Album Club: 30.08.2011: Tangerine Dream - Rubycon (1975) (Vinyl, CD, SACD)

[Welder]

Listening to a Vinyl rip on reel to reel.
Hmm, what can I say.

Erm, its clever right enough. I’ve played both parts twice over the day and not once did I feel I wanted to sit back and really listen to what was going on. I guess there may be something in the comments that a bit of chemical assistance helps the appreciation. Unfortunately all I’ve got is coffee
Okay, I think this is my problem with Tangerine Dream and this type of electronica in general; there are no real instruments playing and I think for me that’s quite important in music and particularly so if the music isn’t beat driven. If I wanted to listen to relaxing background music I would probably choose something classical.
Not for me this one. Its not that it isn’t good at what it is; I just don’t like what it is.

[Tim]

Well I have just finished a listen and I plonked myself down on the sofa and put the headphones on to enjoy it. Not too dissimilar to Phaedra, which I have loved since the first time I heard it upon release. Quite ground-breaking in those days. I'm very familiar with Phaedra, but not so much Rubycon and I particularly liked the starting sequence of Part II, which reminded me a lot of 2001 a Space Odyssey.

It will be going on again as I have just ordered it from Amazon, only £1.76 so a steal. I don't think I would need anymore TD, as these two are sufficient and my only criticism would be I didn't think it was long enough, I could have done with another 30 minutes!

4 from me

[keiths]

Rubycon is timeless and although I prefer Phaedra ..The con is one of THE best em albums ever made ..not everybody can see it for what it is. It isn't so much composed or played by the three guys it's more of a sculpture in sound.

I think it's difficult to appreciate it in isolation. You really need to hear it in context with what went before and what came after to realise that this album was the bridge between the earlier, more free-form electronic music and the sequencer-driven style that would typify the 'Berlin School' sound.

I find it fascinating to compare the output of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze during this period (TD's Phaedra/Rubycon/Ricochet with Schulze's Blackdance/Picture Music/Timewind) - an exercise that shows just how pivital Rubycon was to the development of this extraordinary musical style.

[Themis]

I think that Phaedra, Rubicon, Stratosfear are the three best TD albums.

[MartinT]

I've just listened to it again. For me, the central section of Pt. 1 is what TD do so well, ethereal emotions weaving around a solid rhythm, all of it ebbing and flowing. Pt. 2 has more than a touch of Ligeti's Requiem to it, with the same feeling of 'into the unknown' in the vocals underpinned by throbbing synths. I prefer it to Phaedra as having more substance and definitely being more memorable. Hardly anyone has mentioned Ricochet, which is my absolute favourite TD and incorporates much of Rubycon's feel if not exactly the same musical content. 4 stars.

[keiths]

Hardly anyone has mentioned Ricochet, which is my absolute favourite TD and incorporates much of Rubycon's feel if not exactly the same musical content. 4 stars.

For quite a while, Ricochet was my very favourite TD album too, and remains high up on my list of favourites, but nowadays I prefer the way the tracks on Rubycon develop as 'musical sculptures'. I feel Ricochet has some brilliant tunes, but seems somewhat rushed with the individual themes not being given time to develop properly. A consequence of it being a live album maybe? (And I hate the removal of the two hand claps at the beginning of 'Part 2' on the 1995 'Definitive Edition' CD )

[keiths]

Okay, I think this is my problem with Tangerine Dream and this type of electronica in general; there are no real instruments playing and I think for me that’s quite important in music and particularly so if the music isn’t beat driven.
...
Not for me this one. Its not that it isn’t good at what it is; I just don’t like what it is.

Thanks for the comments John. I realise that this won't be everyone's cup of tea.

Regarding the lack of 'real' instruments, post-war, German contemporary music was struggling to find it's own identity. Wanting to distance themselves from the music of their parents and not wanting to imitate the UK and USA music scene, musicians there were quicker to adopt electronic instruments and the heavy electronic processing of the sounds of 'normal' rock instrumentation to forge their own sound. There are some real instruments on Rubycon - guitar, gongs, electric piano and 'prepared' piano, but they are well-hidden

Maybe you could try a couple of other TD albums sometime - 'Ricochet' (1975) and 'Statosfear' (1976) - which as well as being more rhythmic than Rubycon, have a little more in the way of obvious piano and guitar etc.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Hmmm - this was interesting for me! Though not necessary solely from the point of view of the content of the album - I listened to the album twice this evening, on two different turntables and it told me quite a lot about the turntables.

I've owned a copy of this album for a while now - a slightly crackly in places first pressing - though I couldn't profess to knowing it particularly well. I went to see the band in the early 80's and quite enjoyed the gig but never really got into their recordings.
The only other TD album I own is Phaedra, which I probably know slightly better, though I have mostly listened to it while going to sleep! - and by that, I really don't mean I find it boring.

Anyway, I quite enjoyed the playing of it this evening & I think I prefer this to Phaedra. I preferred Pt. 1 to Pt. 2, finding parts of the latter a bit too much like the soundtrack of some dodgy vintage horror film. The middle section of Pt. 1 reminded me of 'Meddle' - kind of a melding of 'One of These Days' and 'Echoes'. This was reinforced by my daughter saying: "This is quite interesting, very atmospheric - it's making me want to listen to Pink Floyd" (That's my girl!).

It's not the sort of album I'd listen to a lot, as I probably need to be in a particular type of mood to want to hear it, but I'm glad I own it. Thanks to this thread, I'll certainly be playing it more often now.

We're playing Meddle now!


NB - Ref. the two turntables in case you're interested:
With the Goldring/Decca turntable I felt that it's one of those albums where the gain needs to be set just so in order to fully appreciate it - good volume is required otherwise it seems lacking in body a little.
Then I stuck it on the Gyro/Zeta/Koetsu - blimey, that's more like it! It seemed like it was a completely different recording & everyone present (3 of us) felt it was much better for the change. The Gyro maybe gave it a more organic quality - which is perhaps exactly the opposite to what the performers intended!

[Welder]

@ Keith.

Well, a bit embarrassing actually Keith
I didn’t have Rubycon in file or CD format, although I do have Phaedra which I have just played and quite enjoyed.
Soooo, I borrowed a taped copy in a bit of a rush this morning and I’ve just found out what the guy used to play and rip with
I think I’ll see if I can borrow a “decent” copy at some point and have another listen.
I think this may be a bit of a problem with Album Club in general. Spotify is a great means of hearing music one may not have, but it’s not ideal for serious listening imo; the difference on my kit at least is very noticeable

[griffo104]

I really don't get this sort of music, probably why I became such a metal head back in the day.

I'm going to try an have a borrow of a mate's CD and give this a proper listen though as my tastes have certainly diversified over the last few years so will be interesting to listen to this sort of music fresh again.