Manuel Göttsching - Book

Manuel Göttsching - Live in Berlin

2012-01-15T10:52:00.000-08:00

On Saturday February 4th, 2012 Manuel Göttsching will perform with New York's legendary Joshua Light Show at Berlin's Haus der Kulturen der Welt, headlining the Transmediale Festival. Information about the event can be found above and also here and tickets can be ordered here.

Thank you, Lutz Ludwig Kramer!

2012-01-08T09:44:00.000-08:00

Time for a quick update. On Tuesday evening I rang Lutz Ludwig Kramer in Germany to interview him for the book. Lutz, a founder member of Agitation Free, Walpurgis and later a solo artist, very patiently took the time to discuss post-war Berlin, his teenage memories, the music scene in late '60s Berlin (including the famous Zodiak Free Arts Lab), the Beat Studio where both Agitation Free and Manuel Gottsching practiced and perfected their craft, seeing Ash Ra Tempel live and reconnecting with Manuel after many years.

Lutz felt it was important to credit Mr. Ashra with encouraging him to relaunch his musical career and had this to say: "Manuel was always nice, not a selfish person at all and he's not an ego shooter like everybody else on the scene. He's a gentleman and he's one of the most modest guys I've ever met. Period."

I would like to thank Lutz for taking almost an hour out of his time to speak to me and for his patience in helping to fine tune my work over a number of follow-up e-mails. His latest project is with his band, MERCYSTREET, and I look forward to hearing their music in the not too distant future. I wish him every luck with this. Keep an eye out for the CD, which should be coming soon...

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T09:09:00.000-08:00

Hi all. I hope you had a great Christmas! These photographs were taken down in Whitley Bay, shortly before dusk on New Year's Day and in the distance it is just about possible to see St. Mary's Lighthouse.

The buildings in the background in the picture below are at the bottom of Whitley Bay town. Right around the corner of the headland is Cullercoats, which leads on to Tynemouth, another spectacular stretch of coastline.

I love to come down to the beach whenever I can (usually during evenings and sometimes at weekends) to reflect and also to take in the elemental surroundings. It is about 15 minutes walk from home and once I'm down on the sand in order to get a bit of exercise I try to walk as far as I can towards St. Mary's Lighthouse, time permitting, of course.

Moving on to a progress report with the book - I'm now whizzing quickly through a fourth draft and as a result of several days of work I have already managed to get as far as E2-E4 (almost 80 pages into a 140 page document). After several years of writing my efforts are finally starting to resemble a book, which is really satisfying.

This morning I received an e-mail from Elliott Sharp in New York. Elliott is an acclaimed experimental composer and multi-instrumentalist and played at both Manuel Gottsching's 55th birthday celebrations in Berlin and the More Inventions for Electric Guitar concert in Japan in September of 2010. He took the time to comment on his admiration of Manuel's music and his experiences of performing on both occasions. Big thanks, Elliott for contributing to my book!

Several other important figures in the Manuel Gottsching story have also agreed to contribute towards the book, something that I'm very excited about - more news as and when I get it. In the meantime I wish everyone who follows this blog from time to time a fantastic 2012! As ever I'll be back soon.....

Merry Christmas to one and all!

2011-12-20T14:26:00.000-08:00

Hello all. Just a quick update regarding the progress with the book. I'm pleased to say that I'm already well over 50 pages in to the fourth draft, which is great considering I only started it a few weeks ago. I'm managing to whizz through another batch of improvements this time around and my words are really starting to look like a book, which is very exciting. With a bit of luck at some point in this forthcoming year you'll hopefully be able to get your hands on a copy. We shall see....

I'll be back soon but for now it just remains for me to say thank you for following the blog and special thanks to those of you who have offered me support with the project thus far. I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

M.G. - Top 10

2011-11-27T02:04:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in my previous post, Robert, one of the friends I have established contact with since starting this blog has sent me his Manuel Gottsching top 10 for a bit of fun. Having spoken to Robert again he has given me permission to post his choices, along with his comments and here they are. Enjoy!

1. Midnight on Mars (from the Manuel Gottsching album Blackouts)

"Possibly the best MG.ART piece ever. Just sublime." 9.5/10

2. Sunrain (from the Manuel Gottsching album Live at Mt. Fuji and the DVD Postcards from Japan)

"A really difficult choice between this performance and the one recorded in Wroclaw. Sunrain makes it in twice - just wonderful uplifting music, beautifully composed, structured and played. The same pieces, but each so individual, mark Gottsching as a modern composer in the true sense of the word." 9.25/10

3. Gin Rose - Eine Pikant Variante (from the Ash Ra Tempel album Gin Rose at the Royal Festival Hall)

"No matter how many times I listen to this I hear more and more. Little pieces of Schwingungen if you listen carefully. In some respects, it seems, at times, as if Gottsching is allowing Schulze the limelight but if you listen to MG's contribution it is superb. It never fails to divert me, draw me in, lift me, haunt me, inspire me, - what a magnificent performance. Truly a masterpiece. Absolutely timeless. Apart from Gottsching and Schulze who are just brilliant, Tom Dams has done a beautiful job with the production. Oh, that I had been there in London in 2000!" 9/10

4. Sunrain (from the Ashra album @shra Vol. 2)

"Classic performance - beautifully played by the band and mixed by Steve Baltes." 8.5/10

5. Pikante (from the Ash Ra Tempel album Friendship)

"Hard to pick a favourite from the three tracks on this album, but I suppose it would have to be Pikante which features some beautiful guitar by Gottsching, accompanied by the wonderful 'machines' of Klaus Schulze. Again hats off to Tom Dams for the production." 8/10

6. Bois de Soleil (from the Manuel Gottsching/Ash Ra Tempel/Ashra collection The Private Tapes Vol. 1)

"Exquisite, dreamy guitar. Beautiful, almost ethereal playing. In one sense perfect Gottsching." 8/10

7. Ocean of Tenderness (from the Manuel Gottsching album New Age of Earth)

"This has to be one of the most chilled pieces of ambient music ever produced. The gentle, hypnotic, pulsing - the beautiful keyboard playing, almost classical in composition at times, the wonderful atmospherics of its time, the light, distant guitar in the closing minutes - must make this one of Gottsching's finest." 7.75/10

8. Music from the Manuel Gottsching album Concert for Murnau

"I listen to a lot of classical music and MG proves he could be a Philip Glass. Der Abend and Die Beichte are particularly delicate, contemplative pieces with a subtle, dark edge to them. Leitmotiv has a beautiful, maudlin quality about its cello playing, as good as many of the established composers of the 18th and 19th centuries, while Saint and Sinner is a wistful bridge between classical and electronica." 7.5/10

9. Nightdust (from the Manuel Gottsching album New Age of Earth)

"Deep, moody sounds from a synthesiser." 7/10

10. Donna Wetter (from the Ashra album Making of, now available in The Complete Correlations box set)

"As MG states in the sleeve notes 'despite the garage-like sound, these tapes reflect much of the energy and lust of playing that possessed us in May of 1978.' Pulsating beat, overlaid with beautifully played guitar - pure skill, composition and inventiveness. Far ahead of its time. Brilliant playing, superb music. That's it." 7/10

Many thanks to Robert for his efforts. Do you have your own top 10 to share? If so, please feel free to send it my way and I'll post it here on the blog.

In other news yesterday I had a writing session and managed to fly through another draft of both the prologue and the first part of the book. I'm already far prouder of this than my previous effort and with each successive run-through it takes less and less time to come up with a result. So, things are looking very positive. More soon.....

The next move

2011-11-20T09:16:00.000-08:00

After a lengthy break from writing, during which I've been contemplating which sections of the book require improvement I was unable to resist revisiting my section about the E2-E4 album today. Having read the recent article about the recording in The Wire magazine I learnt one or two little fragments of information that I felt may add to my account of the making of the record and in tweaking a few bits and pieces I ended up giving the whole of the chapter a bit of an overhaul. I now think that I'm almost there with this part, which is great. Next weekend, time permitting I intend to return to the start of the draft and begin the next raft of improvements.

In other news off the back of this blog I've struck up correspondence with a few fellow Manuel Gottsching fans and was going to e-mail one friend today when he beat me to it and sent me a list of his top 10 M.G. records for a bit of fun. It's always really nice to receive messages like that and great to be able to discuss the music in this way, which leads me on to what I was going to say next: if you have been moved by the music or feel that you have something to add to the book do get in touch. I'd love to hear from you.

Travelling music

2011-11-15T11:51:00.001-08:00

As most readers of this blog will probably know Manuel Gottsching graces the cover of this month's copy of The Wire magazine and the issue includes a fairly lengthy piece about the classic E2-E4 album. One of Manuel's quotes from the article really struck a chord with me. "I once was asked what's your favourite album when you're in bed, when you're on a plane, when you're in your car," he says. "I thought about it and every answer for me was E2-E4. It fits in every situation."

For me E2-E4 is a particularly versatile piece of music because if you decide to tune into it there are dense, multiple layers of sound to examine. If, on the other hand, you elect to zone out and not focus on what unfolds as the recording progresses the effect is extremely meditative. Last weekend I travelled to Manchester and on both the outbound and return journey my first choice of listening was E2-E4. I've listened to the album dozens of times when in transit: on trains, on planes and also travelling to and from work and this is perhaps because there is something about the piece that conveys motion. When one considers that Manuel Gottsching originally recorded E2-E4 to play on his Walkman during a flight to Hamburg the following day I would say mission accomplished.

In other news: there are ongoing developments with the book but I can't say what they are yet. Watch this space.

Postcards from Berlin

2011-10-18T11:11:00.001-07:00

Whilst I'm busy tidying up my work before I move on to a fourth draft I thought I'd share some photographs from my trip to Berlin in February of 2010. During this visit I met Manuel and a certain special guest, who you will see making an appearance a bit further down the page. Back soon....

Pas de Trois

2011-09-18T13:23:00.000-07:00

Well today there was cause for a little celebration as I finally reached the end of the third draft of the book but not before a bit of tidying up. On the way to my destination I gave the whole work in progress another quick sweep, changing little details here and there and, as I suspected, there was still a section that I wasn't altogether happy with. This was the review for the Making of album that now forms part of the Complete Correlations boxed set. It is all well and good sitting, listening to three hours of music and recording every detail on paper but boy, is it dull to read later on. Something that I've definitely learnt whilst working on this book is that trying to say what you're saying concisely and doing away with excess information is very important. The trick is to know what to keep and what to delete but to do that it is sometimes necessary to have lots on the page in the first place. Anyway: the section is now trimmed and altered to my satisfaction...at least for now.

