16 September 7-13, 2023 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | culture | Night+Day | News | letters | coNteNts | Month XX–Month XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Sonic Blueprint After founder’s death, a new era dawns for Tangerine Dream. BY DOUGLAS MARKOWITZ F or all intents and purposes, Tan- gerine Dream should have ended long ago. The pioneering elec- tronic music band formed in 1967 and has only had one consistent member, founder Edgar Froese. But when he died suddenly in 2015, the remaining musi- cians refused to call it quits. “It was not our decision to move on. There was no one raising hands saying, ‘I’m going to do this,’” Thorsten Quaeschning, the band’s current leader, says from his studio in Berlin. “It was the plan of Edgar because he made plans and structures for every possible situa- tion and option. So the idea was Tangerine Dream itself is stronger, and the philosophi- cal idea behind Tangerine Dream is stronger than individual members. It could move on for many years and last probably a hundred years or longer because the idea and the mu- sic are strong.” None of the current members — Quae- schning, Hoshiko Yamane, and Paul Frick, all classically trained musicians — were alive when the band was formed, and Quaeschning had never programmed a sequencer before Froese taught him. But they’ve kept the band going, animated by the principles of its late founder. They’re about to embark on their first North American tour since Froese’s passing, starting on Friday, September 8, at the Miami Beach Bandshell. Froese, who formed Tangerine Dream amid the countercultural, psychedelic music scene in late 1960s West Berlin, believed the group was defined less by its membership and more by its core ideas. The band’s famous re- cords of the ‘70s and ‘80s, Phaedra and Hyper- borea, explored the possibilities of the new musical technology of the day, the modular synthesizer and the sequencer, through evoc- ative soundscapes that sound as dreamlike and mysterious now as they did then. Froese coined the term “kosmische musik” (“cosmic music”) to describe the Tangerine Dream sound, differentiating the band from its rock- leaning contemporaries such as Neu! and Can. “There was no blueprint for it because you couldn’t just search on Spotify for a ‘best synthesizer’ playlist and hear what other people did — because no one had one,” Quaeschning explains. “You had to figure out what the synthesizer could do, maybe should do, by yourself.” After 146 albums and 56 years, there is def- initely a blueprint, and Froese certainly de- serves credit for sketching it out. Today, Tangerine Dream’s music, which includes scoring work for movies like Thief and Risky Business, is celebrated for legitimizing the synthesizer as a serious artistic tool and influ- encing a generation of musicians to pick them up. Its melodic, spacy aesthetic, which de- fined the then-futuristic sound of the band’s 1980s peak, has been revived by a new gener- ation of ambient and electronic composers, from Caterina Barbieri to Oneohtrix Point Never, to say nothing of the entire new age genre. And any- one who’s ever listened to a synth-wave mix on YouTube or zoned out to Sur- vive’s Stranger Things score owes them gratitude. Many of the band’s contempo- raries have also seen reissues and reappraisal, such as fellow cinematic mainstays like John Carpenter and Vangelis. Former member Klaus Schulze worked with Hans Zimmer on the soundtrack to Dune and completed one final album, Deus Arrakis, before dying last year. Froese made one hell of a last stand: His final major project was the score to Grand Theft Auto V, the highest-selling video game of all time. Even Quaeschning, who worked on the project, remains awed by the scale and partic- ularities of scoring such a massive piece of entertainment. “There’s so many different parameters. That’s the difference [compared] to scoring a movie. It’s not your choice or your decision [as to] how long the player is hearing one sec- tion because someone can finish one episode inside the game in five minutes, another per- son needs two weeks,” Quaeschning adds. “You can’t do the Tetris, Super Mario thing anymore where the same melodies play from level one to the end. The person would hear the same melody for two weeks. It’s kind of like, throw in some motifs and atmospheres and try not to give them the big Gone With the Wind main melody thing right on the nose all the time because it would be too boring. You have to find the atmosphere and keep in mind that maybe someone’s going to hear it for months or weeks.” (On whether the band will be back for Grand Theft Auto VI: “I’m not sure all deci- sions are made to that point.”) Shepherding that immense legacy is now the band’s goal, and to the current members, that means refusing to luxuriate it. “The idea is not to be some kind of musical museum, just try to find the next chord progression,” Quaeschning says. The core idea of the band is sequencer-driven music; beyond that, any- thing goes. They’re not purists about analog equipment or certain technologies — they use everything available, with little to no separa- tion between analog, digital, or modular. The goal is to get “as near to the sound in your head” as possible. The new era of Tangerine Dream has al- ready produced exciting work. The group used Froese’s immense archive as a reference point for their 2022 album Raum, a stunning record that modernizes their classic sound. But the band’s process is perhaps epitomized in its live shows, once famed for the massive stacks of equipment onstage, which always end with a semi-improvised “session.” They decide on a root key and a tempo, and from there, they take off. “There are Tangerine Dream rules we fol- low, and we try to combine this with the feel of the room and the ambient audience and what we did the day before or the day itself. Just to create music out of the moment,” Quaeschning says. Tangerine Dream. 8 p.m. Friday, September 8, at Miami Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; 786-453-2897; miamibeach- bandshell.com. Tickets cost $38.11 via dice.fm.
