Tangerine Dream - Summer In Nagasaki mp3

Although the TDI years saw Edgar and Jerome bringing more and more solo work to Tangerine Dream, Summer in Nagasaki is the first TD album to be overtly credited solely to Edgar: no guest musicians, no co-composers. Given his tendency towards the more meandering, aimless pieces, it is surprising that the album is strong from start to finish.

The flair and inspiration brought to the group by Thorsten is in play throughout, and it is obvious that his influence on Edgar has helped shape this new sounding group. The long sequencer passes with no distinct melodies - simply chord changes signified by that electronic harpsichord sound found on every TD record since the mid '80s - are present throughout, but work well as powerful, dynamic contrast to the ambient sections. The sequences themselves haven't been stronger for years, and call to mind classic records like Tangram and even Ricochet. Although things begin to meander a little on Dreaming in a Kyoto Train and Presentiment, this does little harm to the hour long runtime in general - it's certainly the most concise use of 60 minutes on a TD studio album to date. The ambient sections themselves are filled with wonderful textures and engaging melodies, which continue to keep the group sounding contemporary.

Tangerine Dream albums have been following loose narratives since the 'surreal' (read: pretentious) short story found in the booklet of 1994's 'Turn of the Tides', but perhaps never so literally as here. This second album in the Atomic Seasons series manages to cover the dropping of both the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombs in its runtime. While 'In the Cherry Blossom Hills' is light in mood, portraying the love between Mr H.T. and his new wife, Ayumi, and 'Ayumi's Butterflies' is a catchy rhythmic number that draws comparisons to the best of the group's '80s work, most of the music on show here is filled with deep foreboding. 'Mystery of Life and Death' is as weighty as its title suggests. The most compelling piece is the closer '11:02 AM' (named after the time the second bomb hit) which builds in tension over the course of eight minutes until bam - the bomb hits. Instead of the sound of an explosion, we are instead given a eerie, sustained chord out of nowhere. The effect is genuinely chilling and treats the subject matter with appropriate pathos. The final few minutes could be imagined as an anti-climax, but really do the concept justice: the death of 40,000 people is not something that should be portrayed with a sense of excitement or energy.

A significant portion of the group's fanbase rate Summer in Nagasaki as a modern classic by the group, up there with their very best records. Some, like myself, miss some of the more overtly 'different' sounding elements of the previous two albums, Springtime in Nagasaki and Jeanne D'Arc. Either way, the album is certainly worthy of praise and continues Edgar and TD's mid-'00s creative renaissance.