It is now time for a brief pause before I begin the fourth draft. I'm going to take a short break, really examine my work in detail and then start the next raft of improvements. I take comfort in the fact that each successive draft takes significantly less time to complete than the previous one. I'll be back in a little while for the next chapter......

Happy Birthday, Manuel Göttsching!

2011-09-08T14:08:00.000-07:00

Wishing a happy birthday to Manuel Göttsching, born 9th September 1952.

A breakthrough

2011-09-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

Well, today I've had rather a fantastic breakthrough on the journey towards completion of the book. After writing about Ashra's live appearance and award at last year's German Schallwelle Preis for electronic music I moved on to what I think will be the final section. This describes my memories of 2010, including staying at Berlin's UFA Fabrik in February, seeing Manuel Gottsching live in Paris in June and once again in Glasgow at Christmas. I also wrote what will probably be the last few paragraphs, which was a very strange feeling. I now need to do some tidying up here and there but I'm fairly close to being able to say that the third draft is complete.

Take Me to Your Reader

2011-08-15T12:23:00.000-07:00

Hi all. I'm just checking in for a quick update. After spending several weekends getting stuck in and having also had the last week off work I've been able to move forward at a rate of knots with the book-in-progress. I've managed to update and improve sections about Ashra's live dates of 1997, the Die Mulde album, the Ash Ra Tempel reunion of 2000 and I've now managed to get as far as the Concert for Murnau of 2003. As you can see things are moving forward at a fair pace! Having said that every time I look through my document again I see little things I'd like to add, take away or rewrite so it may be a short while before I can confidently say that I've finished the third draft. Watch this space, though. Be there soon.....

Conrad Schnitzler (1937-2011)

2011-08-08T16:20:00.001-07:00

This weekend I received the sad news that Conrad Schnitzler, a giant in the world of electronic music has passed away.

Briefly a member of Tangerine Dream and Kluster, Con was also seemingly omnipresent as a generation of German recording artists searched to discover their musical identities. Along with legendary producer Conny Plank it is Conrad Schnitzler whose name seems to appear time and time again in articles and accounts relating to the development of radical, innovative new sounds in German music during the early Seventies. From the founding of the Zodiak Free Arts Lab, a Berlin music venue in which avant-garde musicians could cut their teeth to his free-form live experimental project Eruption, through to being able to offer advice and inspiration to fledgling musicians, Conrad Schnitzler always seemed to be there.

And then there is Con the solo musician. Schnitzler once described his own work as "cold hard electronic sound," and therein lies a large part of what makes his output so fascinating. As a solo artist he was incredibly prolific, releasing hundreds of albums and his style was utterly idiosyncratic. Try as they might nobody could possibly hope to imitate sounds that were so totally unique. The curious uninitiated may want to try the Peter Baumann produced Con (1978), later reissued as Ballet Statique as a point of entry in to his discography. The opening track, Electric Garden is balanced somewhere between evoking a dark Blade Runner-esque cityscape and delivering exactly what the title suggests. A subtle, yet ominous drone comes and goes, electronic noises buzz like mechanical flies and rhythmic sounds, some of which suggest water dripping echo and spiral as the music gradually builds up, becoming denser. This is a garden with a twist, though. It is as if all of the insects and plant life are constructed from metal with any moving parts assisted by hinges and screws. This may be cold and hard, as Schnitzler suggested, but there is also a glacial beauty at play. The wonderful Cassette Concert Series, reissued in five CD volumes also comes highly recommended. Track titles such as Voltage Dance Steps, Solar Cells, Symphonia Mecanica and Contrapuntal Interstellar Radars might provide an idea of what to expect.

Con, we salute you for your influence and for delivering music that nobody else could. May you rest in peace.

Six pack

2011-07-06T11:23:00.000-07:00

A week or so ago a large parcel from Germany arrived for me at work. Could it be.....? Yes!! My initial suspicions were correct. The package was from MG.Art and contained the new remastered editions of the first five Ash Ra Tempel CDs, along with Manuel Gottsching's Inventions for Electric Guitar CD. I've been having enormous fun listening to these whenever I've been able to find a window of time here and there. It really is a thrill to hear albums that one has studied so closely dusted down and given a new lease of life. My favourites of the bunch so far have proved to be the first, self-titled Ash Ra Tempel album, Join Inn and Inventions for Electric Guitar. The remastering job on the first two of these really highlights the excellent interaction between the band and it is a joy to hear Inventions with upgraded sound quality deserved of a masterpiece. Given time my favourites from these reissues may change and I look forward to exploring further when I can.....

In addition to the sound quality of these offerings I've also enjoyed some of the attention to detail with the packaging. The spines of the CDs look attractive on the shelf, the CDs themselves have images on the upper sides and whilst the first three CDs replicate the gatefold LP art in their booklets, the last three each include some nice images from the period when the albums were recorded. Here's hoping to more reissues and perhaps some archival releases from MG.Art in the not too distant future.

In other news last weekend I was working on a section of the book about Ashra's appearance at the UK Electronica Festival in 1985, followed by the Tropical Heat and Walkin' the Desert albums. I am now 100 pages into amending a 137 page document, so the end of this draft is closer than it may seem. Over the last few months the sections of the book that I've been writing (covering Manuel's archival studio and concert recordings, his work for film, theatre and collaborations, followed by reviews of Harald Grosskopf's Synthesist and Lutz Ulbrich's Luul albums) has all been created from scratch, so the pace of writing has slowed down somewhat.

Much of the rest of the draft from this point onwards will be amending what is already written so I now anticipate being able to move forward with greater speed. I sent my short sections about the Synthesist and Luul albums to Harald and Lutz respectively for possible feedback and they both seemed happy with the results. Lutz Ulbrich sent me a message to say that my review was "well written" and that he was "flattered." I can't really ask for any more than that. A day well spent, I hope! More soon.

So weit, so gut.

2011-06-20T10:13:00.001-07:00

Hi all. I'm just checking in to let you know how things are progressing with my writing. This weekend I was working on a section of the book about the early eighties and, having discussed Manuel Gottsching's projects during this period I have moved on to Harald Grosskopf and his 1980 album Synthesist. Writing this book I've found time and time again that albums I've started off liking a great deal I've ended up loving. There's something about studying a record in great detail that really allows one to appreciate the art behind it. We live in busy times and as a result of this sensory overload is almost inevitable. I remember a time when I only had ten CDs in my collection and knew each one intimately. Now they're always popping through the door because I'm eternally curious. There's an awful lot of sound out there to explore but writing this book has made me contemplate slowing down and trying to appreciate music more before ordering that next record. I'm not sure whether this will ever happen, though....

This weekend also provided me with a reminder of what writing about music is like in the early stages. For quite a while now I've been rewriting sections of the book but over the last few days I've almost been starting from scratch. I've been lucky enough to have plenty of interview quotes from Mr. Grosskopf (big thanks, Harald), which I pasted into roughly the right part of my Word document. I then get my general thoughts about the album down. This week I've been listening to Synthesist fairly intensely on the way to and from work and in the backyard after work with a glass of wine whilst the cats roam around (and jump on me).

When it comes to the actual writing, though, a scatter shot approach seems to work best for me. I put the music on and as each track plays I record any thoughts I've been storing up or may have at that point on the page with no regard for whether the English is good: a series of descriptive words, anything the sounds may evoke etc. Then of course we've got the context and the details for the album. What happened in the run up to the recording process? Where was it recorded and who produced it? Is there a concept behind the sleeve? Are there any associated stories?

...and then.....and then it's all there on the page, like a forbidding heap of scrap waiting to be sorted into something that is hopefully worth looking at. At this point I start scratching my head, getting up and going to make cups of coffee, checking my e-mails and browsing on the Web to see which records I'm going to buy next but the point inevitably comes when the task is unavoidable. No more excuses. I have to sit and get the job done, so I do and sometimes I'm happy with the results. I'm fairly pleased with my short section about Synthesist and now I don't just like the album. I love it. I'd call that a good weekend. Next stop: Lutz Ulbrich's 1981 album Luul. See you soon.......

Museum Piece IV

2011-05-29T04:22:00.000-07:00

Gentleman....surely we can talk sensibly about this. Watch, as a 1971 TV debate featuring Ohr Records co-owner Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser goes horribly wrong. See the clip here.

News from the vault

2011-05-27T04:04:00.000-07:00

Hi all. It has been a couple of weeks so time for a quick update. Having finished the chapter about E2-E4 I'm now busy working on a section about Manuel's archive of unreleased recordings: those made for fashion shows, theatre, screen and also live performances. The part of the book that I'm writing about will also include collaborations and some of the more obscure recordings in the Gottsching discography. After this I will be moving on to Ashra's Tropical Heat album and their performance in Sheffield as part of the UK Electronica Festival, 1985. Anyway: work is mad busy at the moment so must dash. Back soon! Incidentally: I very much doubt that Manuel Gottsching's vault looks anything like the one pictured above.

Answers on a postcard.....

2011-05-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

Hi Berliners, and other blog followers too. I have a question for you: do you know anything about the location of the photograph for the above album sleeve, the Virgin Records release of New Age of Earth? Despite my best research the only information I have so far is that the picture was taken somewhere in Berlin but no one is even one hundred percent sure about this. At first I wondered whether the photo had been taken using a model..... Perhaps someone can shed some light on this? If you think you can help please do get in touch.

In other news I have finally managed to track down and watch the 1976 film Le Berceau de Cristal. As there is hardly any dialogue the Ash Ra Tempel soundtrack is much more integral to the overall mood than I could ever have imagined.

...and finally: this weekend I am all set to have another pass at the E2-E4 section of the book and I'm very much looking forward to it. Back soon.

Re-Make/Re-Model

2011-05-01T08:44:00.000-07:00

Having spent the last 10 days off work I've had a really good opportunity to get stuck in and make some progress with my writing. Whilst the holiday has been very productive it hasn't quite worked out as I expected. A printout of the third draft persuaded me that the early sections of the book-in-progress needed considerable streamlining. I've been concerned about providing extraneous detail that will end up sending the poor reader to sleep, so I have been busy trimming back or rewriting, and to very positive effect, I think.

Fortunately the weather has been excellent so I've settled into a routine of making the necessary amendments to the paper draft during sunny days in the backyard and then changing my Word document to match with relatively short bursts at the computer. Using this method I've managed to cover a lot of ground and now I'm much happier with the first 60 pages of the work-in-progress.

This break has provided a really nice balance, the days of hard work followed by some pleasant catch-up sessions with good friends during the evenings. An eclectic playlist on my MP3 player has accompanied my days in the sun, from Manuel Gottsching (who else), a lot of music on Pete Namlook's Fax label, ex-Tangerine Dream man Johannes Schmoelling's Zoo of Tranquility through to Underworld, Supertramp and Roxy Music! Variety is the spice of life, or so they say.

