Tangerine Dream - Dream Sequence - The Best of Tangerine Dream

Got this on a whimsy, really. Well, I like it. This one is all from the Virgin Years, which may not be that representative of them as it misses out the early Krautrock/psychedelia stuff. The songs are mostly hypnotic ambient synth-based tunes, and TD is the grandfather of trance, particularly Goan trance, as Kraftwerk was the grandfather of techno. The counter-melodies owe a lot to minimalist composers, and the pulses and arpeggiation sounds a bit Steve Reich-ish. The excerpts from the longer pieces usually just concentrate on the hooksy parts, such as those from Phaedra and Stratosfear, and you don't really get to hear the full progression of each song (both are over 20 minutes long and can't really fit here). They also obviously influenced Commodore 64 composers like Martin Galway, whose Parallax loader theme is a lot like Ricochet Pt. 2. Disc two, however, is a bit tepid, with Logos and Dominion being really ambling boring pieces.

Tangerine Dream - Phaedra

Their breaktrhough album. Probably something great in 1974 as nobody was doing this kind of music then, except for Kraftwerk which is a totally different ballgame entirely anyway, as this is mostly layered sequencers on top of a repeating "pulse" synth-throb. The frontispiece title track is very good. The other songs float by aimlessly, although they are not as bad as Autobahn's filler tracks.

The Undertones - Hypnotised

Just to complete my discography (I have the other three). The songwriting ain't as sharp as the debut, and the more "mature" songs here lack the depth of the next two albums. This is mostly a transitional album. Hard Luck, despite being a fond Gary Glitter tribute, doesn't rock as hard as its inspiration - the drumming is just not as good as the Burundi beats of the Glitterman. I love the singles though (My Perfect Cousin and Wednesday Week).