TANGERINE DREAM are an electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese in Berlin. Their groundbreaking record Phaedra, released in 1974, reached gold status in the UK, and was the band‘s first success on the Virgin Records label to whom they had recently signed.
The recording became a milestone in electronic music. Over the last 53 years, Tangerine Dream released more than one hundred albums. Their early 'Pink Years‘ albums had a pivotal role in the development of Krautrock. Their 'Virgin Years' albums helped define what became known as the Berlin School of electronic music. These and later albums were influential in the development of electronic dance music.
Although the group released numerous studio and live recordings, a substantial number of their fans were introduced to Tangerine Dream by their film soundtracks, which total over sixty and include Sorcerer (William Friedkin), Thief (Michael Mann), Risky Business, The Keep, Firestarter, Legend (Ridley Scott), Near Dark, Shy People, and Miracle Mile. In 2013, Tangerine Dream composed the original score for Rockstar's video game Grand Theft Auto V.
After Edgar Froese's death in 2015, Tangerine Dream's line-up now consists of Thorsten Quaeschning (since 2005) as musical director, Hoshiko Yamane (since 2011), Ulrich Schnauss (since 2014) and Paul Frick (since June 2020). The band has now returned to the classic sequencer driven sound and Quantum Gate (2017) is their best-selling album since 1987.
Tangerine Dream recently played live concerts at Dekmantel Festival Amsterdam, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and the Barbican Hall in London. Every performance ends with a live session, a real-time composition that can last from 20 minutes to two hours.
The upcoming studio album will be released in 2021 and performed on their tour 'From Virgin to Quantum Years 2021'.
‘They are far away from any conventional music philosophy ...’ - David Bowie
‘...an organic, ever-shifting and evolving sonic structure...’ - The Guardian
‘After 51 years, and some changes of cosmic address, Tangerine Dream are still Tangerine Dreaming.’ - The Quietus
‘It left a lasting mark not only on John Peel and the UK album charts, but the direction of Western music in general. You can hear the beginnings of Italo disco, techno, ambient and, of course, synth music in ‘Phaedra‘, which carries an air of discovery and mystery to this day.’ - Resident Advisor
‘The collision of Prog-Krautrock noises by Thorsten Quaeschning’s synth is a throwback to the band’s 1970s heyday, while the futuristic blips of Ulrich Schnauss on sequencer and rhythms are interrupted by bursts of violinist Hoshiko Yamane...’ - Crack Magazine