Today's re-writing session found me editing a section about the Correlations album and whilst the break didn't pan out as I originally planned, the earlier sections of the book would definitely have required more attention sooner or later. This afternoon, as I sat with a big pile of paper in my hands, I thought about how much work still lies ahead but the bulk of the writing is done now. All I require is the patience to sit and re-make/re-model what I already have.

Marathon

2011-04-20T09:26:00.000-07:00

Hi readers. The picture above may not look like much, and indeed it may not actually be much but on top of the pad you'll see a printout of the third draft in progess. I decided to print it off so I could read my work thus far and make any necessary amendments. In addition to a series of minor alterations this has prompted me to rewrite three very short sections in order to make them more concise. Sometimes less is more and there is undoubtedly a fine line between providing readers with plenty of interesting information and boring them stupid. A short section about Timothy Leary and two parts about Ash Ra Tempel's live recordings are currently being pruned back.

After work I've been enjoying taking my printout into the backyard and reading in the sun, whilst the cats explore to their heart's content. I now have the pleasure of 12 days away from work and in this time I'm hoping to get stuck in and really push things forward. When I've finished my alterations I'll be picking up where I left off with the years of The Berlin School, looking at the New Age of Earth, Early Water, Dream & Desire and Blackouts albums.

A friend of mine once said that writing a book is not a sprint, but a marathon and he was right. This project has been a learning curve for me and it has most certainly involved running that extra mile, even when I've felt exhausted. It has been about pushing on, even when I've wondered whether everybody else will run out of patience before I'm finished. A famous rock drummer/lyricist once wrote a line that resonates with me about dragging the dream into existence...

Mineralogy: Studying Le Berceau de Cristal

2011-04-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend found me almost completing a section of the book about Manuel Gottsching's first musical collaborations with then former Agitation Free and future Ashra member Lutz Ulbrich. This includes their soundtrack work for the Philippe Garrel directed 1976 film Le Berceau de Cristal. The dark, brooding music for the film, which starred Nico, Dominique Sandra and Anita Pallenberg, was recorded the previous year and finally released on the Spalax label in 1993. Having spent quite a while carefully listening to the album I'm curious to hear the music alongside the pictures but to the best of my knowledge Le Berceau remains out-of-print. Has anybody seem it? If so do get in touch and let me know.....

Next stop New Age of Earth.....

Museum Piece III

2011-04-02T02:51:00.000-07:00

The EKO Computerhythm, an early Italian drum machine was operated by using perforated cards. Manuel Gottsching incorporated this on many recordings made during the latter half of the seventies and also for the E2-E4 album. A few clips of this magnificent machine in action have appeared on YouTube. For a demo see here.

That term

2011-03-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

It was always going to come into the book at some point and I wouldn't be doing my job properly if I didn't make some reference, even in passing, to that term. What? I hear you say. I'm referring to "krautrock", the tag so often given to the generation of German musicians whose work came to prominence in the late sixties and early seventies. Last weekend I wrote a section and, with a little help from my friends, have managed to pinpoint what I believe to be the very first use of the phrase. Perhaps understandably many of the musicians whose works are given the label aren't very keen on it and I will be going into a bit more detail about this in the book. Manuel Gottsching's music took a fairly radical new direction in 1974, absorbing the influence of the minimalists and from what I understand he doesn't regard his music from that point onwards as belonging to the so-called "krautrock" genre.

This is a fair point, given the style of the Inventions for Electric Guitar album. With it's hypnotic, cyclical patterns of sound it is in most respects fairly far removed from those early Ash Ra Tempel albums or anything by The Cosmic Jokers for that matter. From 1974 onwards Gottsching never really revisited those very early years musically, preferring instead to pursue fresh areas of exploration with many of his projects. This discussion leads very nicely to the point at which I will be picking up my pen again this weekend. I am well on my way towards completing a section about the Inventions album.

....and this, in turn leads on to my next topic: Did any of you manage to hear the wonderful Sitzkissen-Konzert, broadcast on Byte FM last weekend? This vintage show from 15th November 1975 featured the Ash Ra Tempel line-up of Manuel, along with Lutz Ulbrich. The opening section was reminiscent of the Inventions for Electric Guitar album and showed just how well the duo meshed together, their guitars weaving around each other to great effect. On listening to the show it struck me how brave they were to attempt to play live in this intricate style when even the smallest of mistakes would be exposed. The fact that the audience were prepared to listen so quietly and patiently to this introspective music without cheering, shouting or talking over the top of it also points towards a different time.

With it's dramatic organ sounds the second part of the concert was stylistically comparable with L'Hiver Doux from Le Berceau de Cristal, recorded during the same year. The performance concluded with a third piece, the style of its gently flowing sequencer line later re-explored for Hausaufgabe (1978, featured on The Private Tapes) and Tempus Fungi (also 1978, from The Making of...).

The Sitzkissen-Konzert was excellent and I hope that Manuel will at some point decide to give it the CD release it richly deserves.

Sehr kosmisch

2011-03-06T03:54:00.000-08:00

I've just finished writing a section of the book about Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser and the Cosmic Jokers. With recollections of the period at Ohr Records and its spin-off labels supplied by Harald Grosskopf and Stephan Kaske of Mythos there are some fascinating insights into the rise and fall of Kaiser's cosmic music empire.

Reviews for the Cosmic Jokers albums have been particularly hard to write, possibly because the music made by the band is so difficult to pin down. The style of the album reviews throughout the book in progress have tended to mirror the type of music that I've been writing about. With this in mind it is hardly surprising that the notes for the Cosmic Jokers albums are...well....sehr kosmisch, really. I'm rather hoping that alongside the pop art album sleeves by Peter Geitner they capture just a little of the kitsch, the colour and the wonder of the unique music made by this fantastic but short-lived band but that's for you to decide.

To write about music so out there without seeming even more out there has been challenging but also a lot of fun. More soon....

One wedding and a little Nightdust

2011-03-04T10:03:00.000-08:00

Hello readers. Firstly I want to apologise for being largely absent from this blog for so long. As previously mentioned I've been busy getting married and the organisational process for this has taken up the majority of my spare time for the last 3 or 4 months. Here I am with my lovely wife, Vicky, on what was a wonderful day.

Our honeymoon was in Dahab, near Sharm El Sheik. On arriving in Egypt the first thing that struck me was the forbidding, hilly landscape of the Sinai Desert. I fully expected to see flat expanses of sand but many of the vistas look like photographs from Mars.

I think I had caught the sun a bit when the photo below was taken. This was shortly after a camel ride and shortly before the Sun went down on an evening that we spent stargazing out in the desert. With no light pollution it was simply amazing.

The holiday also consisted of snorkeling around corals (thankfully a shark free experience, although I was admittedly a little nervous) and a visit to Saint Catherine's Monastery where Moses is said to have seen the burning bush.

The picture below was taken outside the monastery.

Tomorrow I intend to continue where I left off with the book and I will be writing again with high hopes for the forthcoming year. This really is the last lap and by the end of the year, all being well, I should be a long way towards completion of the project. After all of this time I can't wait to share it with you.

...and so, whilst anticipating the forthcoming reissued Ash Ra Tempel CDs, I pick up pen and when I return I promise that there will be less about me and more about the book. Back shortly...

Museum Piece II

2011-01-26T14:28:00.000-08:00

I've just received this wonderful colour shot of Manuel at the Theatre de L'Ouest, Paris, France, courtesy of the ever helpful Andy King. Andy is a massive Tangerine Dream fan and is always finding archival Ash Ra Tempel articles and photographs, which he very kindly passes in my direction.

The photograph was taken on 15th February, 1973 and featured alongside an article in Maxipop magazine on February 27th of the same year.

More from Glasgow

2011-01-22T07:57:00.000-08:00

With the process of planning my wedding in full swing much to my frustration it is nigh on impossible to find the time to sit down and write right now....but readers I want to take the opportunity to thank you for your support and for following the blog. I can assure you that the project is very much alive, I'm raring to go again and after my honeymoon in early March I will be picking up with the third draft where I left off circa late 1973. In the meantime I hope you enjoy some more photographs from Manuel's show in Glasgow on December 11th 2010. Back soon!

Manuel Gottsching Live in Glasgow - December 2010

2010-12-13T10:00:00.000-08:00

Glasgow, Saturday 11th December 2010: a very special day for Scottish fans of Manuel Gottsching. Although Manuel was signed to the London-based Virgin Records in the late 1970s this will be the first time he has ever played live in Scotland and the first time he has played in Britain for over 10 years. His last UK appearance was in London, during Julian Cope's Cornucopea Festival in early 2000.

Several months ago Alasdair Stuart and Yon Dunnett, two friends who run a night by the name of Men and Machines invited Manuel Gottsching to visit Glasgow for a show at the Stereo cafe bar and music venue on Renfield Lane. They were both utterly stunned, not to mention delighted when he agreed.

In the days running up to the show the prospects aren't looking favourable for anybody wishing to travel to Glasgow. In the middle of a cold snap drivers in Scotland are stranded in their cars overnight, unable to travel further, 850 schools close and at one stage 3000 homes are left without electricity as temperatures plummet to as low as -20 degrees celsius. Thankfully 48 hours before the concert temperatures start to rise and a thaw begins. This is particularly fortuitous when one considers that another spell of severe weather with possible snow has been forecast on the run up to Christmas.

As I walk towards the venue at around 6:30pm I hear a muffled Sunrain, one of my favourite Manuel Gottsching tracks out on Renfield Lane. This is either playing in the bar as a prelude to the show or forms part of the soundcheck and I'm not sure which. I enter the bar and can't hear the music playing through a stereo. This is a good sign, as it suggests that Sunrain, which wasn't played at the Paris show in June is in the setlist for tonight. Down in the basement, the concert venue, Manuel is indeed working his way through a breathtaking rendition of the classic cut. The soundcheck tonight turns out to be awesome. Gottsching plays sizeable chunks of many of the planned selections but takes a few unusual and exciting risks along the way, with some daring passages of guitar work.

Just over two hours after the soundcheck concludes Manuel Gottsching takes to the stage, the opener a reworked Sunrain. At around 15 minutes in length this is a real musical exercise in slowly building to a euphoric peak. The audience covers a wide age range and glancing around during the early moments of the set I see more than a few slack jaws, as the penny drops and some of the young fans of contemporary techno/trance/electronica realise that the roots of their beloved music started here.

