Every second hand record shop in the 1980s had copies of Phaedra by Tangerine Dream. It was mysterious, gave very little away and kept asking for our attention just by being there. I wish I'd bought a copy sooner and given it a spin because when I did, it immediately became an album I fell in love with.
Is it ambient? Maybe it is. It's classic Berlin School electronica, in that it creates layers of synth pads for atmosphere and then staccatto synth sequences glide across the top, bouncing in echoes into the distance. It's abstract, very mysterious, slightly unsettling or spooky. Fascinating, alluring. It has dark moments but to me it seems to ask questions, it embodies moments of doubt and uncertainty.
It's use of mellotron voices is eerie and pre-empts the use of samples in this way by about 20 years. I used to think Tan Dream played too much flute (well Kraftwerk used to back in the early 70s) until I found out it was mellotron and then I forgave them.
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