Tangerine Dream's 1983 recording, "Hyperborea", is highly atmospheric and recommended to any fan of Clark Ashton Smith who also enjoys electronica/ambient recordings. In addition to the weird title track, the other tracks are "No Man's Land," "Cinnamon Road," and "Sphinx Lightning".

jkh

Though I am not a fan of Tangerine Dream, I have to say I like "Hyperborea." I have never been into ambient music but some pieces of the genre are really great, for example "Timewind" by Klaus Schulze.

Minicthulhu Wrote:
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> Though I am not a fan of Tangerine Dream, I have
> to say I like "Hyperborea." I have never been into
> ambient music but some pieces of the genre are
> really great, for example "Timewind" by Klaus
> Schulze.


What is your take on minimalists like Reich and Glass? What do you think is going on in minimalist compositions?

--Sawfish

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"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
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I am sorry but I have never heard of Reich or Glass.

Sawfish Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Minicthulhu Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Though I am not a fan of Tangerine Dream, I
> have
> > to say I like "Hyperborea." I have never been
> into
> > ambient music but some pieces of the genre are
> > really great, for example "Timewind" by Klaus
> > Schulze.
>
>
> What is your take on minimalists like Reich and
> Glass? What do you think is going on in minimalist
> compositions?

That's OK. If you have any thoughts on minimalist music they'd be welcomed.

My current thinking is that they work as an auditory version of hypnosis, almost, but the tonal ranges used evoke a fairly consistent emotional response among listeners. If this is anywhere near valid, it's a pretty strange form that is active, rather than passive, in the way it can manipulate the listers' mood.

--Sawfish

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"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 18 Jan 22 | 08:20PM by Sawfish.

I listened to "No Man's Land" and "Hyperborea". I think the notes are too repetitive, not varied enough to be really good, and much too electronic to give me associations to Clark Ashton Smith's Hyperboria.

As for ambient music, I have one record I often listen to when needing to calm down, VOICES by Roger Eno. I guess it is repetitive too, but I find it soothing.

CAS himself once recommended Ravi Shankar's ragas as suitable background music for his suite of Zothique stories. I heartily agree.

Knygatin Wrote:
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> I think the notes are too repetitive, not varied enough to be really good, and much too electronic to give me associations to Clark Ashton Smith's Hyperboria.

I'm not sure if it is intended as a CAS reference, as distinct from a mythology reference or a far-north reference. I listened to Hyperborea and liked it well enough. No love. No hate. Tangerine Dream makes competent background music for movie soundtracks, in which the images on screen are primarily what holds your attention. Their pieces quickly impress with a certain eerie, hypnotic quality, but, like you said, seem to lack something to hold one's attention. There is little dynamism or sense of conflict. I initially found their cover of "Cry Little Sister" to be striking, but then it gradually occurred to me that they had drained the song of any sense of menace.

Platypus Wrote:
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> like you said, seem to lack
> something to hold one's attention. There is
> little dynamism or sense of conflict. ...

I guess there is a close correlation between good music and good writing.

Minicthulhu Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Though I am not a fan of Tangerine Dream, I have
> to say I like "Hyperborea." I have never been into
> ambient music but some pieces of the genre are
> really great, for example "Timewind" by Klaus
> Schulze.


There was a documentary film that focused on Klaus Schultze and other originators of the sythesizer movement. Just how much those guys influenced the German progressive rock scene is uncertain. I believe "Timewind" is on the sole Schultze lp I own. The Hyperborea sessions were with Johannes Schmoelling, who replaced original member Peter Baumann. His organ playing is why I like this over Froese's other TD albums.

jkh

[www.youtube.com]

Kipling Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Tangerine Dream's 1983 recording, "Hyperborea", is
> highly atmospheric and recommended to any fan of
> Clark Ashton Smith who also enjoys
> electronica/ambient recordings. In addition to the
> weird title track, the other tracks are "No Man's
> Land," "Cinnamon Road," and "Sphinx Lightning".


They're not the most dynamic compositions, but they're profoundly stimulating while reading. They do a fantastic job at transporting my astral self through time and space to the jungles of Commoriom or the ice-islet Yikilth. Hyperborea suggests a sense of lost mysteries waiting beneath the ice, and No Man's Land makes me think of the trippy journey to such mysteries.

Sojourner's suggestion is musically rich, making it difficult to read with (without distraction), but on its own it gives a good archaic kick! I envision myself in some sort of Hyperborean festival, dancing and chanting around a sacrificial flame in honor of Y'houndeh or some other animal-headed gods of plenty.

I have a couple suggestions, derived from a video game. The following suggests the sort of eerie atmosphere Satampra might have felt while entering the temple of Tsathoggua, to me anyway.

[m.youtube.com]

And the following feels more sorcerous or sinister, not to mention exotic. Could be suitable for Hyperborea or Zothique.

[m.youtube.com]

Not music but you may want to check out Hervé Scott Flament. He's a big CAS fan and has more than a few pieces that were inspired by Smith and his work, most of all by Hyperborea.