Midnight on Mars is delivered with a veritable flood of melodic guitar work. It is truly a privilege to be able to see this sublime classic performed in a version every bit as exciting as that on the Blackouts album.

Trunky Groove places the set back on a techno flavoured trajectory and correctly suggests that in contrast to the guitar oriented Paris concert in June, tonight's performance will be more of a club affair. This is the most colourful, trancey rendition of one of Manuel's newest compositions that I have heard so far.

By this stage the audience, large swathes of whom clearly belong to clubland, are dancing and a reworked Shuttle Cock, with its trance-inducing, fast patterns of sound moves the movers up a gear. Gottsching's Inventions for Electric Guitar-esque lead work is as fine as ever but for this writer the biggest treat comes at the tail end of the track with some of the best rhythm guitar work I have ever heard the man play.

Introducing the classic Deep Distance, Manuel gently explains: "I did a remix." The crowd cheer and chuckle with affection. Less bass heavy than the Paris performance this reading really allows the detail of this new version to shine through and one of my favourite parts of the whole evening comes when Gottsching plays a wonderful 1976 vintage keyboard solo amidst the more modern aspects of a redux take.

Whilst the Parisian audience could have been attending a classical concert, offering polite appreciation and ultimately a standing ovation, Glaswegian audiences are known for giving rapturous receptions. The trend is not balked on this occasion and after a stunning performance Manuel is clearly touched by an equally stunning response, the crowd roaring and whistling with approval. A warmly delivered Zerfluss, the last section from the lengthy Die Mulde provides the audience with the pleasing conclusion they deserve. There has been something quietly moving about the symbiotic exchange between artist and audience tonight.

Under construction

2010-11-21T09:07:00.001-08:00

Today I have had a second writing session for the third draft of the book and I have been rewriting/improving upon the first section, detailing the period of time leading from post-war Germany up to the Steeple Chase Bluesband, which split up in 1970 to make way for Ash Ra Tempel. Initially I must confess that the first pages of the book in progress were one of the parts that I was least happy with. Bringing together all of the strands of what was happening with politics and popular culture during a 20+ year stretch of history in parallel with Manuel Gottsching's early musical evolution was proving to be a difficult task but it I think it is finally starting to come together now.

I'm getting married in February and inbetween the relentless organisation taking place finding pockets of time to progress with the book has proved to be difficult. Nevertheless it is happening and things are moving ever forward. At Christmas I anticipate being able to spend some significant chunks of time writing and I'm really looking forward to having this luxury. The forthcoming year will inevitably be a process of fine tuning; chipping away bit by bit, altering the sections that can be improved upon whilst taking into account little facts that I learnt here and there during the course of the last draft. I already have a mental note of many of the parts of the book that I would most like to change and with much of the hardest work now done I think the next hurdle: aiming to bring greater flow, colour and accuracy to the words should be highly enjoyable. Stay tuned....Back soon!

Manuel Gottsching Live in Glasgow - Dec 2010

2010-10-30T03:19:00.000-07:00

Manuel Gottsching Live in Glasgow - 11th December 2010 at Stereo:

http://www.stereocafebar.com/index.php?m=event&c=view&id=8:594

Tickets available from:

Tickets Scotland http://www.tickets-scotland.com/artists.html?event_searchtext=manuel+gottsching&event_method=search

Rubadub (Glasgow) http://www.rubadub.co.uk/?node_id=1.7&id=20287&moreDetails=1

Ripping Records (Edinburgh) http://www.rippingrecords.com/ripping_frames_01.html

Grouchos (Dundee) http://www.grouchos.co.uk/Concert-Tickets-Box-Office.html

Manuel Göttsching & Zeitkratzer: E2-E4 Live in Berlin (2005)

2010-10-30T03:05:00.000-07:00

In March 2005 Manuel Göttsching joined Zeitkratzer at the Volksbühne, one of Berlin’s most innovative and respected theatres, for a collaborative rendition of E2-E4. This version can be heard on a 21 minute maxi CD, released on Manuel’s own MG Art record label in December of that year.

Close your eyes for a few moments and allow yourself to imagine that modern technology as we know it had not progressed in quite the same way. Perhaps electricity has not even been discovered. Many of the components that make up our daily experiences do not exist or are radically different. If this sounds like something from the steampunk sub-genre of science fiction then so does the fascinating Göttsching/Zeitkratzer ensemble reinterpretation of E2-E4. This version could almost belong to MTV’s Unplugged series of recordings, with a few fragments and passages of electronic sound here and there providing the only tenuous link with the hoards of equipment used to deliver its totally wired ancestor.

Providing a blend of classical and assorted other instrumentation Zeitkratzer’s take on E2-E4 begins with the sound of an accordion, used to supply the pair of chords over which the other music flows. All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey, as long violin chords imbue this version with a sense of autumnal melancholy. Immediately, brooding John Constable skies and blustery, rustic scenes are evoked, a stark contrast alongside the sunny moods captured on tape 24 years earlier. The bassline, initially introduced on the trombone, is then doubled by trumpet whilst the traditional drums in this clever rearrangement serve to underscore that, putting aside its reputation as a classic of the proto-techno or trance genres, E2-E4 is quite simply a great piece of music. Enter Göttsching himself, returning to the roots of his musical education with a classical guitar performance as satisfyingly fresh as everything else offered thus far. A gently sawing violin hovers, and as the ensemble gathers pace all of the members pitch in, replicating the dense layers of electronic sounds found in the initial version. The pace slows for a lovely trumpet solo before Göttsching’s intricate Spanish guitar leads the arrangement towards a busy climax, after which most of the instruments masterfully bow out one by one. exactly as those familiar with E2-E4 might expect.

The only disappointment with this fabulous CD EP is that there isn’t more of it, as it amply serves to demonstrate what a fantastic piece of classical minimalism E2-E4 naturally makes. On this evidence a full-length recording with classical or semi-classical arrangement, featuring Mr. Göttsching playing the guitar would be an awesome prospect.

Manuel Gottsching Live in Glasgow - See you there?

2010-09-18T14:59:00.001-07:00

I've just had confirmation that Manuel Gottsching is to play live in Glasgow on Saturday 11th December 2010. Tickets are apparently available from Tickets Scotland, Resident Advisor, Mono, Rubadub, Ripping Records (Edinburgh) and Grouchos (Dundee). For more information about this event see here.

The influential Manuel Gottsching

2010-09-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

As a fan of both The Orb and David Gilmour I was delighted to watch a mini-documentary about their latest collaboration album Metallic Spheres in which production legend Youth cited none other than Manuel Gottsching as an influence on the project. You can watch the short clip here.

Happy Birthday, Manuel Gottsching!

2010-09-09T11:22:00.000-07:00

Wishing a very Happy Birthday to Manuel Gottsching, born 9th September 1952.

Manuel Gottsching Live @ Metamorphose 2010

2010-09-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

Although sadly it was not possible for me to attend Manuel Gottsching's appearance playing Inventions for Electric Guitar on 4th September at the Metamorphose Festival in Japan I have been able to watch some clips posted on Heiko Neumann's Tribute to Ashra website. On the evidence supplied it certainly seems as if Manuel, with a little assistance from Steve Hillage, Elliott Sharp and Zhang Shouwang has managed the unmanageable by delivering an uncompromised version of an extremely complicated, multitracked masterpiece in a live setting.

Congratulations are in order for a fabulous performance! Now we can only hope that further concerts and a CD and/or DVD release will allow more fans around the world to see and hear this wonderful show. For those interested the full setlist for the Japan concert was: Echo Waves, Pluralis, Quasarsphere, E2-E4 (guitar version) and for the encore the as yet unreleased piece Fights.

As regards progress with the book I have recently been filling in some gaps in the narrative. My writing has been focusing on some of Manuel's collaborations, alongside notes for live performances by Ash Ra Tempel in Paris (1974) and Ashra in Brussels (1977). Harald Grosskopf has very kindly helped me with his recollections of the latter show, whilst Lutz Ulbrich has generously shared some memories that have been useful when discussing the second CD in the Belle Alliance Plus package. Once these little sections are completed I will be moving on to Manuel's 55 and Still Alive birthday celebration and the latest Ashra appearances: live in Japan in 2008 and at the Schallwelle-Preis Award Ceremony in Germany earlier this year. Bit by bit the second draft of the book edges towards completion. Watch this space....

A thank you

2010-08-22T04:26:00.001-07:00

This weekend I've had the pleasure of a visit from my friend Stephen Iliffe. Stephen, who lives in London wrote the wonderful Painting with Sound - The Life and Music of Hans-Joachim Roedelius, not to mention a whole host of sleeve notes for a variety of CD and vinyl reissues. I made contact with him five years ago to let him know that I had enjoyed his book and we've kept in touch every since. Here we are on the walkway to the lighthouse at Tynemouth.

This seems to be the perfect time to pass on a big thank you to Stephen for his constant encouragement with my project over the last two and a half years.

More about the progress of the book very soon.

Joaquin Joe Claussell meets writer

2010-08-10T14:02:00.001-07:00

A massive thank you goes out to DJ/producer/musician Joaquin Joe Claussell for taking his precious time to provide me with some fascinating answers to my questions via an e-mail interview. What a nice guy!

Joaquin, who remixed two of Manuel's tracks for the Joaquin Joe Claussell meets Manuel Gottsching album, released in 2006 clearly has enormous respect for Mr. Ashra. During his recent Paris concert Manuel claimed that his own reworking of Deep Distance was inspired by Claussell's remix. I mentioned this to Joaquin and his response was that he felt 'tears of joy, tears of gratitude!' No wonder. It turns out that his love of Manuel's music stretches back a long, long way.

In response to my questions Joaquin discussed Gottsching's one hour proto-techno masterpiece E2-E4 and the massive, unlikely impact it had when played by the legendary Larry Levan and other DJs in New York clubs. It was great to hear about this from somebody who was actually there at the time.

Something that Claussell also picked up on is the fact that Manuel Gottsching was making futuristic music some time before this classic 1981 recording. All this and more will be expanded upon in the book. Coincidentally I'll be working on the section about Claussell and Gottsching's collaborative release next week.

Museum Piece I

2010-08-08T12:38:00.000-07:00

The Swatch Oracolo Tarot watch, designed by Walter Wegmuller. Wegmuller fronted the brilliant Tarot album, recorded in 1973.

For this double concept work a track was recorded for each of the cards in the Major Arcana of the tarot deck. Wegmuller painted cards to accompany the original vinyl release and the band for this album were dubbed the Cosmic Couriers, featuring fantastic guitar work from none other than Manuel Gottsching.

