Mota Atma

Amazon.com
The career of pioneering electronic soundscape architects Tangerine Dream has stretched so long that the child of founder/mainstay Edgar Froese, who occasionally graced the band's covers as an adolescent, is now Froese's full-fledged band mate. And if their commercial success and string of Hollywood films they scored in the '70s and '80s seem to have ironically cost them some critical perspective, this soundtrack (recorded in the fall of ‘02) to the obscure Spark-Guchy production is a compelling summation of the band's various phases and enduring appeal. The brooding, sensuous textures of their expansive mid-'70s prime are often efficiently set here to the pulsing sequencer rhythms that propelled much of their film work from Sorcerer onwards, but deftly seasoned with samples and sparing uses of natural instruments that give it a deceptively transparent sense of the organic. Young Jerome Froese seems locked into his father's electro muse at the genetic level, producing one of T-Dream's most sonically elegant and rewarding modern albums. --Jerry McCulley

Product Description
Mota Atma is an original motion picture soundtrack and the band's stunning 2003 album recorded towards the end of 2002 at their studio in Berlin. TDP.

Tracks:

The Courage To Lose
For The Summit Only
No Pleasure No Pain
Royal Way Of Privacy
Phoenix Burning
Prophet In Chains
Snow On Angels Feather
A Fair Days Wage
Brain Offender
A Day In Liberty Valley

Product Description

1. The Courage To Lose
2. For The Summit Only
3. No Pleasure No Pain
4. Royal Way Of Privacy
5. Phoenix Burning
6. Prophet In Chains
7. Snow On Angels Feather
8. A Fair Days Wage
9. Brain Offender
10. A Day In Liberty Valley

Format: CD

Amazon.com

The career of pioneering electronic soundscape architects Tangerine Dream has stretched so long that the child of founder/mainstay Edgar Froese, who occasionally graced the band's covers as an adolescent, is now Froese's full-fledged band mate. And if their commercial success and string of Hollywood films they scored in the '70s and '80s seem to have ironically cost them some critical perspective, this soundtrack (recorded in the fall of `02) to the obscure Spark-Guchy production is a compelling summation of the band's various phases and enduring appeal. The brooding, sensuous textures of their expansive mid-'70s prime are often efficiently set here to the pulsing sequencer rhythms that propelled much of their film work from Sorcerer onwards, but deftly seasoned with samples and sparing uses of natural instruments that give it a deceptively transparent sense of the organic. Young Jerome Froese seems locked into his father's electro muse at the genetic level, producing one of T-Dream's most sonically elegant and rewarding modern albums. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews:

Too repetitive..........2007-07-11

I have been a voracious collector and listener of Tangerine Dream's music for 20 years now. This release, unfortunately, just doesn't do it for me.

TD has done MANY soundtracks, most of which are very refreshing, original and memorable. Mota Atma, however, leaves me feeling somewhat dry. Many of the songs sound almost exactly the same, the only difference being softer or harder sequencers. It seems as though they could only come up with 1 idea for a song and just repeated that idea over and over.

The only track that does stand out is "Snow On Angel's Feather" which is, to me, the type of song that made me fall in love wih their music in the first place. The rest of the songs are pretty much disposable, although it could quite possibly serve as some good ambient music to listen to while you clean out the garage, balance your checkbook, wash dishes, etc.

Tangerine Dream are much more capable than what was released on this disc.

C- TD.......2007-03-22

First, let me start by saying I am a lifelong listener to the music of TD. I have around a dozen or so of their cds. I bought my first TD LP in around '71 or so. but enough about me. This cd is not what I'd call one of their most creative. At first it seems to promise a little bit of their early sound (think Phaedra), but some how it just does'nt seem to deliver. When TD is at their best the songs change constantly in rythm, texture, and melody. These do not. Still, if you want cool background music while you're doing something else. This ain't all that bad.

not bad at all...........2004-01-09

With Vangelis making the boring Mythodea and Jean Michel Jarre going into lounge with Geometry of Love we are lucky that TD are still around and kicking.
A very good album(although a soundtrack) after many conventional ones.It reminds their great albums of the 70's.
Recommended to TD 70's fans or to anyone who wants to hear some good electronic music.

OK, I like it............2003-11-02

I've listened to this CD numerous times on headphones ususally when I'm flying. I am immensely drawn to the first few tracks. Somewhere in the middle of the disk, however, I get lost. But those first few track are enough for me. This music is fresh and steaming with tension. The recurring theme only makes it more compelling. My mind can only imagine what is happening in the film. Tangerine Dream is the group that can make new music while all the world, with every gadget money can buy, can only try to copy. Four stars for sure...maybe more.

A fine new soundtrack work from Tangerine Dream.......2003-09-05

Following closely after the release of Tangerine Dream's live classical/operatic work, "Inferno", this new soundtrack recording was taken from the an obscure 2003 Japanese film titled "Mota Atma" (a quick check on the internet revealed not even ONE bit info on this film,...other than the fact that the soundtrack is by Tangerine Dream!) and it represents quite a change in sound and compositional style from "Inferno". While the music on "Inferno" is heavily structured and tightly arranged, much of the music here is more akin to the free-flowing space rock of early-70 works such as "Phaedra" or "Rubucon", albeit performed with more modern "digital" synth & percussion sounds. As other reviewers have duly noted, a few of the tracks here are mearly variations on a theme, or perhaps alternate versions of the same basic compositions. However, at well over 75 minutes of music, there is certainly enough top-notch new music here to justify adding it to your TD collection. For me, the standout tracks include "Royal Way of Privacy" (majectic & orchestral, with a beautiful chord progression), "Prophet in Chains" (a dark, intense, pulsating piece; with an overall sound reminicent of 1999's outstanding "Mars Polaris" soundtrack) and "For the Summit Only", a spacy, fluid, free-form jam that may even please some of those unfortunate "TD purists" who dismiss the band's more structured or "rock"-oriented latter day works (which I, just for the record, happen to love!) While "Mota Atma" and other such soundtrack recordings may not be as completely satisfying of a listen as Tangerine Dream's main studio albums, they still contain some gripping, evocative music that should not be missed by the die-hard T-Dream fan. (Just as an aside, I have often felt, with a few notable exceptions, that maybe TD saves their more complex & fully-realised material for their main studio & live album releases, while the sountrack albums represent the band's more ambient "minimalistic" side. The soundtrack works, after all, are meant simply as accompanyment to another artist's visual work.) All in all, dispite the grumbling of the naysayers, the current TD line-up of Edgar & Jerome Froese continue to create music that touches my soul and pleases my ears...the Dream lives on!