epic "Atem" and the shorter, mysterious "Fauni-Gena". "Fauni-Gena" also contains some kind of backing track made up of jungle bird noises.

Overall, I would say that if you like "Alpha Centauri"s first side, you'll like this record. Bear in mind that the primitive recording environment is made evident in the amount of tape hiss throughout the album, but that's easy to ignore.

The Tangs really found direction on this, their third release from way back in 1973. This was the first release featuring the Edgar Froese, Chris Franke, Peter Baumann line-up that quickly established them as out-there pioneers of experimental space-rock. Listeners familiar with their early Virgin label releases "Phaedra" and "Rubycon" will find "Atem" to be a worthy companion to both those widely-acknowledged classics and an interesting taste of a new genre just taking its first baby steps after some nasty pratfalls on their earlier releases ("Electronic Meditation"-unlistenable, and "Zeit", not much better).

"Atem" ("breathless" in German) was the first band effort to really codify the cosmic atmospherics that the Tangs quickly perfected on their other 1970's classic releases, most particularly the previously cited "Rubycon" and "Phaedra". Let's be clear about this: you will never sing along to "Atem" as you drive to work; you will never put it in the CD changer for you and your friends to nibble cheese and slurp Zinfandel to. This is stark Teutonic synthesizer moodiness at its most austere and ponderous level. This is not music you warm to; it's unique in the chilly soundscapes their then-exotic analog synthesizers created. Unlike their synth predecessors like Dick Hyman, Wendy Carlos, Tomita, or Keith Emerson, the Tangs were indifferent to the synthesizers' ability to reinterpret previous musical tropes in a zippy, novel 1960's sort of way. Froese, Franke & Baumann chose instead to take a sharp left turn and instead create a whole new stylistic vocabulary of electronic composition which they owned more or less exclusively for a short while. Contemporaries like Klaus Schulze (a member of the Tangs on their first release) also drew from the same well his old band initially drilled, and quite effectively too (I recommend Schulze's 1977 release "Mirage" very highly), but the Tangs definitely should be your first stop in experiencing this unique stew of Wagnerian drama and ethereal soundscapes.

If you're new to this genre and interested I would recommend you start with "Rubycon," Tangerine Dream's fifth release, issued to great acclaim in 1975, and to my ears still their pinnacle of composition and performance. If this impresses you, then go back & pick up "Phaedra", then "Atem". Or possibly skip "Atem" altogether in favor of their first live album, the hypnotic "Ricochet," a fascinating taste of the mid-70's "scene," where edgy artists like the Tangs could pull off shows premiering all previously unrecorded material to reverential audiences on the continent basking in awe (or possibly just stoned deference) to the mysterious prog-rock kaliedoscope being sonically unfurled.

Germany was really the birthplace of this electronic rock genre and during the '70's had an outrageously vibrant progressive rock scene, boasting not only the Tangs but other luminaries such as Ash Ra Temple, Eloy, Nine Days Wonder, Kraan, Kraftwerk, Trimvirat, Cluster, Tritonus and many others who burned not quite so incandescently during this brief fruiting of adventurous rockers who have left us such a rich vein of pioneering music to rediscover and appreciate.

"Atem", while not a top-drawer example of what the German scene could produce at that time still stands up as an early obelisk on the road toward the ruins of the shining progressive city erected in the 1970's and since mostly abandoned. RECOMMENDED for those undaunted by sounds that challenge you to rise to their level and not vice-versa.

A fantastic bit of music. The type of music I would expect to float from an otherworldly temple rendered in an old 70's issue of Heavy Metal (illustrated fantasy) magazine. Long Live Den!!! I purchased Exit as well, but MUCH perfer Atem. Very much worth the dime.

The first record by Tangerine Dream that i heard, and i believe it to be one of their best. departing from the heavy dissonance of Ziet, Atem is a more subtle journey through strange sonics. most of this album is fairly difficult to describe, and i wouldn't say it has a very deffinite emotional context, being rather abstract. most of the sounds are created with high pitched moving synths and melotrons, though there are some lower sounds and a few very good drum portions. while at first i did not really get it, this album's strange feel became very infectious. i can recall listening to Fauni-Gena, and someone coming into my room and saying, 'what are you listening to, an aviary?' anyway, while i find it rather difficult to review this album, i must say that some of the complaints for this work are that it is less harsh than Ziet, but i really don't think it would have been great if they had simply done that album a second time. this is much more subtle, but itself rather strange and dissonant.

Don't be fooled by the late cheap electro-syn Tangerine Dream. Their real power lies on their first 4 album (From electronic meditation to Atem) and vanished after the success of "Phaedra". Atem and Alpha Centuri are their best records. Both are the best exemplars of cosmic krautrock. The eerie aura, stellar jam of mellotrons and keyboards, sparse yet effective ambient arrangement... avant-grade at best. The best cut is "Wahn", it's just like the realm of a nightmare. ... "fauni gena" makes you feel lost in Amazon rain forest, facing death. Excellent electronic music.

After the dark space ambience of their previous release,"Zeit","Atem",TD's 4th album,released in 1973,is significantly lighter in tone when you compare the two.This release not only marks the changing sound of TD at the time,but also marks the band's first use of the then new Mellotron synthesizer.Out of this new synth model,a whole new sound was beginning to emerge from the depths of the Tangerine Dream well,and to good effect.The album opens on an unusually,surprisingly,energetic note on the opening moments of the title piece,"Atem",which really drives the piece along,but before long,the energy abruptly gives way to the classic TD musical sound of eerie,synthesized silence.For a moment,you can actually hear yourself breathing,as the eerie quiet synth backdrops sound like a soundtrack from a horror movie,and while the synths are at a low sound spectrum,they still manage to sound menacing,like one of those minutes where everything is relaxed,albeit eerie,but it is still threatening,as if there's something horrible around the corner,just waiting to ambush you,and while the synths and soundeffects do pick up in frequency and volume every now and then,nothing major really happens,and the piece eventually fades into silence,and ends.A brilliant work that proves that Tangerine Dream was the master of suspense among all the similar competing groups of the time.The second track,"Fauni Gena",features sustained recordings of what sound like birds in a jungle,chirping in the background,while a beautiful,yet eerie synthesized flute plays a structured tune,with support from other synths which make this piece turn out to be as close to meditative as Tangerine Dream was willing to go,but without sacrificing their trademark dark sound.A beautiful,relaxing,yet eerie and uneasy piece.The third track,"Circulation Of Events",is a very short work in terms of TD's standard track lengths at the time,clocking in at only about 5 minutes.Not much to say about this piece,except that despite the time constraint,the band was still able to make another great experimental cut.The last track on this album,"Wahn",is the reason why I rated this album 4 stars instead of 5.This piece is unique in Tangerine Dream's complete line of work,because here,they seem to have gone insane,by using their shameful vocal talents by way of grunts,shouts,and screams,that can easily disturb even the most accustomed fans of experimental/ambient music.Even I was disturbed when I first listened to this track,and I have to say,even today,I still don't much care for it because it detracts from the mood that the rest of the album set up,and is in no way in line with what the band was trying to accomplish at the time.There is a limit to everything,including experimentalism,and too much of it can add up with bad results,and "Wahn" is a perfect example of it.Thank goodness TD didn't try this ever again,because if they would have,it probably would have had negative consequences for the band.But don't let that set you off from buying this album,because the other three tracks on this album are all good enough to override the flaw of the final track.Overall,this album is just as good as TD's albums before it,and represents a snapshot of TD's metamorphosis of their sound from space music to more ambient sounding recordings.Happy Listening!