Manuel Göttsching – "E2-E4" (Inteam GmbH – ID 20.004) 1984

Look backwards from any point in time up to 1970,and some clever dick will always find a long lost Krautrock classic waiting to be hauled up the flag poll as the inventor of any number of Influential,Seminal, or any amount of flattering  superlatives applied to heavily lauded albums such as this,which obviously was Trance before Trance.

Then again, sift backwards trough the marshlands of Kraut,and we can find tracks like the nine adorning this, on most of those Gate-folded Kosmische classics, like Klaus Schulz, Tangerine Dream, ,and various Ex-members of Tangerine Dream, like Klaus Schulz. In fact TD  could and should also be extremely guilty for thousands of British Ravers idiot dancing the week away in some obscure Cow field in Essex,near an exit off the M25 (aka The Magic Roundabout), back in 1988 before the UK Government made it highly illegal. What the Cows did during this process is a mystery, but there was a rumour that a Frisian and an Aberdeen Angus were seen dancing to the moozic, E'd Up, in front of the DJ on one occasion at least .

The difference between Manuel Göttsching and Edgar Froese is that Manuel had a drum machine, and Eddie didn't. Therefore  Göttsching Göt the prize....he,by logical elimination, was guilty of being Trance before Trance.Whether that's anything to brag about is another matter altogether. 

Tracklist:

1.Ruhige Nervosität 13:00
2.Gemäßigter Aufbruch 10:00
3....Und Mittelspiel 7:00
4.Ansatz 1:00
5.Damen-Eleganza 5:00
6.Ehrenvoller Kampf 3:00
7.Hoheit Weicht (Nicht Ohne Schwung...) 9:00
8....Und Souveränität 3:00
9.Remis 3:00

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Ashra – "New Age Of Earth" (Virgin – V 2080) 1977

 Now that everybody has posted "E2-E4 as a tribute to the recently dead Krautrock guitar hero Manuel Gottsching,and claimed it as the year zero of Trance....whatever the fuck Trance is? Sounds like House music to me; the genres of which I have no clue or indeed interest. The chess referenced record in question,apart from being rather boring,is just standard Berlin-School type kosmiche with the swirly bits taken out,to a hypnotic drum box beat......is it the drum box that they think started the madness that remains virtually unchanged for the preceding thirty years.This was what happened to nature after the pre-cambrian period,fast evolution then stasis.The dinosaurs remained unchanged for 10's of millions of years,just like House music variants; Gottschings ambient musings are the pre-cambrian oceans of electronics,but "E2-E4" is the dinosaur.

Most of Gottching's pre-cambrian guitar virtuosity is already available elsewhere on this blog,so as my tribute I have selected this shimmering ambient rock flotation tank muzak outing by Manuel as Ashra, dropping the Tempel part,and also dropping the band. Which is fitting as now all the original line-up of Ash Ra Tempel have now departed consciousness.

The cover looks unerringly like one of the world trade centers relocated to the outskirts of Auschwitz,beaming its truth like an enormous obelisk created by the alien god figure who began this experiment billions of years ago to discover the answer to the ultimate question. This rather disappointed 'God' has just begun to realise that it was all just a complete waste of telly-time. It was all predicted in the BBC comedy series "Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy".......of course it's 42, innit....its the best answer I've ever heard.......and this LP is just north of 42 minutes long! If that ain't proof i dunno what is...

Anyway Manuel knows the answer, or lack of one, by now,if consciousness exists post-mortem for long enough to know this....probably something really boring like eternal nothing ,ness,more nothing than the nothing we think nothing is right now...ness. And the only way this big Nothing gets to actually BE Nothing, is if creatures like Homo-erectus part four have evolved to actually see and measure the nothing-ness before they blow themselves up;

Nothingness does indeed need defining boundaries before it can be defined....but, does that make it a something?

In fact even referring to nothing as nothing makes it a something.Even thinking about it proves it exists,as quantum reactions only happen when no-one's looking.

So is the only answer mankind can ever offer be 'God',the nothing that pretends its something,but only in the minds of men....homo-erectus.

