artist: Peter Baumann country of origin: Germany style(s): Krautrock, Berlin-school, ambient trance essential releases: Romance '76 (1976, Virgin)

Exactly who did what in the pioneering electronic band Tangerine Dream during its various 70's and 80's incarnations has always been something of a mystery, except perhaps to other electronic musicians. That Peter Baumann as a solo artist recorded one of the classic albums of Berlin-school ambient, Romance '76, suggests his contribution to TD must have been been significant.

Romance '76 came out a year before he actually left the band but it remains his solo masterwork, a sparser variation of the sequenced electronics heard on his former band's Stratosfear released in the same year. Its a perfect snapshot of mid-70s' sequencer-driven electronica. The melodies are seductive and shadowy and there's a certain looseness - bum notes and all - that's rare in the genre. Most impressive of all is the two-part “Meadow Of Infinity”. Part One features dramatic flourishes from the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, while Part Two develops one of the most extraordinary and eerily beautiful melodies from the Mellotron keyboard that's ever been committed to record.

Baumann’s subsequent albums like Transharmonic Nights (1979) opt for more pop-inflected, minimal electropop ala Kraftwerk but with decidedly less engaging results. In the 80's moved to the USA and set up adult alternative label Private Music.

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