The Private Tapes - Three of the Best

2010-07-20T09:31:00.000-07:00

Although the blog has been quiet for a while I've been as busy as ever writing the book. A few weeks ago I finished writing notes for the 6 CD archival set of Manuel Gottsching/Ash Ra Tempel/Ashra recordings The Private Tapes. My second draft of the book is now a 156 page document and I've reached the Ash Ra Tempel reunion of the year 2000. Parts of the narrative past this point are semi-written and other parts are merely sketched out.

In the meantime Harald Grosskopf very kindly put aside a little more of his time to answer a few further questions about the tail end of the Cosmic Jokers, the Ashra tour of 1977, the band's return to Japan in 2008 and his new drum technology. Big thank you, Harald!

Whilst my work on the book continues here are three tracks, arguably amongst the best from The Private Tapes:

Dedie a Hartmut (Recorded live in 1973)

Clocking in at almost 40 minutes in length Dedie a Hartmut is aptly titled, as it is arguably Hartmut Enke's greatest recorded performance released from the archive thus far. Gottsching plays a chord pattern, initially creating a dark mood and right from the beginning Enke's bass rumbles beneath, beautifully underpinning the rhythm guitar work. Schulze starts to bash at the bass drum and his snare as the music quickly steps up a few gears into a furious, whirling dervish of sound.

Once again it is clear that Gottsching's guitar work is more refined than anything from the available 1971 live recordings. As the music settles into a groove Enke's bass playing is particularly fine, providing a fantastic dual lead instrument, whilst Gottsching's nimble, melodic and tasteful soloing at times touches on the crystalline beauty of Jerry Garcia circa Live Dead. Part of what makes this recording so exciting is the way in which Enke slips from daring dissonance into some incredible melodic work. As Manuel's wah-wah guitar traverses the bumpy terrain laid out by Schulze's drums Enke circles around the edges of the sound, rumbling and revving, much as he did during parts of Freak and Roll from the Join Inn album.

This track in many ways nails everything that the early Ash Ra Tempel could hope to have achieved in a live setting. It is powerful, whilst exhibiting a degree of musical maturity. During a rhythmically entrancing section the guitar and drums fall in together with precision whilst Enke's bass growls, seemingly waiting for the tempo to accelerate. The music takes off majestically, Gottsching's guitar like a bird in flight. Enke's bass locks in with Schulze's drums, providing a rock solid groove. Whilst Manuel plays a clean, pretty solo Enke's bass seems to grumble, encouraging his school friend to forget his musical manners. The guitar solo becomes a little more spicy and abrasive but is always controlled. In the meantime Enke's bass is all over the group sound, rumbling, vibrating and contributing to a stunning collective performance.

Here the band manage to lock together, perfectly balancing power and restraint. Gottsching's rhythm guitar surges on the rising tide of the rhythm section, as it gradually builds up momentum. This is the best available example of the original Ash Ra Tempel playing in a live setting. The band have managed to to excel in their chosen live art of building up to a series of breathtaking crescendos.

Deep Distance (Recorded live in 1976)

The live version of Deep Distance skates along, courtesy of a lovely gently clattering EKO Rhythm Computer (early drum machine) pattern and a latin sequencer part, familiar from the studio version. A simultaneously glacial and breezy delicate keyboard part is followed by billowing, squelching, aural steam clouds of treated synthesizer. Halfway through the 20-minute plus duration Gottsching begins to play the guitar, taking the tune off on a tangent unexplored in the clipped New Age of Earth version. Finally the stylophone-like keyboard voice used in the studio version rounds off this fine live recording.

Two things are striking about this track: firstly the fact that Gottsching managed to make so much happen working live on a solo basis with so little in the way of equipment is highly impressive. Secondly, guitar aside this recording is incredibly close to a piece of techno music, missing only a 4/4 beat. This was later demonstrated when the track was remixed by New York DJ and record producer Joaquin Joe Claussell.

Niemand lacht ruckwarts (1979)

Niemand lacht ruckwarts (Nobody laughs backwards), a 12 minute recording builds up a tapestry of layer upon layer of fast interlocking sequencer patterns, ultimately overwhelming the listener. Unable to focus on one part of the music the brain inevitably submits to the dense and utterly mesmerizing whole as electronics pulse, shimmer, spark and positively glow with an aural incandescence. Every bit as hypnotic as Steve Reich's tape experiment It's Gonna Rain, this masterpiece in miniature paved the way for another future, large scale classic of Gottsching minimalism just a few years later.

Manuel Gottsching live in Paris - June 2010

2010-06-05T07:14:00.000-07:00

La Geode, a strikingly modern piece of of architecture is situated at La Cite des Sciences et de l'Industrie, Paris. A large spherical structure, it's exterior covered with mirrored, tessellated triangular panels it is a beautiful venue and the right choice for a special show. It is 34 years since Manuel Gottsching last appeared in Paris in a solo capacity and that performance at the Bataclan partially found a release on The Private Tapes, a 6 CD limited edition archival collection, now long out-of-print. The first soundcheck for this event lasted four hours, finishing at 4:00 am the previous morning. As the interior of La Geode is a cinema by day the second soundcheck will involve setting up the equipment from scratch: not an ordinary pre-concert ritual. This second session is more about checking sound levels and that the instruments are all working than it is full run-throughs of tracks. The intense rhythms and drone of Trunky Groove hammers out of the amplifiers, stopping and starting in bursts, as Manuel and his sound engineer Markus assemble and adjust a network of wires. It strikes this writer how cumbersome a soundcheck would have been in 1976, the last time Gottsching played a solo concert in this city, the equipment then infinitely more laborious to assemble and temperamental. A clang of guitar with a few hints of lead playing, a spell testing the keyboard and the soundcheck concludes.

90 minutes later the sun is setting, reflected in the myriad mirrored panels that comprise the exterior of La Geode. The Cite des Sciences and it's grounds are bathed in a soft orange glow. Bois de Soleil indeed. The atmosphere is electric, as the old and the young gather outside the building. The setlist is still a mystery and therein lies part of the anticipation and excitement.

After a visual spectacular from Daniel Lopatin (aka Oneohtrix Point Never), featuring a steadily building ambient accompaniment to a film chronicling the evolution of life from the Big Bang to advanced sea creatures it is Manuel Gottsching's turn to take to the stage.
The set opens with the powerful, tumbling rhythms of Trunky Groove in a version different to that featured on the Live at Mt. Fuji CD. Instead of the previous offbeat guitars the keyboard is the chosen tool for exploration here.

Following the intense opener Gottsching steps up to the microphone to make a heartfelt dedication to his mother-in-law, who sadly recently passed away. This tender tribute, which included an expression of regret about the passage of time finds its way into the next musical offering: a guitar oriented version of the title track from the Die Mulde album. This is where Gottsching's guitar playing is really allowed to take flight and what begins as melancholic soars towards transcendence.

Shuttle Cock, an exercise in tight, cyclical guitar overdubbing on the Blackouts album is here a techno infused slice of minimalism, over which Gottsching plays lightning fast hypnotic patterns of notes. A reminder of the man behind Inventions for Electric Guitar, this is perhaps the most entrancing and breathtaking part of the whole set.

A second offering from Blackouts, Midnight on Mars takes advantage of the cavernous acoustics and watching Gottsching playing melodic flurries of notes whilst framed by the atmospherically lit, skeletal interior of La Geode I find myself momentarily wondering whether Jimi Hendrix might have explored similar musical terrain had he stuck around.

Manuel's new version of Deep Distance (inspired by DJ/producer/musician Joe Claussell's earlier remix of the New Age of Earth track) is rhythmically heavy and in some respects not a million miles away from the pounding Born Slippy by Underworld. Some keyboard parts, comparable with the studio version float above the strong pulse and some fine, extended guitar work rounds things off. After a standing ovation Gottsching returns to Die Mulde for the final section of the piece, Zerfluss. An upbeat and joyous conclusion to the earlier performance of the title track, this offering provides the show with a neat bookend.

Well over 3 decades since the Paris Bataclan show of 1976 this concert in a suitably spectacular venue offered evidence that Manuel Gottsching is still relevant and still capable of producing cutting edge sounds. Some of the music may have been familiar but the arrangements were utterly contemporary and utterly convincing. This gentle and modest man is still making spellbindingly powerful music.

Inventions for Electric Guitar live in Japan

2010-05-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

I've just had word that as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations for Japan's Metamorphose Festival Manuel Gottsching will be playing his classic album Inventions for Electric Guitar live at Mount Fuji on September 3rd-4th 2010.

This event is also to feature the sizeable talents of:

Steve Hillage

Elliott Sharp

and Zhang Shouwang.

Hearing the way in which these guitarists choose to interpret what is a complicated, multitracked studio recording in a live setting will doubtlessly prove to be fascinating. We wait and we wonder.... Exciting stuff! http://www.metamo.info/news/130101210.php

Hope to see you there!

2010-04-23T11:10:00.001-07:00

Ash Ra Tempel and the Holy Isle

2010-04-18T10:52:00.000-07:00

Well for the last week I've been on the Isle of Arran off the west coast of Scotland. The weather was most certainly on side and the highlight of the week had to be a trip to the nearby Holy Isle. This island was the site of a 13th Century monastery and is now owned by the Samye Ling Buddhist Community.

On our arrival we were greeted by a Buddhist monk, who informed us that it was possible to climb to the summit, head around the far side and be back for a boat within 2-4 hours. This was like throwing down the gauntlet, a challenge it was simply impossible to refuse and one hour later, both breathless but happy my partner Vicky and I had reached the top.

Known for centuries as a sacred site Holy Isle was without exception the most peaceful place I have ever visited, the only sounds at high altitude being that of the wind and the gulls above.

A march back to the tiny jetty in time for the boat and we had returned to the mainland within 3 hours of arriving, exhausted and ready for lunch.

During my restful stay in Arran I have been listening to Talking Heads, Frank Zappa and also Friendship and Gin Rose, the two Ash Ra Tempel reunion albums released ten years ago. So far I have avoided writing notes for these CDs as I wanted to spend some time carefully absorbing the subtleties of the music. Repeated listening and a measure of concentration really pays rewards with these records and by the time of my return to Newcastle yesterday I found myself ready to write about them. This pretty much takes things up-to-date, as I have spent today putting my thoughts into a Word document. I'm pleased to say that I have now written notes for almost all of Manuel Gottsching's albums and for my next writing session I will need to pop back to Ashra's visit to Japan in 1997.....

Until the next time....

Were you there?

2010-03-28T04:38:00.001-07:00

Time for a progress update. The book is coming along very nicely and things are moving ever forward. I've just completed a section about Manuel's archive of unreleased music. Obviously I can only write about the known material and I strongly suspect I've merely scratched the surface of what is really in the vault, awaiting possible release. One thing is certain, though: if Manuel were to at some stage decide to release a series of archival recordings we fans would be in for a serious treat.

