German Ambient Gobble Gobble

I’m heading to lovely Toledo, Ohio today to spend Thanksgiving with my family, so this will be my last post for the week – I’ll try to make it count. A quick note on reposting previous songs. I usually don’t do it, however, if you email me instead of leaving a comment asking, you have much better chances of it happening.

Edgar Froese
Macula Transfer (Complete Record)
Sometimes I buy weird shit on a whim only to find out that it’s crazy-rare and hard to find. This is one of those. Edgar Froese is one of the founding members of Tangerine Dream, a band I’ve always had a passing interest in. I picked this solo album of his up not knowing the bizarre history around it. Originally released in 1976, it somehow drifted into copyright limbo in the 90s. When it was released on CD Froese threatened legal action and it was quickly pulled. He then re-recorded and remixed it for his official CD release. Of course, the die-hard Tangerine Dream fans (and there must be some) want the original. So here it is. Actually if you have any interest in ambient or electronic music you might enjoy it. Froese composed this album during flights, and each song is named after the flight he was on at the time.

School Of Fish
The Greatest Living Englishman
The Turtle Song
Disconnected
This Is Where I Belong
I did a post about these guys before and they are really growing on me. These tracks are from The Wrong Sampler an odd vinyl only release from 1991. Aside from being transparent blue (oooh nifty!) it’s also cool because the groove starts at the inside and goes out. Silly but fun. Also silly is that they added comments to the tracklisting, I love what the one about ‘This Is Where I Belong’ the most:

We wanted to see our names next to Ray Davies’. Now we have. This is the greatest moment of our lives. It’s all downhill from here. Straight down a really steep hill.

Anyways, none of these tracks are on CD, so this EP gets the record-geek triple threat of having a gimmick, being a transparent cover and consisting primarily of vinyl exclusives!

Debbie Harry
Rush Rush (Extended Version)
This is from the Scarface soundtrack (it was also in GTA III), if the gangstas dig that movie so much how come they all aren’t Blondie fans too? Fucking hypocrites.

P.M. Dawn
Reality Used To Be A Friend Of Mind (Club Mix)
I wish more hip-hop artists were as chill as these dudes. This is off of a 12 inch single and is a song I can definitely identify with.

The Odd Couple
You’re So Vain
The Odd Couple Opera
Okay, I don’t even know where to begin. For some reason Jack Klugman and Tony Randall decided to release an album as Felix and Oscar. This despite the fact that music didn’t really play a role in the Odd Couple series, and the painfully obvious fact that both of them can’t sing worth shit (well, Randall isn’t all that bad, but Klugman’s voice is about as melodic and elegant sounding as his last name.) This was originally released in 1973 and rightfully faded into obscurity since then. I could post the entire album, but I don’t want to subject my readers to such pain. Instead I’ve chosen two choice tracks. One is their very…unique take on the Carly Simon classic “You’re So Vain” and the other is a 10 minute OPERA about Felix being mad about Oscar not cleaning the apartment. Enjoy…well, listen to them at least.

One Response to “German Ambient Gobble Gobble”

  1. iancurtis says:

    Wow, the odd couple tracks are great! Would love to hear the whole lp.

    Great blog by the way. I remember hearing the polyrock radio show back in the day on WNYU’s radio station.

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