Christopher Franke: The London Concert

Many of The Sonic Music Review's readers will no doubt be familiar with the German band Tangerine Dream whom have been featured a number of times on the site. Lesser known to some is Christopher Franke, an electronica composer and long time member of Tangerine Dream, having joined in 1971 and remaining a member until 1988. After leaving the group, Christopher Franke soon returned to electronic music production, subsequently releasing a number of albums under his own name in the New Age musical style that he previously pioneered as a member of Tangerine Dream.

Christopher Franke: The London Concert

'The London Concert' is Franke's 1993 release of a collection of live material recorded during a concert at The Royal Apollo Theatre, London in 1991. The album opens with a group of five tracks, referred to as parts 1 - 5. The first part, 'Empire Of Light' illustrates Franke's awareness and skill at ambient composition, unsurprising given the strong relationship with his own new age aesthetic and ambient musics. This brooding introduction combines various processed samples with synthetic dissonances to create a highly cinematic atmosphere, a quality seen in much of his work. Moving to part 2: 'Purple Waves,' the listener is afforded a more conventional electronic musicality in the work which later develops to include extended sequenced passages.

One of the most instantly recognisable tracks from Tangerine Dream's 1979 release Force Majeure, 'Cloudburst Flight,' for which Franke also features on the credits, is covered in part 3 of this release. Most interesting is the way in which the artist recontextualises the piece into a notably meeker recording than the original work, focussing on several of the lesser elements in the 1979 version and redefining the instrumentation into a more clearly New Age inspired sonic palette.

The concluding three tracks which forgo the previous convention of being entitled 'parts' embellish the artist's New Age aesthetic with additional creative influences. Considering 'Mountain Heights,' the use of an electric guitar alongside synthetic instrumentation suggests a progressive rock methodology. The final track, 'Private Diaries' ends the release on a high with a soaring pan flute melody atop various sequences and well considered backing timbres. Overall, this release is a very welcome live album and many fans of Tangerine Dream will certainly enjoy.

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