- CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
- Tangerine Dream "Zeit" 1972 (Germany)
- WORT-FM's pledge drive is over now (and was our best fundraiser yet, thanks to everyone who donated!!) So to make up for the extra gabbing over the past two shows, this week's episode features less talk and even more epic tracks than usual. So following up on last week's "space rock" theme, this week's classic album is by a band so spacey that what they do shouldn't really be considered "rock" at all. Tangerine Dream debuted at the end of the 1960's and were one of the leading lights of "krautrock" throughout the 1970's. Although there are several other important and successful "pure electronic" German groups of this era (Kraftwerk and Cluster among others), Tangerine Dream carved out a totally unique niche by dispensing with rhythm entirely and building their music off of pure textures and epic drones. Their third album Zeit is the ultimate example of their early style, being a double album consisting of four side-long zone-outs. With the rebirth of interest in old analog synthesizer technology in recent years, the "drone" music pioneered by TD is becoming an increasingly popular underground style -- some key practitioners in the USA right now include Emeralds, Expo '70, Natural Snow Buildings and Drunjus.
- Here are some video clips of Tangerine Dream live in 1971 featuring their original "space" sound, and live in 1976 featuring their later more arpeggiator-driven style. Also featured on the show this week: a new album from Madison's Peaking Lights, analog synth sounds from Ben Butler & Mousepad and an exclusive new live recording by Second Family Band.