The French PWM Association and the German Spheric Music label have joined forces to pay tribute to TANGERINE DREAM.

Unlike the general theme of tribute albums which centre around cover versions and remixes, ‘Keep On Dreaming’ primarily collects original previously released tracks by European musicians who are keeping the spirit of TANGERINE DREAM alive. But which TANGERINE DREAM? The early incarnation which delivered ‘Alpha Centauri’, ‘Zeit’ and ‘Atem’ offered atonal ambience while the later one with just founder member Edgar Froese leading offered progressive new age with guitar and sax solos that were anathema to enthusiasts of what came to be known as The Berlin School. The less said about the current TANGERINE DREAM line-up with no original members, the better.

For ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, TANGERINE DREAM were the classic trio of Edgar Froese, Christoph Franke and Peter Baumann who produced ‘Phaedra’, ‘Rubycon’, ‘Richochet’, Stratosphere’, ‘Sorcerer’ and ‘Encore’. When Baumann left in 1977, after experiments with a vocalist and drummer, Johannes Schmoelling took over the synthesizer stool for ‘Tangram’, ‘Exit’, ‘White Eagle’ and ‘Hyperborea’ as well as the mainstream Hollywood soundtrack breakthrough ‘Risky Business’. It is this era that ‘Keep On Dreaming’ pays tribute to.

Schallwelle Award winner Peter Mergener’s ‘Pilot Light’ is a glorious Berlin School opener with hints of ASHRA thrown into the icy string machine lines for good measure. More sedate is ‘Ripples In A Mirror’ by Bertrand Loreau with virtual flutes evoking mystical moods while ‘A Thousand Miles’ see Axess bubble and chill with strident melodies.

Another in the Classic Berlin School vein in its incessant sequencer patterns and eerier Mellotron approximations is Olivier Briand with Red Comet while Lambert‘s ‘Tangerine Twilight’ says it all in the title. ‘Aldebran’ by Lionel Palierne is swathed in a marvellous hypnotism with sweeping solos and vocodered voices while more soothing in its atmospheres is ‘The Prophecy Of 23’ from Greek-born Jiannis.

There are winds blowing ‘In The Fields Of Proxima’ as Kryfels provides a stark solemn backdrop into the hoe straight but as Johannes Schmoelling contributes a 2025 remix of ‘Icewalk’ from his 1990 album ‘White Out’ as the closer, it proves to be a comparative disappointment; but that says more about the abilities of all the other artists included on ‘Keep On Dreaming’ who are demonstrating the worldwide impact on the music world that TANGERINE DREAM created.

Keeping the spirit of their electronic meditation going and united in their fascination with TANGERINE DREAM, this collection provides an enjoyable sequencer dreamworld.

‘Keep On Dreaming: A Tribute To TANGERINE DREAM’ is released as a CD on 17th April 2026 by Spheric Music, available from https://sphericmusic-shop.de/de/startseite/1924-keep-on-dreaming-a-tribute-to-tangerine-dream-compilation.html

Text by Chi Ming Lai
14th April 2026