Tracklist:

1.Sunrain 7:26

2.Ocean Of Tenderness 12:36

3.Deep Distance 5:46

4.Nightdust 21:52

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Manuel Göttsching ‎– "Inventions For Electric Guitar" (Kosmische Musik ‎– KM 58.015) 1975

One thing about Manuel Göttsching is that he did have a liking for quality knitwear.Never too far away from a cosy purple sweater, never mind a lengthy nylon scarf, as pictured here in front of that standard prog rock accessory, a Gong.Probably one of the best/horrific album covers of all time.
The music,however, is the logical extention of that Pink Floyd slap back echo guitar/effect interplay so beloved of several Krautrock guitarists.Its hypnotic qualities cannot be overrated,have a go yourself, its easy,all you need is an electric guitar,an echo device and a sense of a 4/4 time signature,no rhythmic affinity necessary.Germans always find it difficult to stray from a marching beat,and this album is no different.Although its another proto-trance classic further cementing the reputation of Germany as the birthplace of House/techno.

Tracklist:

A1 Echo Waves 17:45
A2 Quasarsphere 6:34
B Pluralis 21:36

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Ash Ra Tempel ‎– "The Private Tapes Vol. 6" (Manikin Records ‎– MRCD 7016) 1996

Three Ash Ra tracks, the first of which sounds like some guitar hero wanna be playing along with a home organ enthusiast. The other two are from a concert  in Berlin in 1979, and benefits from some crisp live drumming, but strays into very dodgy Carlos Santana areas that should be strictly Verboten,especially for Carlos himself.
The live classic Ash Ra Tempel line up treat us to a lo-fi recording of Klaus Schulze's last ART concert in Bern from 1971, before going solo.I have no smart arse comments to add to this uninspired piece of blurb...track four's good anyway.

Tracklist:

1 –Ashra - Hausaufgabe (1978) 11:47
2 –Ashra - Ice Train (1979) 6:26
3 –Ashra - Phantasus (1979) 5:26
4 –Ash Ra Tempel - Ein Würdiger Abschluss (1971) 54:16

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Ash Ra Tempel ‎– "The Private Tapes Vol. 5" (Manikin Records ‎– MRCD 7015) 1996

Out comes the echo-box again,as Manuel strives for that Dave Gilmore sound once more.
Oh yeah!..There's a live Ash Ra Tempel track recorded in Cologne in feb 1973 that has its moments,but thats about it for volume 5.

Tracklist:

1 –Manuel Göttsching - Ultramarine (1978) 22:24
2 –Manuel Göttsching - Lotus (1976) 19:41
3 –Manuel Göttsching - Ivresse De Lune (1973) 2:27
4 –Manuel Göttsching - Ivresse De Soleil (1973) 2:59
5 –Ash Ra Tempel -  Ooze Away (1973) 28:00
6 –Manuel Göttsching - Interview (1989) 2:59

DOWNLOAD and give yourself five HERE!

Ash Ra Tempel ‎– "The Private Tapes Vol. 4" (Manikin Records ‎– MRCD 7014) 1996

They all do it at some point don't they?
Get ideas beyond their station and Go Jazz Fusion!?.......but not the good Jazz Fusion like Miles Davis etc,this is awful Pat Methany style Jazz Rock fusion.Krautrock Legends, Guru Guru also befell this same fate on their 1974 "Dance Of The Flames" album,terrible stuff.Even Zoot Horn Rollo went 'Jazz' on his sole solo album a few years ago, but he's a better guitarist than Göttsching,so he got away with it.Basically, Jazz and electric guitar shouldn't be said in the same sentence.....ever!
I suppose there are some Pat Methany fans who will take offence at my use of their hero as the comparison point for 'awful' on the Jazz Fusion barometer of shite; but thats how it is on these pages.Heaven knows the pain just a few notes of any Methany tunes have caused the boredom sector of my delicate frontal lobe,so he deserves it.
As terrible the first three tracks are, its more than made up for by  repetitive sequencer driven proto-trance number "Niemand Lacht Rückwärts".
Finishing off this episode we have a rather below par Ash Ra Tempel freak out.....sounding...dare I say....a bit Jazzy(!?)in places....not good.

