June 2011 saw the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s first spaceflight and to help celebrate this event one of the most intriguing musical collaborations happened in Tenerife at the Starmus festival with Brian May of Queen fame performing live with electronic masters Tangerine Dream.
Kicking of the CD in style is “Supernova” which includes sound recordings by Professor Garik Isrealin, who organized the event of the actual pressure waves from stars. The track starts slowly with some nice percussion from Iris Camaa shortly joined by the rest of the members of Tangerine Dream before the unmistakably sound of Brian May’s red special guitar joins the track. Next up is “Lost Horizon” the Brian May solo track given the Tangerine Dream treatment with Brian joined by TD guitarist Bernhard Beibl.
After this excellent introduction the concert becomes a more normal Tangerine Dream concert as Brian has departed the stage for the time being. This live recording has excellent clarity making it an aural delight for the fans of the band. The Dream are in particular fine form with Mr Beibl doing some excellent soloing himself and clearly not being put off with having Mr May on the same stage as him.
Brian rejoins the band on stage near the end of the set for the Irish traditional song “Sally’s Garden” where he trades solo parts with Linda Spa’s sax, before Brian launches into parts from his famous solo spot from his Queen days. This leads us into the unmistakable drum rhythm intro to the Queen classic “We Will Rock You” sung by Brain, this track is extended and improvised over by the whole band and closes the set in fine style.
This 2 CD set is accompanied by a 20 page booklet full of excellent photographs of the unique event which only goes to enhance the whole product and shouldn’t be ignored and left in the case. Starmus Sonic Universe is out now and available through Tangerine Dream’s Eastgate Music shop and all normal suppliers.
Track listing:
CD 1
01. Supernova (Real Star Sounds)
02. Last Horizon
03. Marmontel Riding On A Clef
04. Trauma
05. Nothing And All
06. Nutshell Awakening
07. Shining Ray
08. Beauty Of Magic Antagonism
09. Novice
10. One Night In Space
CD 2
01. Calymba Caly
02. Omniscience
03. Janus Parade
04. Loved By The Sun
05. Fire On The Mountain
06. Darkness Veiling The Night
07. Living In Eternity
08. Bells Of Accra
09. Sally’s Garden
10. We Will Rock You (Extended)
EXTRA:
11. Tenderness (Russian Song sung by Iris Camaa)
12. Mr. Alexey Leonov’s Speech
(First man in space who did a space walk)
Line Up:
- Edgar Froese Keyboards
- Linda Spa Sax, Flute & Keyboards
- Iris Camaa V drums and percussion
- Thorsten Quaeschning Keyboards
- Bernhard Beibl Guitar
- Hoshiko Yamane electric & acoustic Violin
- Brian May Electric Guitar (special guest)
Links:
- Tangerine Dream http://www.tangerinedream-music.com/
- Brian May http://www.brianmay.com/