Saul: Yeah, the whole point of Mandalay is we want to make music that is very emotionally honest and very pure and very true to ourselves because we think there's no reason why the music we call pop music has to be forced and just about money and selling and products, we think it's art, we think it's about emotion, honesty and giving something real to people.

The Girl and the Piano. If you ever feel anything, and life isn't a simple thing in your opinion, but you still like being human, then you might like this album.

TD is one of the "greats" in electronic instrumental music. I have about 15 of their albums, which may sound like a lot, but then you should consider the fact that since 1969 they have released about 60 albums, plus 50 compilations, plus about 60 solo works by the band members. And they are not repeating themselves, mostly. A fantastic band in many ways. By the way, they use acoustic instruments too. Gadgets are just means to an end, not an end in itself. They even have vocals on "Tyger".

Few people have ever heard of TD, but their influence on todays ambient/synth music scene is quite impressive. These guys in Berlin released their first ambient albums when the current crop of keyboard gurus were still toddlers.

According to the IMDB, TD or its members are credited in 86 movies. Someone once said that "if you have ever watched TV, chances are that you have heard Tangerine Dream".

Unfortunately their music changed a lot in about 1988, and to my ears they are nowadays just another post-1990 cookie-cutter synth band that has little to do with real music.

Before 1988: Green Desert, Ricochet, Stratosfear, Force Majeure, Tangram (my favorite), Poland, White Eagle, Le Parc, Underwater Sunlight, Tyger, Dream Sequence, Livemiles.
After 1988: Optical Race, Miracle Mile (least favorite of all), Melrose, The Goblins Club.

Amarok, Tubular Bells II, The Songs of Distant Earth, Ommadawn.
Five Miles Out, etc.

Some people call Amarok a parody. I don't see it that way at all. Yes, it makes me laugh at times, which is unusual for a single instrumental track that is one hour and four seconds long. But I don't see Mike laughing at himself in it. It is an ingenious album. He used dozens of instruments, including "a toy dog", "spoons", and "Timpani, not much synth at all really". His usual 12-string guitars and grand pianos are all there, too.

The concept of this album is similar to what Enigma and Deep Forest are doing, but the vocals (Catherine Bott) are much more important here, and of course much better too. Pilgrimage is not created by a "band" per se, but by an eclectic group of musicians including Simon Cloquet, Eric Calvi, and Philip Glass. Very soothing and peaceful music for a good stereo system. It is one of the few albums that I could listen to as a "background" while doing something else.

The Celts, Watermark, Shepherd Moons, The Memory Of Trees -- I like them all.

So I get the map out
Yeah I get the map out
C'mon, get the map out
Get the map out

Auberge, Road to Hell, On the Beach.