Tracklist:

1 –Ashra - Club Cannibal (1979) 14:48
2 –Ashra - Sausalito (1979) 3:40
3 –Ashra - Ain't No Time For Tears (1979) 7:12
4 –Manuel Göttsching - Niemand Lacht Rückwärts (1979) 11:56
5 –Ash Ra Tempel - Dédié à Hartmut (1973) 39:59

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Ash Ra Tempel ‎– "The Private Tapes Vol. 3" (Manikin Records ‎– MRCD 7013) 1996

Some say that these private tapes should have remained private......and they may have a point.
The high point for me on Volume three has to be the Free Rock of Ash Ra Tempel.Turn the volume from 3 to 11 to enjoy it to the maximum.
Tracks 2&4 are, however, superior trancey numbers to keep you company in your flotation tank of an evening,after a hard days grovelling.

Tracklist:

1 –Manuel Göttsching - Whoopee (1973) 3:17
2 –Manuel Göttsching - Der Lauf Der Giraffen (1973) 3:17
3 –Ashra - Schwerer Dino (1974) 27:27
4 –Manuel Göttsching - Halensee (1973) 12:21
5 –Ash Ra Tempel - Le Bruit Des Origines (1971) 32:04

DOWNLOAD your manuel HERE!

Ash Ra Tempel - "The Private Tapes Vol. 2" (Manikin Records ‎– MRCD 7012) 1996

Manuel Göttsching is often credited with inventing 'House'(shame on you!), with the mind numbingly boring "E2-E4" album.Its repetative synth lines were hardly original,and the terrible drum machine in the background wasn't either;but that LP and "Trans-europe Express" seem to put this mind-controling genre firmly in the land that gave us MK Ultra.Maybe Göttsching was a fourth Reich Nazi drone,programed to infiltrate the counter-culture and stealthily introduce this form of fake decadant marching musick to the masses...very sucessfully I may add.
Personally,I place the blame at the feet of the minimal composers of the sixties and seventies,Glass, Reich, Riley etc, plus Kraftwerk...maybe?
The first three tracks on volume two wouldn't be out of place at some drugged up chill-out area at a late eighties illegal rave party somewhere near Basildon (Essex?)
For me, the live Ash Ra Tempel track is the reason to have this in your collection. Live improvised electric freak outs are my favorite background music. You can read to it, take drugs to it, invite the neighbours round for a Fondue,its perfect music...even if it is done by a bunch of West German hippies who would have loved to be Pink Floyd in 1967......in fact I would have loved to be Pink Floyd in 1967 too!?...Who in their right mind wouldn't? 

Tracklist:

1 –Manuel Göttsching - Deep Distance (1976) 21:11
2 –Manuel Göttsching - Shuttle Cock (1976) 18:12
3 –Manuel Göttsching - Wall Of Sound (1979) 12:03
4 –Ash Ra Tempel - Soirée Académique (1971) 24:17
5 –Ash Ra Tempel - Interview (1970) (KS) 0:22

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Ash Ra Tempel - "The Private Tapes Vol. 1" (Manikin Records ‎– MRCD 7011) 1996

So, we've established that 'Krautrock' was a rougher form of prog rock by German groups who wanted to be Pink Floyd,with splashes of Zappa,Soft Machine, and The Velvet Underground.They weren't gonna be doing world tours or hiring jumbo jets or anything like ELP or Led Zeppelin anytime soon, so they could get a bit more unpalatable for the stinking masses than any Anglo-American group were allowed to.

Firmly in the Pink Floyd-a-like camp are the various incarnations of Ash Ra Tempel supremo, Manuel Gottsching.

This is the first volume in a series of six CDs of unreleased historic recordings from the seventies by Manuel and his groups Ash Ra Tempel & Ashra.

The first track from 1979 is an insipid new age foray into the unforgiving world of bland medatative neck pick-up guitar noodling.

Next up we get a Berlin School influenced proto ambient trance seqencer piece,think Tangerine Dream but crapper.
The catchily titled,"Begleitmusik Zu Einem Hörspiel"is classic, get yer echo boxes out Pink Floyd mimickry, then back to new age beige for "Bois De La Lune"

Track 5 is a truly terrible sixties German high school blues band atrocity.....it can only get better...and it does.... on volume 2.

Tracklist:

1 –Manuel Göttsching -  Bois De Soleil (1979) 3:14
2 –Manuel Göttsching - Eloquentes Wiesel (1979) 28:47
3 –Manuel Göttsching - Begleitmusik Zu Einem Hörspiel (1974) 24:41
4 –Manuel Göttsching - Bois De La Lune (1979) 7:26
5 –Steeple Chase Bluesband -Chicken Maladie (1970) 9:52

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