June 10, 2018 - Tangerine Dream - Ultima Thule, Pt. 1 (1971)

In ancient Greek and Roman literature and maps, Thule was defined as the furthest place north. Ultima Thule is any distant place located beyond the borders of the known world. So, it's waaaayyyy out there.

It is also Tangerine Dream's first single, and as far as I know their only single that isn't just a condensed sample of one of their longer album cuts. In reality, it is the chord progression from their lengthy piece called Fly and Collision of Comas Sola, with the tempo greatly accelerated.

It opens with a ten second burst of high-speed electric guitar that soon collapses into an uncertain holding pattern, waiting for some direction. The drums come in at 0:22, vainly attempting to lend assistance. By the end of the first minute, following some tentative steps, it has assumed an amorphous design of crashing cymbals and mad Keith Moon drum fills atop a blanket of mellotron, while the guitar and organ attempt to find their place in the crowd. Throughout the recording, things never lock into a recognizable groove, the drums seem to pause and then take off haphazardly. It all comes across like a giant space amoeba on Star Trek, stretching here and there without any purpose in the outer reaches of the galaxy.