Forma Tadre is a German electronic music project performed solo by Andreas Meyer. Forma Tadre's music spans numerous styles, from
darkwave
Dark wave (also typeset as darkwave) is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as be ...
/
Neue Deutsche Welle
Neue Deutsche Welle (NDW, , "New German Wave") is a genre of West German rock music originally derived from post-punk and new wave music with electronic influences. The term was first coined by Dutch radio DJ Frits Spits on the popular nationwid ...
to
industrial
Industrial may refer to:
Industry
* Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry
* Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems
* Industrial city, a city dominate ...
ambient
Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to:
Music and sound
* Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds
* Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere
* ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby
* ...
.
History
Forma Tadre began as a three-piece band in 1986 including Andreas Meyer. Andreas was heavily influenced by the electronic band
Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup ...
which provided the impetus for the name Forma Tadre as a sort of
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsForce Majeure.
The band played some live shows and recorded an EP, ''Brightful Times'', in 1987, which was produced by German producer Robert "Bobby" Giddens who worked with many German bands including
DAF
Daf ( fa, دف) also known as Dâyere and Riq is a Middle Eastern (mainly Iranian) frame drum musical instrument, used in popular and classical music in South and Central Asia. It is also used in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbe ...
. After this release, two of the members eventually split from the band without producing any more releases together, leaving Andreas as the sole member by 1994.
After the trio dissolved, Andreas was convinced by Björn Junemann - a member of Haujobb at the time - to submit demo tapes to record labels, which eventually led to the attention of Off-Beat Records, who released his next two albums.
In 1996, Andreas released his first album as the sole member of Forma Tadre, ''Navigator'', which was a marked style departure from the previous, more traditional three-piece incarnation of the band. ''Navigator'' centered on a theme of "exploration," gluing together epic, symphonic instrumentals with numerous highly-technical EBM tracks. Andreas' interests in the
occult
The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...
and H. P. Lovecraft informed several of the tracks on ''Navigator'' including "Date Unknown," "Celebrate the Cult," "Gates," and "Mesozoic Tree Ferns."
After ''Navigator'', Andreas was approached by Daniel Myer (no relation) of
Haujobb
Haujobb is a German electronic musical project whose output has ranged drastically within the electronic music spectrum, from electro-industrial to ambient and techno. They have become a staple crossover act, bringing several forms of electro ...
to work together on a music project, which resulted in the formation of
Newt
A newt is a salamander in the subfamily Pleurodelinae. The terrestrial juvenile phase is called an eft. Unlike other members of the family Salamandridae, newts are semiaquatic, alternating between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Not all aqua ...
. The duo - both residents of the same city - produced two albums and a single between 1997 and 1999.
Beginning around 1995, Andreas worked with a female vocalist on a project that emulated more traditional, classical music via electronic instrumentation. The project, named Eisriesenkönig, released only a single track - a remix of a Forma Tadre song - on the 1996 Off-Beat compilation ''The O-Files''.
As Forma Tadre, Andreas produced many remixes in the 1990s and 2000s for bands such as
Haujobb
Haujobb is a German electronic musical project whose output has ranged drastically within the electronic music spectrum, from electro-industrial to ambient and techno. They have become a staple crossover act, bringing several forms of electro ...
Wumpscut
Wumpscut (stylised as :wumpscut:) is a gothic influenced electro-industrial music project from Germany. It was founded in May 1991 by Bavarian disc jockey Rudolf "Rudy" Ratzinger (born 3 June 1966).
History
Rudy Ratzinger is the creative force ...
, Assemblage 23, and others.
Forma Tadre's second album, ''Automate'', was released in 1998 and once again marked a significant shift in style, this time towards a more ambient style of music.
After almost a decade, Forma Tadre returned with a 13-track album ''The Music of Erich Zann'', inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's short story of the same name from 1921.
In 2019, a hybrid vinyl-digital reissue of ''Brightful Times'' was released, appending eight tracks recorded between 1987 and 1992 to the original four track EP.
In 2020, Forma Tadre released a pair of anthologies. ''Navigator Travelogue'' contains remixes, singles, demos and unreleased tracks from the project's most active years 1994–1997. ''P-SongX'' contains unreleased songs that Andreas recorded during the span of time between ''Brightful Times'' and ''Navigator'' along with one new track, "M15 – She a threat?".
Navigator
A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's primar ...
'' (
Off-Beat
''Off-Beat'' is a 1960 album by American jazz vocalist June Christy, arranged and conducted by Pete Rugolo.
The tracks on the album were included on a 1997 double-CD re-issue under the title ''The Song Is June!''
Critical reception
AllMusic wro ...
,
Metropolis Records
Metropolis Records is a record label founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1993 by the late Dave Heckman. The label's all-electronic format closely tracked with European contemporaries, such as Off Beat, and, since 1995, has been instrumenta ...
, 1997)
*''
Automate
Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...
'' (Off-Beat, Metropolis, 1998)
*''
The Music of Erich Zann
"The Music of Erich Zann" is a horror short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft. Written in December 1921, it was first published in ''National Amateur'', March 1922.
The story is an account of the enigmatic Erich Zann, an elderly musician ...
Newt
A newt is a salamander in the subfamily Pleurodelinae. The terrestrial juvenile phase is called an eft. Unlike other members of the family Salamandridae, newts are semiaquatic, alternating between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Not all aqua ...
*
Haujobb
Haujobb is a German electronic musical project whose output has ranged drastically within the electronic music spectrum, from electro-industrial to ambient and techno. They have become a staple crossover act, bringing several forms of electro ...
*
DAF
Daf ( fa, دف) also known as Dâyere and Riq is a Middle Eastern (mainly Iranian) frame drum musical instrument, used in popular and classical music in South and Central Asia. It is also used in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbe ...
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...