My current writing finds me in 1985/86. This has been a great period to write about, firstly because it hasn't been documented in any detail in the past and secondly because alongside the recollections of Lutz Ulbrich and Harald Grosskopf I have accounts from two fans who saw Ashra live in Sheffield in 1985. This leads on to some questions that I'd like to ask you:

Were you there too?....or were you lucky enough to see the Berlin Planetarium shows from 1988? Did you see the Cologne Cathedral concert of 1991 or maybe you saw Ashra live in 1997? Perhaps you caught Ash Ra Tempel or Ashra back in those heady days of the 1970s or you've seen a more recent Manuel Gottsching live performance?

If you have ever seen Manuel, Ash Ra Tempel or Ashra live at any point I would love to hear you accounts and I hope to be able to put them in the book too. Please get in touch!

Congratulations to Ashra

2010-02-27T04:55:00.001-08:00

Congratulations to Ashra. They have won the Schallwelle-Preis for electronic music in Germany 2009. Well done chaps!

Ich bin ein Berliner

2010-02-19T08:40:00.000-08:00

...actually Kennedy made a mistake with that quotation and accidentally said: 'I am a jelly donut'. Look it up. I must emphasise that I am not a jelly donut but I am a part-time writer.....

Well last weekend after two years of writing I finally made the trip to Berlin and what a breathtaking, beautiful City it is.

A big thank you goes out to Alison from Strasbourg for helping me to see the sights on Saturday. We travelled in a motorised rickshaw from The Brandenburg Gate, past the magnificent Siegessäule and on to a fantastic flea market packed with beautiful jewellery, furniture and lots of interesting records too. Berlin has been going through a freezing spell for the last two months and the City is covered with ice and a blanket of snow. A cold walk back to the Brandenburg Gate meant it was time for some Currywurst sausages. After seeing this traditional national dish on the BBC programme Newsnight I simply had to indulge and it was delicious. On to Schloss Charlottenburg and then the Bröhan Museum for an art nouveau exhibition. Thank you, Alison for your company on a great day.

My accommodation during the stay in Berlin was at the UFA Fabrik, a stones throw from Ullsteinstrasse on the U-Bahn route. The UFA was a film storage unit during the early days of German cinema and was also used by orchestras to record the scores for silent films. Those avid Ashra fans amongst you will also know that the UFA was where the band began rehearsals on the run up to the Correlations album in 1978. The results of these jams were released as The Making of and now form a part of the 5 CD Complete Correlations boxed set. These days the UFA is an International Culture Centre used for live music events, film screenings, theatre, schooling, circus workshops for children, Tai Chi, not to mention baking fine bread. For those of you wishing to visit the place where Ashra rehearsed over 30 years ago the accommodation is very nice.

Bearing in mind the historical significance of the UFA Fabrik in the Ashra story it was very exciting to meet the band’s drummer Harald Grosskopf, returning for the first time in 30 years. We managed to track down the room where Ashra had rehearsed all of those years ago and it was great to have a chat with Harald. He’s a nice guy and interesting too.

On Sunday evening I had the privilege of seeing two great pieces of art. The first of these was Ilona Ziok’s new documentary Fritz Bauer – Death By Instalments in its premiere at the Cinestar, Potsdamer Platz. Bauer was a German judge and prosecutor, who emigrated to Scandinavia before the war as a result of his Jewish heritage. He returned to Germany after the war and was unswerving in his quest for justice and compensation for victims of the Nazi regime. Bauer was a key figure in the organisation of the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials but died in mysterious circumstances in 1968. Ziok’s documentary is unflinching, poignant and frequently very moving. It is obviously the result of a great deal of painstaking research.

Back at the UFA Fabrik later that evening I had the opportunity to see a restored version of the fifteen minute silent film Hiawatha, the first by Universal Studios founder Carl Laemmle. As a centenary celebration of the film Manuel Göttsching produced a musical soundtrack and I am happy to report that if this music ever reaches a CD or DVD fans will not be disappointed. Pattern based, electronic and hypnotising the score gave the film an otherworldly quality and wouldn’t have sounded out of place amongst the very best electronic pieces on The Private Tapes. Superb.

Following the evening’s screenings I had the opportunity to chat with Manuel and Harald until 3:00am, which again was fascinating. On Monday I stumbled across Checkpoint Charlie and the Mehringplatz (formerly known as the Belle Alliance Platz) but that’s another story: one for the book.

What an amazing stay! For their kind hospitality I have to thank Manuel Göttsching and Ilona Ziok, not to mention Harald Grosskopf, Silvia and Rudolph Brünger at the UFA Fabrik. A nice guy, and a great place to stay. Wonderful!

E2-E4 and a whole lot more....

2010-02-01T11:58:00.000-08:00

Well the last couple of weekends have been a non-event on the writing front due to tiredness and ilness but I've been very busy since Christmas and now that my cold is starting to subside it's time to update you as to what I've been up to.

Over Christmas I worked on a chapter about the first recordings featuring the Ashra line-up of Manuel Göttsching, Lutz Ulbrich and Harald Grosskopf. My writing for the book features track-by-track notes for each and every album, which can be a painstaking way of working but will hopefully prove to be the most interesting approach for both initiated fans and the curious. The 1978 Ashra jam sessions at the famous UFA Fabrik in Berlin ended up as a 3 CD release called The Making of (now available as a part of the Correlations Complete 5 CD boxed set) and I have written notes to accompany all 12 of the tracks, some of which are 30 to 40 minutes in length. Next I polished my review of the Correlations album and put everything together into a narrative. I elected to revisit Phantasus, (an early and until recently previously unreleased early version of Correlations) at a later date to keep my writing fresh.

Whilst the making of the Correlations album was a lengthy process, its follow-up album Belle Alliance was recorded quickly but with no loss in terms of quality. Again I have written a track-by-track review of this album but will revisit the second disc of the recently released Belle Alliance Plus double CD (which includes bonus material recorded at the original sessions) at a later date. Sometimes I find it’s good to move on and come back to certain parts of the book in order to keep the writing fresh and energetic.

As a big fan of Ashra I was thrilled to learn more about the making of Correlations and Belle Alliance through my interviews with Lutz Ulbrich and Harald Grosskopf. I am sure that other fans of the band will be as interested as I was to pick up some insights into the music and it’s creation and this is a part of the book that I’m particularly looking forward to sharing. What comes through is the story of a young, energetic band, channelling their chemistry into making great music together.

My most recent writing has involved a chapter about E2-E4, a slice of solo genius from Manuel Göttsching improvised/recorded in 1981 in just one hour. Taking the influence of the minimalists and melding it with electronics and guitar, Göttsching produced a piece of music that was arguably more seminal and influential than any other as regards the emergence of techno and the recording continues to endure. As the chapter I’m writing at the moment describes E2-E4 took several years to be recognised as a classic but has since been worshipped by highly influential DJs and music fans at large, adapted with very minor changes to become a no. 1 dance hit across Europe, played by a modern semi-classical ensemble, along with Göttsching himself and the music still draws massive audiences when it is played in concert as a solo work. In recent years Berlin and New York have been treated to such shows and a 2006 performance at the Metamorphose festival in Japan has also now been released as a limited CD/DVD set.

So: this sums up my writing as of late. My next chapter will focus on currently unreleased Manuel Göttsching projects that are in the vault but more on this later…

From one school to another and a very Merry Christmas to all!

2009-12-21T06:55:00.000-08:00

Both of the schools that I work in broke up at lunchtime last Friday and now, presents bought and wrapped, cards written and sent, food in the fridge and the cupboards it's time to get down to the business of some more writing. Over the last three weeks or so I've been covering the years of the Berlin School, the exciting period in the 1970s when a generation of musicians incorporated the emerging electronic sounds into their music and in doing so imagined the future. With albums such as New Age of Earth, Early Water (a collaboration with Michael Hoenig), Dream and Desire and Blackouts Manuel Gottsching was right at the heart of this movement. Whilst this period represents just a brief phase of his career it is certainly very interesting to write about.

Over Christmas I also intend to finish the notes for each album, a process that I started this time last year, not to mention taking in a big pile of music that I've bought and not had a chance to listen to yet (including Philip Glass, Steve Hillage, Agitation Free, Popol Vuh and Joni Mitchell to name a few. Bit of a mixture there.)

Before I go and try to make sense of this flat and then carry on with my writing it just remains for me to say a massive thank you to everybody who has contributed to my book this year and a big thank you to those of you who drop in from time to time to see how my work is progressing. I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Back soon!

Le Berceau de Cristal and the Costa del Sol

2009-11-07T09:47:00.000-08:00

Well last Sunday I got back to England after a week in Benalmadena on the Costa del Sol. These english winters are long, dark and cold so my partner Vicky and I thought we would break things up this year with a bit of sunshine. We had a glorious time, managing to fit in a visit to Gibraltar alongside lots of sunbathing.

I took my trusty MP3 player and the holiday gave me the chance to properly acquaint myself with Music in 12 Parts by Philip Glass. At 4 hours in length I had only had the opportunity to listen to the CDs from beginning to end once or twice before. Anyway: the music is largely mesmerising and overflowing with a manic intensity.

I also took Le Berceau de Cristal, the Ash Ra Tempel recordings for the Philippe Garrel film of the same name with me. Recorded in 1975 by Manuel with Lutz Ulbrich the music is very interesting indeed: rather dark and brooding with long, introspective stretches. Perfect for sitting on the balcony during sunrise or sunset whilst contemplating the writing of the book, life and other things.

Today I've been putting my ideas into practice, writing about Le Berceau de Cristal and making sure I get my other ideas saved in a Word document before they disappear into the ether. I've been reading through some parts of the developing book and I'm very happy with the way it's coming together. There's a lot of information there and the story of Manuel's musical career naturally provides a lot of variety and quite a journey. I only hope that one day you will enjoy reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it.

My work continues. Take care for now and speak again soon!

Thanks, Harald!

2009-10-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

From previous research for my book I realised that Cosmic Jokers and Ashra drummer Harald Grosskopf is a person who enjoys celebrating and documenting his life with both the written word and photographs. Even so I was stunned by the interesting, insightful and entertaining answers he has provided to my recent interview questions. Thank you very much Harald for taking the time to provide a series of great recollections and anecdotes. When I see you I owe you and your musical friends a beer. Cheers!

Congratulations and thanks to Steve Baltes!

