ALPHA CENTAURI

After the mind-boggling, primitive-electronic-experimental mayhem of Tangerine Dream's debut album 'Electronic Meditation' the group took their foot of the gas slightly and produced this slightly mellower follow-up with heavy sci-fi leanings. Again the crude electronics are pushed to the fore, with early synths, mellotrons and keyboards all vying for space against the backdrop of tribal drumming and strange sound effects, though ALPHA CENTAURI seems much more of a concept piece than it's predecessor. By no means essential Tangerine Dream then, but listen carefully(and I do mean carefully) and amongst the din of odd noises and deliberately spooky tones you can just about hear group-leader Edgar Froese's ear for the achingly-beautiful rhythms and patterns that would become a key-feature of the group's hugely-successful mid-seventies output. Dark, brooding and mysterious, ALPHA CENTAURI continues the group's early theme of eschewing hummable rhythms in favour of oblique, muted mayhem, though it lacks the fire and passion that made their debut such a pioneering release. Very much a case of falling delicately between two stools then, with the music too weak to break through the layers of articificially-produced sounds and the albums experimental aspects just not interesting enough to sustain the listener through the fairly-long running time. If it's primitive electronica you're after, try CLUSTER '71. STEFAN TURNER, LONDON, 2010