[email protected] Tangerine Dream kicks off its first North American tour at the Miami Beach Bandshell on Friday, September 8. Photo by Katja Ruge/Eastgate “THE PHILOSOPHICAL IDEA BEHIND TANGERINE DREAM IS STRONGER THAN INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS.” | CROSSFADE | t Music THIS WEEK THURSDAY, SEPT. 7 A-Train: 8 p.m., $20-$30. E11even Miami, 29 NE 11th St., Miami, 305-829-2911, 11miami.com. ARRIVAL From Sweden: The Music of ABBA: 8 p.m., $45-$75. The Parker, 707 NE Eighth St., Fort Lauderdale, 954-761-5374, parkerplayhouse.com. Bango Bango: With Bear Who? and DJ Azucar., 9 p.m., Free. Coyo Taco, 2320 NW Second Ave., Miami, 305-573-8228, coyo-taco.com. Bodaishin: 10 p.m., $28.33. Do Not Sit on the Furniture, 423 16th St., Miami Beach, 510-550-5067, donotsitonthefurniture.com. Hatari Quartet: 9 p.m., Free. Lagniappe, 3425 NE Second Ave., Miami, 305-576-0108, lagniappehouse.com. Tripmastaz: 10 p.m., $13.91-$19.06. Floyd Miami, 34 NE 11th St., Miami, 786-618-9447, floydmiami.com. FRIDAY, SEPT. 8 Benji B: 10 p.m., Free. Jolene Sound Room, 200 E. Flagler St., Miami, jolenesoundroom.com. Benoit B: With Greg Beato, Deroboter, and others., 10 p.m., $5. Gramps, 176 NW 24th St., Miami, 855-732-8992, gramps.com. Brian Softwell: 10 p.m., Free-$11.54. Green Room, 835 NE Third Ave., Fort Lauderdale, 954-257-0026, greenroomftl.com. Buza: 8 p.m., $20-$30. E11even Miami, 29 NE 11th St., Miami, 305-829-2911, 11miami.com. Clean Cut Band: 9 p.m., Free. Lagniappe, 3425 NE Second Ave., Miami, 305-576-0108, lagniappehouse.com. Dust Supply, Shakers, Toy Gun Club, and Behind the Houses: 7 p.m., $10. Tough Times, 537 S. Dixie Hwy E., Pompano Beach, toughtimestavern.com. Jazz Encounters: With Ashley Pezzotti., 8 p.m., $15-$20. WDNA Jazz Gallery, 2921 Coral Way, Miami, 306-662-8889, wdna.org. Kevin Johansen and Liniers: 7 p.m., $49-$69. Flamingo Theater Bar, 905 Brickell Bay Dr., Miami, 786-420-5633, flamingotheaterllc.com. Kiko Navarro: 11 p.m., Free. Boho House, 111 NE 20th St., Miami, 669-444-0872, bohohousemiami.com. KISS America and Cult Revolution: 7 p.m., $13. Revolution Live, 100 SW Third Ave., Fort Lauderdale, 954-449-1025, jointherevolution.net. La Payara Jam Session: 7 p.m., Free. ZeyZey, 353 NE 61st St., Miami, zeyzeymiami.com. Nastia: 11 p.m., $20-$40. Domicile, 6391 NW Second Ave., Miami, instagram.com/domicile.miami. Rick Ross: 10 p.m., $30. Daer Nightclub & Dayclub, 1 Seminole Way, Hollywood, 954-779-4750, hardrocknightlife.com. Shivva, Corazon Rabioso, Don’t Panic!, the Amphetamines, and Staircase Spirit: 7 p.m., $10. Sand Bar + Kitchen, 6752 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 305-397-8375, sandbarkitchen.com. South Florida Hardcore Unity: With All Hell Breaks Loose, Day By Day, Domain, Knock Em Dead, Short Life, and others., 7 p.m., $15. American Legion Post 92, 211 N. 21st Ave., Hollywood, 954-923-2760. Tangerine Dream: 8 p.m., $38.11-$218.36. Miami Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 305-672-5202, miamibeach- bandshell.com. Two and a Half Cats: With Sirus Hood and Mendoza., 11 p.m., $24.72. The Ground Miami, 34 NE 11th St., Miami, 305-375-0001, thegroundmiami.com. Tyga: 11 p.m., $50. LIV, 4441 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 305-674- 4680, livnightclub.com. Valentin Huedo: 10 p.m., $28.33. Do Not Sit on the Furniture, 423 16th St., Miami Beach, 510-550-5067, donotsitonthe- furniture.com. wAFF: 11 p.m., $24.72-$35.02. Floyd Miami, 34 NE 11th St., Miami, 786-618-9447, floydmiami.com. Wax Motif and Noizu: 11 p.m., $19.06-$35.02. Club Space, 34 NE 11th St., Miami, 305-375-0001, clubspace.com. SATURDAY, SEPT. 9 Bijou: 10 p.m., $20. Green Room, 835 NE Third Ave., Fort Lauder- dale, 954-257-0026, greenroomftl.com. Carlita, Ben Sterling, and Tiga: 11 p.m., $19.06-$45.32. Club Space, | CONCERTS & CLUBS | ▼ Music Club and concert listings are free and rotate in print. Find more at miaminewtimes.com/music and browardpalmbeach.com/music. To list your act, email
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