Having successfully released three albums, the Berlinbased electronic duo Tyndall fell out so badly with oneanother in 1983 that they ended up splitting the fourth album in two, taking a side each. J?rgen Krehan’s half showcases his customarily nimble synth-pop, as well as several pieces influenced by classical music. Rudi Langer launches into celestial revelry on the other side, underpinned here and there by a driving beat. Nevertheless: both sides sound unmistakeably like Tyndall. FIRST TIME ON CD! On Durch die Zeiten J?rgen Krehan used a music computer for the first time, aided by a mysterious musician by the name of Yin Yang from Tokyo, according to the original credits, who apparently contributed computer programs and two tracks entitled Barock and Klassik. Yin Yang may well be a pseudonym Krehan used, also surfacing on the rare and highly prized cassette Flusswelt released on David Elliott’s YHR Tapes label in 1983. As anticipated by the last tracks of the previous album Reflexionen, the pieces here are structurally clearer, more developed, moving in a more classical direction, away from synth-pop. Rudolf Langer opens the B-side with a track called Kambrium. This geological era was ushered in by the “Cambrian explosion”. He paints this “big bang” of animal life in almost religious, idyllic, fanciful tones, with roaring sounds and futuristic pitch sweeps. The next track, Silur, references the Silurian period, characterized by massive tectonic activity which precipitated biological crises. Next up, the jovially marching Karbon may be Langer’s vision of the indefatigable cycle of luxuriant vegetation as it sought to survive in the carbon deposits of this age. The LP finishes with a track dedicated to the Permian period. In retrospect, a certain conceptual rigour can be attributed to Tyndall’s releases. A common thread runs through each album, allowing the tracks to unfold in sequence. From the first to this, the last, album, their style has shifted significantly. The innocent synth-pop of the debut Sonnenlicht (1980) was superseded by an imaginative, surreal, experimental phase on Traumland (1981). The 1982 album Reflexionen was inspired by the duo’s move to Berlin, with J?rgen Krehan imparting his impressions through German lyrics. Finally, this album, split down the middle. On the one hand, borrowing from classical notions, on the other, Langer’s playfully impressionistic works. Durch die Zeiten was the last record released by the Tyndall duo. Both musicians continued to make music, just not with each other. Rudolf Langer teamed up with Peter Preu? to found LAPRE. J?rgen Krehan released a number of New Age albums as Nik Tyndall, wrote commissioned pieces of music and played live shows.
