PETER BAUMANN

From 1971 to 1977 Peter Baumann was a member of the legendary German band Tangerine Dream, the inventors of the electronic music genre "Berlin School". He produced many seminal records in his Paragon studio (e.g. Conrad Schnitzler, Cluster, Hans-Joachim Roedelius) and released several successful solo albums.

"In October 2014 an idea suddenly came to mind. Although I had spent much of my life performing, recording and producing music, my attention over the immediately preceding years had been focused on the philosophy and psychology of human nature. It was a rewarding exploration, but I missed being more creative – suddenly I felt the urge to play music again. I built a recording studio in my basement and began writing material for the first time in a long while. In November I called Edgar Froese and we met in early January 2015 in Austria. It was an extraordinary encounter and it seemed like it would lead to a renewed collaboration after several decades. As many of you now know Edgar passed away on January 20th 2015, I miss him dearly.

Machines of Desire is filled with many influences, not least of them, my time with Tangerine Dream. Recording this album has been a very rich experience that fulfilled my creative desires, with more to come. I'm delighted that German record label Bureau B will release the recording in May/June of this year.

The title, Machines of Desire, reflects my belief that as human beings we're driven relentlessly by our deepest desires: the desire to experience life and love, to be heard and seen, to connect with others, to be safe, to find meaning and purpose... and countless more. We find ourselves in the drama of everyday life with uncertainty at every step, with fear of loss and existential loneliness, and only occasionally interrupted by the fundamental joy of being alive."

Peter Baumann, February 2016

Read the info sheet (PDF) in German
Read the info sheet (PDF): English
Download the press kit (zip): press kit

REVIEWS

Freq (UK): Machines Of Desire slowly seeps into your skin and then makes you realise just how much we have missed his compositional work in the intervening years.

Pennyblackmusic (UK): Old fans of Tangerine Dream and European electronic music will find much to delight in here .New listeners will be introduced to an album of moody inventiveness from a master of the genre.

Depechemode.de (GER): Man kann darin versinken und sich wohl fühlen.

GoodTimes (GER): Fans des klassischen Tangerine-Dream-Sounds werden ihre wahre Freude daran haben. Machines Of Desire klingt fast wie eine Fortsetzung der Alben der Virgin-Jahre ohne sie bloß abzukupferne, retro und dennoch mitten im Hier und Jetzt.

REISSUES

Peter Baumann's first two solo works will be reissued Nov 4, 2016: "Romance 76" (originally released 1976) and "Trans Harmonic Nights" (originally released 1979).

Read more about "Romance 76" (PDF) in German / English

Read more about "Trans Harmonic Nights" (PDF) in German / English

Download the "Romance 76" press kit (zip): press kit
Download the "Trans Harmonic Nights" press kit (zip): press kit