As prolific as Tangerine Dream have been since the late ’60s—they’re still active today, even after founder Edgar Froese’s passing—it’s easy to drill their sprawling discography down to a couple key releases. Namely 1974’s Phaedra LP and its swiftly released follow-up, Rubycon. Essentially one experimental piece spread over two 17-minute sides, the latter drifts through pockets of polluted air and puddles of ectoplasm not unlike the abstract splash on its sleeve.
It’s not easy listening by any means; quite a few stretches are unsettling and queasy, like a long, strange trip that seems terrifying at the time and revelatory in retrospect. Maybe even life-affirming, a hypnotic and heady glimpse of another dimension or what truly awaits on the other side.
