POP MUSIC REVIEW : Tangerine Leaves Canned Taste : The European techno-synth ensemble is mechanically impressive in its Coach House concert, but its array of computers couldn’t fill the void were ‘live’ sounds should have been.

Tangerine Dream’s music has always sounded suspiciously like the audio track for an unrealized motion picture. And, despite a calculated effort to develop a rock-tinged groove for their current Miramar album, “Rockoon,” the European group’s opening set at the Coach House on Wednesday could easily have served as an audition demo for almost any new James Cameron film.

What is really remarkable about Tangerine Dream, however, is the fact that a stage full of state-of-the-art sound technology can be restricted to concocting such highly competent, but achingly repetitious music.

Founding member Edgar Froese and his son, Jerome, who are now the quartet’s guiding lights, manipulated a myriad of synthesizers and samplers via their keyboards and two computer sequencer/controllers. Surrounding them was a maze of lights carefully synchronized to produce kaleidoscopic visual effects cued to changing patterns in the music.

It was very impressive--in a mechanical sense. Edgar Froese led his group through a series of works, many from the new album, all connected into a kind of episodic suite. The music ranged from stomach-churning, low pedal tones and chattering high harmonics to sweeping chordal textures and mildly funk-driven rhythms.

Occasionally, saxophonist Linda Spa or guitarist Zlatko Perica would step into the spotlight for brief solo passages. Neither was a particularly interesting performer, but the quality of their work was heightened by the simple pleasure of hearing sounds that weren’t synthesized or pre-programmed.

Much of the balance of the music traced to sequencer patterns controlled by the computers. There was, for example, no living drummer--only Edgar Froese’s preset, sampled drum rhythms. And many of the more difficult, more rapid-fire keyboard passages were also generated by the computer rather than anyone’s “live” hands.

Tangerine Dream has never pretended to be anything other than a European techno-synth ensemble, and it would probably be foolish to expect any changes now, after 25 years of successfully producing this kind of aural, environmental music. Still, a touch of playful whimsy or a few dashes of soaring lyricism would have been a welcome addition to an evening of unrelentingly intense sound without much substance.

Tangerine Dream also plays tonight at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles and Sunday at the Ventura Theatre in Ventura.