Wolfgang DürenWolfgang Düren (born 7/9/1956) was raised on the music of the fertile German underground, and in the early-1970's he played guitar in a few bands, whilst he also studied electronic musical instruments, and when on to become a roadie and sequencer programmer for Tangerine Dream (circa 1978-1980). Rumours that he'd played with the band and was touted to become a member are apparently nonsense. He only ever played with them in set-up rehearsals before concerts. But, it seems that taught Wolfgang enough for him have a go at creating some synth-sequencer music of his own using the techniques and knowledge he'd acquired.
Returning to his home town of Bad Breisig, and working for PPG synthesizers as a distributor and technician, along with his favourite old Moog's, he had all the equipment needed to make an album. His sole self produced record EYELESS DREAMS had a spooky edge, but was most obviously Tangerine Dream inspired, though with an original twist on the Teutonic synth/sequencer style. A nod in the direction of Vangelis, and some excellent use of sequencers, it is one of the better albums of the era, and is now a sought after collectible by fans of the genre!
By "The Crack In The Cosmic Egg"
More info:
German sound engineer Wolfgang Duren is the man who helped to develop early PPG synthesizers in the late '70.
As he was president in PPG, it makes sense that he followed the german band Tangerine Dream in the 1980 tour to help with the synths and stuff, becoming the sound engineer for this band.
After touring with Tangerine Dream, he decided to record an electronic album using mainly PPG gear.
"Eyeless Dreams", released on LP in 1980, was its first (and sadly the last) album and it contains rhythmic, sequenced electronic pieces, highly influenced by Tangerine Dream, in other words Berlin EM school!
"Eyeless Dream I" opens with very fast synchronised sequences and slips into a melody with splashes of percussion and a wailing lead line. 'Phila', '904' and 'Proton' develop the style, with imaginative and gentle changes of tempo, rich digital abstract sounds and expressive chords making full use of delay and keyboard response effects.
The closing 'Eyeless Dream II' has Bettina Weber's spoken German text over a huge variety of PPG abstract sounds and chords. There's a feeling of tremendous power latent in every track, quite understandably in view of the highly sophisticated and desirable instrumentation involved!
The album was never released on CD and now is a hard to find stuff.
By "Quietmelodies"...
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Eyeless Dreams (1980)http://lix.in/-8519b0Tracks:
01. Eyeless Dreams I
02. Phila
03. 904
04. Proton
05. Eyeless Dreams II
Line-Up:
Wolfgang Düren (computer, sequencer, synthesizers)
+ Bettina Weber (voice)
Discography...EYELESS DREAMS (1980)
LP private WPL 5768
Other appearances...1981: Abelane:
ABELANE (programming)
1981: Zeus:
ATTACK TIME (electronics)
