RAUM

The last founding and continuous TD member, Edgar Froese died in 2015. (Other founding members still live but disassociated from the band long ago.) Some of his collaborators from 21st Century projects here continue to carry the torch of Edgar's ideas.

1. "Continuum" (7:09) nice, catchy melodies lets me know these musicians are serious and eager about preserving the Tangerine Dream story as well as taking it forward. My second favorite song on the album. (13.25/15)

2. "Portico" (6:42) pleasant soundscapes and interesting music constructed in an engaging fashion. (8.75/10)

3. "In 256 Zeichen" (19:07) floating nighttime land and skyscapes develop slowly over the first of the four sections (five minutes) of this long piece. The second section sounds like jungle forest scapes--with an almost gamelan or third world percussive sound component. The next section founds itself completely on those "third world" percussion sounds before 80s banks of Mark Isham-like synth-strings chords dart into the open fields. The final piece sees some space music devolve into entropic chaos. Cool composition. My third favorite song on the album. (36/40)

4. "You're Always on Time" (8:07) nice rolling synth-bass line. I like the song's spaciousness--sounds like subatomic particles moving through space. Violin is also a nice feature. It's not until the third minute that everything starts to come together. Nice finale. (13/15)

5. "Along the Canal" (5:29) a little too early-Vangelis sounding. (8.25/10)

6. "What You Should Know About Endings" (6:55) gets good in the third minute with the deep vein thrombosis, and then with the seriously moving rhythm sequence, but the song never really catches onto a melody to really bring me in. (13.25/15)

7. "Raum" (14:54) opens with some familiar DEAD CAN DANCE synth cords before sequenced rhythm track creeps into the background. Then highly distorted/degenerating synth notes try to add a melody line before disappearing. By the end of the third minute you get the feeling that something big and orchestral is brewing as many sounds and layers are slowly being introduced. A minute later it seems surprising that we are stripped down to a familiar Berlin School sequence with few embellishments, but then many incidentals are subtly snuck into the weave--some staying, many appearing and then disappearing. It's like a drive through the countryside with the numerous incidentals in the scenery passing us by. Definitely an "older" version of TD being played at here. The second half gets more aggressive though still using older sounds (instruments?) to create the tapestry--before we return to a classic spacescape in the tenth minute. This is gorgeous! Violin moves to the for and becomes quite prominent in the thirteenth minute. I really like this! Great song! Definitely my favorite on the album. (29/30)

Total Time 68:23

Even with the cheezy drum machines, two-chord synth washes, and simple synth bass, I cannot deny that there are some really engaging melodies and soundscapes here--not to mention some cool ideas--many of which apparently came from the late Edgar Froese's notebooks.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of Progressive Electronic music. All hail Edgar Froese: the king is gone but his spirit lives on! And, with music like this, we should be glad that it does.

It is incredible to experience how moving and introspective electronic music can be - digging through the archival works of the late Edgar Froese, Thorsten Quaeschning, Hoshiko Yamane, and Paul Frick, or the trio comprising the currently-active incarnation of Tangerine Dream, had refined various pieces found sufficiently intriguing both for the musicians and for the listeners (as they might have imagined), and had crafted a stunning seven-piece studio work that dazzlingly reminisces the cosmic explorations of some of the German band's finest classic albums. Of course, the compositions ultimately remain original, with the three experienced musicians giving the archival tapes a refreshing contemporary spin, unsurprisingly placing Tangerine Dream among the most innovative and forward-thinking electronic music acts, well into the 21st century.

The sweeping electric violins and the floaty synth loops and soundscapes introduce lush, expansive and often sublime sonic "paintings", with the band daring to experiment within that well-recognizable framework of many of their previous albums. The influence of IDM and downtempo can be appreciated within the shorter pieces on here, while the two longer suites ('In 256 Zeichen' and the title track 'Raum') evoke the brilliant construction of sounds and nuances, as heard on some of Tangerine Dream's most novel 70s releases. The production and the arrangements on here are simply excellent, with the trio provoking their audience with an audacious album that only outwardly resembles some already-familiar works - in reality, this album seems to be the natural step forward from 'Quantum Gate', with its novel soundscapes and contemporary motifs, it is everything that one might desire from a rejuvenated Tangerine Dream. Pieces like 'Continuum', 'You're Always On Time' and 'What You Should Know About Endings', alongside the longer suites, are undoubtedly colossal, and the entire 'Raum' album is a daring addition to the massive Tangerine Dream catalog.