Tangerine Dream - The Seven Letters From Tibet (2000)

The 1990s were not a good decade for the Dream. They recycled old rock electronic formulas with factory precision and deadening machine genericism. And with their own label, TDI, they've been cranking out product with a capital P at an alarming rate. Last year there were no fewer than 17 TD releases, which makes The Seven Letters from Tibet a surprisingly welcome respite from their recent overbearing bombast. Instead of the usual pounding drum machines and digital orchestral samples, Tangerine Dream create more impressionistic, chamber spaces. Synthesizers swirl on "The Orange Breath," while digital choirs are transformed in ambient refractions. On "The Golden Heart," Chinese flutes accent a stereo-panned percolating beat that fades in and out of synthesizer sweeps. But the heavy string pads do get oppressive partway through, especially on the lugubrious "The Blue Pearl." Tangerine Dream are still languishing in digital laxness, relying on preprogrammed sounds and patterns. No doubt those sampled Chinese flutes are the same ones Yanni uses on If I Could Tell You. And that's just wrong for musicians who were once pioneers. The Seven Letters from Tibet isn't just a reference to the movie Seven Years in Tibet, but to seven levels of existence. Edgar Froese, who pretty much is Tangerine Dream these days, harbors the belief that there are other worlds that exist along with ours. --John Diliberto