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| Tangerine Dream - Transsiberia |
 Released: 1998 Label: TDI Music Cat. No.: Total Time: 51:25 | |
Reviewed by: Stephanie Sollow, August 1999 I don't think a year goes by without a Tangerine Dream release or two. New music, soundtracks, re-releases, whatever...there never seems to be a lack of new TD product on the shelves. Now, I don't use the word product derogatorily, but factually. They have released a product. Transsiberia falls into that middle category, soundtrack. Subtitled "The Russian Express Railway Experience," it is the soundtrack to a documentary, part one, it seems, of the "Russian Heart" series. First, a little history/geography. The Trans-Siberian Railway runs across Russia from St. Petersburg in the west to Vladivostok in the east. Although not all the locations mentioned are on the Trans-Siberian...it looks like Yaroslaw is north of Moscow...they are all along Russian trainways. On the route, however, is Lake Baikai, in southwest Russia; and the Jenissi River (one of various spellings throughout the years) runs down about the middle of Russia. Ulan-Ude is a town west of Baikal, where a number of rivers converge, including the Uda. The railroad was built from 1891 to 1904. The soundscapes here sparkle with their clarity...which means that on the production end of things, this is a damn good release. There aren't really instruments to pick out...there are synth washes, percussive sounds, driving keys...there is a strong sense of motion in the music, but whether that is helped by the pictures featured in the booklet, I can't say. So much of this music, TD and others, is designed to create a sense of movement...without lyrics, without soaring guitar leads, etc...the repetition of note sequences creates the kind of rhythmic lull one gets into when travelling by car or, as here, by train. And yet, if it goes on too long, then it becomes extremely repetitive. And just when you start thinking that about the second track "Smoky Karlow," it makes a subtle shift, up an octave, and a slight variation in pattern. Both the first track "Yaroslaw Station" and the third "Siberian Nights" begin with percussive sounds at the for front. But for the synth washes, and the occasional tooting of trumpet like keys, you'd think this was techno - the percussion has that kind of heavy beat. You can dance to it, actually. And here's an odd association...the beginning part of "Jenissei River," for the first five or ten seconds or so...maybe longer...sound like the opening notes to Foreigner's "I Want To Love Is"...I said it was an odd association. Imagine being trapped in those first few moments...actually, never mind that track. The sense here is of suspension...of being on the verge of something...maybe floating peacefully along the river, while unbeknownst ahead are raging rapids. I don't if that is true about "Jenissei"...I gather not as there is just so much of an underlying peacefulness here... This is such a beautiful peace of music. "Baikal Sunrise" returns us to the techno beat beneath synth washes and strumed sparse notes...actually, take out the percussion, and this is atmospheric Pink Floyd a la A Momentary Lapse of Reason. You know, that ambient intro. Although I like techno music, here the ambient are more appealing to me. "Samowar Juri" begins with a funky bass line which melds into cold sounding keyboard notes playing the same rhythm. The bass lines are warm, open...bum, de bum bum...bum, de bum bum. When drums...digital drums...take over...their tone is too much like a preset to me...making them seem cold too. I suspect then, this track accompanies the footage of trains passing through the frozen, icy parts of Russia...Siberia, I guess. The more sustained keyboard notes, the symphonic ones carry on the warmth of the bass though they aren't playing the same notes. Actually, there is the feeling of violins here, slow, sustained...emotive. Even warmer is the tender "Ulan-Udi"...you can almost imagine this being played by a full orchestra. The visuals are a night scene...well, my visuals are...watching the train make its way aross the landscape. As the music builds, the scenery below changes from flatlands to mountains to towering snow capped moutains, glistening in the moonlight...looking majestic...this is such a beautiful composition. Tangerine Dream fans of yore...before their slicker, smoother sound of today...will probably be disappointed. But for fans of evocitive soundscapes, this is the ticket...so...um...get on board. More about Transsiberia: Track Listing: Yaroslaw Station (4:52) / Smoky Karlow (9:25) / Siberian Lights (4:01) / Jenissei River (4:44) / Baikal Sunrise (4:42) / Samowar Juri (4:40) / Ulan-Ude (4:35) / Chingan Night (6:55) / Russian Soul (4:13) / The Golden Horn (5:18) Musicians: Contact: Website: www.tangerinedream.org Discography
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