2009-10-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to Mr. Steve Baltes for his highly interesting answers to my questions about his early experiences as a musician, how he came to meet Harald, how he joined Ashra and his involvement with both the Ashra tour dates of 1997 and their more recent return to Japan. What a nice chap and he's also recently become a Dad so congratulations are in order too!

A great honour

2009-10-02T13:20:00.001-07:00

It was a great honour to have the opportunity to say hello to both Manuel Gottsching and Ilona Ziok in London this week. After meeting them at the hotel I had a fascinating chat with Manuel over a coffee. A chinese buffet lunch and another coffee later and I was heading for the train back to Newcastle with the posters they had very kindly given me. The last five hours had disappeared in a flash!

Perhaps it was all of that strong coffee, more likely the events of an extraordinary day but I have very few recollections of the journey home other than listening to E2-E4 Live in Japan on my MP3 player. I would like to thank both Manuel and Ilona for allowing me to meet them, for their interesting conversation and for being very kind to this writer. It was a day that I certainly won't be forgetting any time soon!

Thank you, Stephan!

2009-09-22T09:34:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to Stephan Kaske of Mythos. He's a very kind chap and took time out after a skate marathon in Berlin to provide some insightful answer to my questions about his experiences at Ohr Records. Good to see that Mythos are still going strong after all of these years!

Cosmic days

2009-09-19T00:38:00.000-07:00

Well the last couple of weekends have found me writing about Walter Wegmuller's Tarot and the The Cosmic Jokers. It is a story as fascinating as any in the history of rock music, rich with it's myths and unusual twists and turns. What strikes me as I'm writing is that regardless of the eventual outcomes of this period (the collapse of the Ohr Records empire, many of the artists on the label moving on to bigger things and the disappearance of label head Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser and partner Gille Lettmann) the music survives gloriously. Tarot and the Cosmic Jokers albums still sound utterly unique with no obvious parallel. Call it space rock, kosmiche musik or whatever you will but nobody, not Pink Floyd, not Hawkwind, no other act has visited planets as distant and strange and brought back evidence of what they saw.

Happy Birthday, Manuel Gottsching!

2009-09-08T11:06:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Mr. Gottsching! Born: 9th September 1952

Now...where were we?

2009-08-15T03:21:00.000-07:00

As I've been hived away writing during a lot of my spare time over the last 18 months or so I became increasingly aware that I owed quite a few of my old friends a visit. The last thing I wanted to do is to completely lose touch with my dear chums and what better time to see them than over summer, when you can sit in the garden with a few drinks? So: I've been busy zig-zagging around playing catching up but (perhaps surprisingly, when I think back) I've still been finding some time to write.

My progress now finds me at the point of the third Ash Ra Tempel album Seven Up. The section discussing Timothy Leary and his pre-A.R.T. background, leading up to the stage at which he met up with the band in Switzerland was rather painstaking to research first time around and I'm now polishing, editing and adding to my original draft. It's good to see the earlier research paying off as things start to take shape....

Well: I'm going to dash now. The clock is ticking away and I'm hoping to find a reasonable pocket of time today to make some more progress with things. Bye for now and speak soon!

Thank you, Luul!

2009-07-25T06:42:00.000-07:00

A massive thank you to Lutz Ulbrich for taking part in a fascinating interview for my book. He's a gentleman, a genuinely nice chap and he's made some fantastic music too. What more could you ask for?

Sunrain

2009-06-27T21:12:00.000-07:00

A strange magic pervades the New Age of Earth album and this is evident right from the first section of Sunrain, a distant futuristic relative of Steve Reich's Six Pianos. Built on a humming keyboard bass rumble and the percolating sounds of the EKO Computerhythm (an early drum machine) this track elicits the absolute maximum of emotion from the minimum of musical fuss. Described by Manuel himself as 'pattern-based music' much of this piece is like a sort of keyboard Morse code, a simple series of notes repeated in cycle. Thankfully all of the music here is glorious and worthy of repetition.

Sunrain is a most apt title for a track that is oddly tinged with melancholy, yet ultimately forges towards total transcendence: ominous clouds and the lightest drops of cold rain are welcome when beams of light cut through the darkness this brightly.

Many of the musical features of Sunrain, notably the hypnotic repetition and the blissed out climax would become common features of dance music over ten years later. This outstanding instrumental offers some early and compelling evidence that Manuel Gottsching is, more than any other musician, the link between the classical minimalist composers and the techno generation.

Part One: The Early Years 1952-1971

2009-06-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

Well I'm back with batteries fully recharged and I'm now working on my second and final draft of the book. Full speed ahead! Today I've been fine tuning the first part which deals with both Manuel's early bands and his early influences. I've been writing about post-war Germany, the Summer of Love, the turbulence of 1968 whilst discussing Clapton, Hendrix, Peter Green, Blue Cheer and Thomas Kessler's Beat Studio in Berlin. And I think it's at that point that I leave today's work: just before the recording of the first Ash Ra Tempel album....

@shra live and time for time out.....

2009-06-07T14:20:00.000-07:00

This weekend I've been busy writing reviews of the @shra and @shra vol. 2 albums, which were recorded live in Japan in 1997. During those dates Manuel Gottsching, Lutz Ulbrich and Harald Grosskopf managed to successfully and stylishly update the group sound with a little help from techno/trance musician and producer Steve Baltes.

I don't know if it is the warmer weather but whilst trying to write I've found myself wanting to switch off the computer and go somewhere....anywhere for a change of scene and that certainly has nothing to do with the superb music I've been writing about. It took me until today to realise what it is: I'm working full time and during the week it is mad busy and then I'm trying to write as much as I can every weekend. Come Monday and I'm exhausted.

Put quite simply: I need a break so I shall down pen for a couple of weeks, as I have done once or twice before and when I return the batteries will be fully recharged and I'll be ready to write again. Until then: take care. Speak soon!

More Murnau and a large collection of reviews.....

2009-05-31T13:31:00.000-07:00

After some work last night and a very slow start today I finally managed to write a full review of the Concert for Murnau CD (extending the piece that I previously posted on this blog). I started writing reviews for Manuel's albums at Christmas and at this rate I'm fairly confident that I should have finished them all by the end of Summer (there are about half a dozen more to go). At that point I plan to go back to my first draft with a view to fine tuning it into a finished work. I'm really looking forward to the process of sifting through what I've done and perfecting it. That's when things should really start to come together.....

More E2-E4 and Die Mulde

2009-05-25T15:05:00.000-07:00

Well I'm quite pleased, having had a fairly productive weekend. After several months of listening to E2-E4 and making notes here and there I think I've finally [almost] finished a review of the album.

Yesterday I also managed to write a review of the Die Mulde CD. Having spent several hours repeatedly listening to parts of the title track and the lovely hp little cry whilst writing I felt rather chilled out. It was sunny outside so I decided to go into the back yard for ten minutes. I sat down against the wall but that was a bit uncomfortable so I lay down...just for a few minutes....and fell asleep. Forty five minutes later I woke up, feeling the most relaxed I've been in years but my face was a bit red. So: be warned...if you decide to listen to Die Mulde on your MP3 player in the sun make sure you put on the sun cream first!

Walkin' the Desert

2009-05-09T02:48:00.000-07:00

Hi all! Just a very quick update to let you know how I'm progressing. I've recently been working on a track by track review of Tarot by Walter Wegmuller: a double LP of fantastic variety and a wonderful companion to the Cosmic Jokers albums.

Last weekend I got half way through a review of Ashra's Walkin' the Desert and I intend to finish it today. It's a fine album full of drama and beauty in equal measure. Sometimes writing a book is like walking the desert. It's a vast expanse and you don't know when you'll get to the other side! It's a nice walk, though.

I've been looking back over what I've done over the last week and I feel like I'm at a point of breakthrough with the project. I can now see things starting to come together, which is a very good feeling. More soon!

Progress report

2009-04-24T11:10:00.000-07:00

Hi there! Firstly I just want to take the opportunity to say a big thank you if you’re signed up to or have popped by to read my blog. I also want to say thank you to everybody who has contributed to my work in progress with articles/concert tickets/press cuttings or if you have simply offered your knowledge or memories: I’m very grateful to all of you for your vital input.

After posting some of my reviews I thought it might be fun to give you a bit of background into my writing process and how the book is coming together.

I work full time, looking after three very busy school libraries so in theory I should have a bit of time left for writing both on weeknights and also on weekends. The truth is that on most weeknights by the time I get home from work I’m too tired to write anything with any dynamism whatsoever! I believe that writing with passion requires energy and if I try to write when I’m drained it ends up showing on the pages. For the most part this leaves weekends. My partner, Vicky used to be a children’s nurse and still works one or two shifts per week in a hospital. This often happens during a Saturday or Sunday, leaving me with a whole precious day in which to write…when I’m not interrupted by our beautiful little pair of fur balls (or Persian cats), Smokey and Fluffy…...He’s crazy and she likes to be cuddled.

The process of putting together the first (early) draft of the book took almost a year. Basically I trawled the Internet looking for relevant articles and information about Manuel Göttsching, Ash Ra Tempel and Ashra, cross-referencing facts wherever possible to check accuracy. When I felt I had exhausted this search I had to create a framework: a timeline, if you like to make sure that all of the significant musical events in the life of one Manuel G were covered. This was rather time consuming but fun as well. With that done what I had was a skeleton, on which to cover the information in more detail. What are facts without enthusiasm and (hopefully) a bit of verve? I then spent quite a long time putting more information into what was to become an early draft.

In addition to writing about a lot of Manuel’s great music I’ve found myself on some really interesting little diversions so far: I’ve liked Terry Riley for a while but found myself buying more of his albums. I also explored Steve Reich a bit too. I bought a few early Fleetwood Mac albums to sit alongside my Peter Green-era greatest hits. I’ve found myself researching about the events of 1968, Timothy Leary, Rolf Ulrich Kaiser, the New York blackout of 1977, the UFA Fabrik, the birth of the dance music scene, the Tokyo Tower, F.W. Murnau and Willy Sommerfeld and the writing isn’t over yet!

I’m currently working on some reviews of the albums of Ash Ra Tempel, The Cosmic Jokers (and related), Ashra and Manuel’s solo work. This is a fun process but also very time consuming because I’ve been trying to listen carefully in order to do the music justice. What really stands out for me is that Manuel may not always be prolific in his output but the standard of what is released is remarkably high.

Anyway: that’s what I’ve been up to. Now you know. Thanks again for reading and more soon!

From the vault - Dream and Desire

2009-04-08T12:56:00.001-07:00

Recorded in May and June of 1977 for a feature on the Berlin station RIAS (Radio in the American Sector), Dream & Desire finds Manuel Göttsching further exploring the serene moods previously found on Ocean of Tenderness and Deep Distance (from the album New Age of Earth) and with live performances of Lotus (which was recorded in the studio a few months after this music for the Blackouts album).

