Tangerine Dream – Rubycon

#TangerineDreamTuesday Week 6: RUBYCON.

Celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year, my personal favourite from the classic lineup. Having developed their Berlin School style in Phaedra, Rubycon sees Tangerine Dream perfecting it.

Unearthly chimes and dreamlike flutes begin the album. Amidst spacey effects, the flute eventually drops away and the Moog makes its presence known - and we're off! There's an incredible build in intensity throughout Part I, as Franke adds more and more notes to the Moog bass sequence, alongside a truly momentous clanging stab (processed organ?) that recurs through the track. Part II continues in this vein, with reversed guitar and organ washes playing over a constantly mutating Moog bassline, eventually closing out the album with flute over drawn-out organ chords.

The two tracks on Rubycon are two sides of the same coin, showcasing a more complex compositional style than the improvisational Phaedra - each track is restless for new ideas, but incorporates them without splitting into individual movements ala their later work on Tangram, Logos etc. In retrospect, it's surprising to see how quickly this period of TD zips past. Of their 70s albums, only Phaedra and Rubycon seem to embody their classic Berlin School sound; between Ricochet and Stratosfear, we see a push toward more melodic songwriting (the latter increasingly baroque) and away from the hypnotic sequencing that dominates this album and the previous. But Tangerine Dream have never been one to rest on their laurels, and it seems only right that - unlike their looping Moog basslines - they were wary of repetition.

All kinds of Wünderbar
If you like electronic music, dance music anything really get this into your ohrs

Just got the 1st press. Love it!
Had it in 1975 but like a lot people in the 90’s sold my vinyls and went to cd…. Stupid! Vinyl is the real sound. And yes this album should be in every ones collection if your a electronic fans!

Is the liquid on the cover art milk? I assumed it was water until I looked closely.

My copy has a misplaced label on side B. German pressing 88 754 XOT

This album was the reason I got into the magical catalogue of TD, when I was a young 18 year old in 1976. A CLASSIC that should be in everyone's collection and if you are just starting out RICOCHET should be along side this as well.

The form of this piece kinda takes the shape of the drop featured on the cover- it builds gradually at first before the sequencing kicks in, then continues to build and peak with a steeper decline to the centre of the piece.. then side two reverses the pattern, rendering the whole thing symmetrical..