Tangerine Dream Mota Atma

A new Tangerine Dream soundtrack album strongly featuring sequencers and stylistically similar, but not identical, to classic film works like 'Thief' and 'Flashpoint' would not have been considered even a possibility to those who have long since written off the band. Yet here it is! Sequencers! Multi-layered morphing sequencer lines, occasionally beefed up with percussion, not Dream-Mixes style but more simple, direct with recognisable Tangerine Dream musical signatures drawing upon classic eras of the band's history. Ethereal voices, rich textures, symphonic treatments, phasing effects, melodies and even a stirring anthemic piece which could have been recorded for the 'Thief' album are all present on 'Mota Atma'.

'The Courage to Lose' begins with wordless choirs, bass rumbles, drifting synths and a gentle sequencer line gradually augmented by a little percussion and later a stronger drum rhythm and more morphimg sequencers. No prominent melody, but it sounds great. 'For the Summit Only' starts with gentle sequencers ,hints of grander themes, and an ethereal choir, with occassional sonic references to past glories and more layered sequencer patterns. The overall mood is reflective, subdued and brooding, gradually increasing in intensity before reprising with ethereal choir. 'No Pleasure No Pain' steps up the pace with a powerful sequencer and beat accompanied by hints of melody before an expansive cinematic motif is explored and elaborated upon before slowly winding down. 'Royal Way of Privacy' is a tranquil tone poem at first with the sequencers taking time to come forward in the mix very gradually before winding down for a a more chilled ending cross fading into 'Phoenix Burning'. More sequencers, bass melodies, choirs and minimalist chords and treatments.

'Prophet in Chains' has an unusual stoccato motif which is repeated to a strong rock drum with voices and effects and sequences. Not the strongest piece on offer but the sequencers save the day as they add more substance to the end game. 'Snow on Angels Feather' is as the title might suggest more tranquil with gentle synth lines and imrovisations. 'A Fair Day's Wage' again begins with sequencers and rhythms but has an unusual glockenspeil-like motif which leaves in and out of the mix. Drums add a little drama and the ever present infectious sequencers provide ideal backing to the gentle melodies and sonic colouring. 'Brain Offender' is from the London concert CD titled 'Gate of Saturn' and its expansive chords set against a fast looping drum pattern sounds better in the context of 'Mota Atma'. Finally, 'A Day in Liberty Valley' is a gem. This would sit well on 'Thief', or the 'The Keep'. A beautifully understated anthemic piece with an excellent choral motif which is moving, stirring and uplifting. The chords remind me of classic early 80's Tangerine Dream and the melody is genuinely evocative in the very best tradition of their earlier work.

'Mota Atma' has been on heavy rotation on my player and it keeps getting better. This is the best Tangerine Dream album for a very long time and shows the Dream Machine is still alive and kicking and capable of delivering the goods. (SR)

Second Opinion...

Flippin eck. What's going on? Well, I never thought it would happen. What am I blithering about? Looking at the sleeve it doesn't look anything special, just another video soundtrack. The thing is though that this recording COULD be so much more significant than that. Some Tangerine Dream fans have liked what TD has been releasing right up to the present day. Let's face it though, I would say the majority, haven't really appreciated what they have been doing for the last 16 to 20 years! The amazing thing is though that so many of those have kept buying the CDs in that faint hope that they might go back to the glory days of X (put in your favourite period here). It has always seemed however that Edgar was dead set on doing what he wanted to do never mind what the fans wanted. The thing is, and this is just my opinion, I have never wanted Edgar to go back and do another, 'Rubycon', 'Force Majeure', 'White Eagle' or whatever. Of course musicians want to go onwards. My disappointment was the direction Tangerine Dream has seemed to be going- never mind what anybody else thinks. Now there is actually something I admire in that sort of attitude but I think Edgar and Jerome knew what many of their fans wanted but simply didn't want to do it.

With 'Mota Atma' however it seems to me that they have actually recorded something that they knew would appeal to the group of fans which didn't particularly like their current output. Could it be a reward for being such a loyal bunch? It could of course just be pure co-incidence and that the music just happened to fit this way for that particular video project, I don't know because I haven't seen it but it would be nice to think that my former speculation was correct.

What we have here is an album with sequences on almost every track. It's in a similar style to some of their 80's soundtracks but obviously sounding somewhat different because of the modern equipment used. I also said similar not identical because this to me is a moving on from that style but this time to something that I actually enjoy. I don't think it would be fair to ask questions such as is it as good as 'Thief' or whatever. That is not the point. If this has been done on purpose as a thank-you to the fans for following them for so long then it has to be applauded and I had better 'eat my hat' because it is something I never ever thought they would do. There isn't a single track I dislike here and there are others such as 'No Pleasure No Pain' and 'A fair Day's Wage' which I think are excellent.