The first moments of Dream set the scene for what is to come. A gentle wind, created by the EMS Synthi-A is joined by light, extended synthesizer chords, creating a breezy and majestic air of mystery. A simple, repetitive keyboard part, suggesting thousands of stars shining brightly in the heavens is coupled with a drowsy ascending sequencer pattern to form a soft musical bed. A world away from the heavy, ultra-intense performance found on Amboss (from the first Ash Ra Tempel album) six years earlier, Dream is a showcase for the placid, delicate side of Göttsching’s musical ability. For the most part the guitar work is so feather light, so refined that it is a wonder the instrument didn’t fall out of Manuel’s hands as he played.

Dream does gather some momentum with beautiful mandolin-like flurries of notes and guitar tracks weaving around one another but never to the point where rock would be an adequate description. Blissfully chilled out is much closer to the mark. The 30-minute duration of the track allows the music to unfold gradually, taking the listener on a peaceful, almost meditational journey, as soporific as anything presented in the recordings of Brian Eno or The Orb. This panoramic soundscape paints a semi-pastoral picture, yet there is also something faintly otherworldly at play. Perhaps this is where we enter the dream.

Like Dream, the second track, Desire begins with mysterious, extended synth chords. This is a musical eclipse, all cold, dark shadows before a quavering electronic sound appears, suggesting solar flares ejecting plumes of plasma into space. At the four-minute mark a slow train-like sequencer pattern fades in. This is then accompanied by the light, slightly metallic percussive sounds of the EKO Computerhythm, an early drum machine. Interestingly there are no guitars on this track. Whereas Dream was a showcase for the most delicate side of Manuel’s guitar work, the 23-minute Desire features keyboard soloing over extended keyboard chords. Whilst this piece is given mild momentum by a more prominent sequencer pattern than Dream, it still has a placid, somnambulistic quality consistent with the first track.

Curiously the 8-minute Despair, which was recorded during the same period as Dream and Desire but never presented to RIAS for broadcast shows not a hint of angst. From the title the listener may deduce that the music could be dark or even frantic but the opening synthesizer chords and gently jangling guitar tones are more euphoric than anything else. When a bubbling sequencer pattern emerges, this final track proves to be the most energetic, and arguably the most upbeat offering on the album, concluding with some rock guitar soloing, underpinned by funky, latin influenced guitar chords.

Complimenting the rest of Manuel Göttsching’s 1976/77 output perfectly, fans will be left dumbstruck that the material on Dream and Desire was left in the vaults for 13 years before it’s eventual CD release on the Spalax label in 1991. This album is quite simply superb.

Live at Mt. Fuji: Something old, something new....

2009-03-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

Although Manuel Göttsching had toured Japan as part of Ashra in 1997, his first solo performance in the Land of the Rising Sun was at the Anoyo Prism Festival, Mount Fuji. Thankfully that concert, which took place on 29th April 2006 was captured and released on CD almost a year later by MG Art as Live at Mt. Fuji.

The concert is book ended by two classic Göttsching compositions, Sunrain and Shuttlecock, both of which present fascinating variations on their studio counterparts, taking the listener on a familiar yet refreshingly new journey. The original tracks have both been rebuilt from scratch, using contemporary technology for a gleaming, clean digital finish.

Sunrain, a strong contender for the title of Manuel Göttsching’s signature tune has a contemporary trance feel in this new reading. Sure, the rumbling bass line and irreplaceable, underlying flickering keyboard part are there but with this is new streamlined version the gentle sounds of the EKO Computerhythm drum machine have been replaced with a refined techno beat. The original 1976 composition formed a bridge between classical minimalism and the transcendent trance music of the future long before the classic E2-E4 was improvised. In this version, which is double the length of the original, Göttsching reclaims the genre he invented but in his own way and with his unique musical identity firmly intact. Overall the results prove to be mesmerising.

The slow, brooding, latin flavoured Saint & Sinner, which first appeared on the fine Concert for Murnau CD appears next in re-worked form. Whilst that project was entirely guitar free, this reading of the track is a showcase for a masterful laid-back electric blues workout, the notes flowing from Manuel’s Stratocaster like gentle, cooling drops of rain. Fans of Manuel’s work will instantly recognise his style here in another piece of music confirming his status one of the great guitar players.

Trunky Groove, a new recording exclusive to this CD, is simply beyond comparison. To attempt to compare the crisp, multiple layers of meticulously programmed rhythms here with drum and bass or any other musical genre would do this unique fifteen minute piece a grave disservice.

A light synthesizer drone presents a slightly ominous tone for this musical cityscape and, as the varied rhythmic sounds stutter and tumble deliciously, organ-style synth chords pave the way for a howling, dissonant tremolo heavy guitar solo. Funky rhythm guitar chords lead back to the organ sounds and finally the stripped down rhythms and drone take the piece to a close. If this description sounds strange then so is the music but it is also never less than fascinating. A full album of material in this style would certainly be a welcome addition to the Manuel Göttsching discography.

A medley of music featured in different form on the 2005 CD release Die Mulde (recorded 1997) follows. The slow moving cloud formations suggested by the melancholic title track flow into Die Spiegel, which echoes the works of minimalist composer Terry Riley with its cyclical patterns of notes. This really does seem like the aural equivalent of watching a waterfall: layered sequencers present a hypnotising, silvery, seamless liquid flow of sound. Despite the overridingly pastoral feel of Die Mulde, the final part, Zerfluss finds a gentle factory-machine drum pattern beneath thoughtful, wistful synth chords in a composition as reflective and mysterious as life itself. A playful glockenspiel keyboard voice tiptoes across the music and is finally joined by an awesome, soulful extended Göttsching guitar solo, an element not featured on the original version.

As mentioned previously, the last offering on this 72-minute CD is a new take on the 1977 classic Shuttlecock, first recorded for the album Blackouts. Here the familiar tight, multiple, interlocking clusters of guitar notes are traded in for a fast, trance inducing sequencer line and soft rhythm, over which Göttsching plays a breathtaking guitar solo. Slowly evolving patterns of notes flood from his nimble fingers, funky, electronically treated rhythm guitar chords blend in and out of the mix, and then this fresh treatment draws to a close with a blistering distorted lead guitar solo. An entrancing, extended re-imagining, this serves as a powerful reminder of the musician responsible for Inventions for Electric Guitar and E2-E4, two of the most important albums in the history of popular music.

Curious, uninitiated fans of top quality instrumental music will be thrilled to discover the diverse showcase for Manuel Göttsching’s far-ranging talents found on Live at Mt. Fuji. Existing fans, on the other hand, will certainly not be disappointed with these imaginative contemporary re-workings of classics, presented alongside a great new track. A highly recommended CD.

Your favourite album?

2009-03-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

What is your favourite Manuel Göttsching, Ash Ra Tempel or Ashra album? I'd love your thoughts on this. Please drop me a message and let me know what you think and why. All contributions will be considered and if your views end up in the book you will be credited. I'm really looking forward to your opinions!

Ash Ra Tempel 1975 press cutting

2009-03-14T06:29:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to Andy King for this wonderful Ash Ra Tempel cutting from 1975. If only concert tickets were still this price! (-;

Schwingungen: Visions of Heaven and Hell

2009-03-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

The first four Ash Ra Tempel albums tend to follow a pattern: that of a heavier first side and a mellower, more introspective second side and nowhere is this diversity more apparent than on Schwingungen, the second release by the band, with it’s heavenly and hellish contrasts.

The original side one of the Schwingungen album begins with Light: Look at your sun and some tender, melancholy pastoral guitar playing by Manuel Göttsching. As the music develops it is clear that this is a lament as heartfelt and sad as anything that Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green ever played. The lyrics and music suggest a utopian walk in a leafy forest, a Garden of Eden, in harmony with both humanity and the rest of nature: We are all one. The tone becomes heavier with some powerful distorted Göttsching blues guitar soloing and glides gently to a close, much as it began.

The second part of the first side, Darkness: Flowers must die, fades in slowly with a soft didgeridoo-like electronic buzzing sound. A shimmer of cymbals and light guitars, are accompanied by the bongos of Uli Pop. As John L begins to sing it is clear that the music has re-emerged in the midst of a terrifying nightmare. The singing, which has some parallels in some of the stark, crazed performances of Can’s Malcolm Mooney becomes more unsettling, a coarse, guttural roar. The lyrics make it clear that this is no utopia. This is not a vision of what could be. It is a vision of what is: an unforgiving, concrete jungle, where, torn from the garden the human spirit withers.

Flowers must die
Flowers must die
I see, when I come back from my lysergic daydream
Standing in the middle
Of the glass and neon forest
With an unhappy name: City
Flowers must die

Tumbling drums, bongos and fast rhythm guitar are joined by the saxophone of guest musician Matthias Wehler, as the music gathers pace in a dizzying ritual. This is what L.A. Blues by The Stooges might sound like if that messed up ball of sonic barbed wire could ever be untangled. Finally John L screams:

I want to be a stone
Not living, not thinking
A thing without warm blood in the City

Manuel plays bluesy guitar solos over the rest of the instruments, now treated with a flanged effect and a few echoing howls from John L. bring this gripping, yet disturbing musical journey to a close.

Schwingungen (vibrations), which occupies the original second side of the album, is an altogether gentler affair. The first of the two parts, Suche (search) begins with vibraphones, played by drummer Wolfgang Müller, and gentle electronic ambience. Experimental and exploratory, this is like an exercise in creating a dreamy, ethereal atmosphere. The strings of an electric guitar are scraped subtly amidst a thickening cloud of haze. Tom-toms echo, as if recorded in the distance and gain prominence in a gathering drone, accompanied by high register organ chords. As the music becomes increasingly atonal, the second theme Liebe (love) emerges. Göttsching plays a gorgeous, soft wah-wah guitar and a voice sings wordlessly, like a choir. Both reassuring and beautiful, the music is filled with tenderness. Floating through the ether, the final moments of the album reward the listener by taking them straight to the gates of heaven.

Restoration and Exploration: Concert for Murnau

2009-03-07T06:52:00.000-08:00

On attending the Braunschweig International Film Festival in Brunswick, Germany in 2002, Manuel Göttsching found himself invited by the organisers to produce a score for a silent film. The idea was that the music would be performed live alongside a screening during the following year’s festival.

The silent film that most captured Göttsching’s imagination when viewed from the perspective of a potential music score was Schlöss Vogelod (Haunted Castle). Directed by the legendary F.W. Murnau in 1921, just one year before his vampire classic Nosferatu, Schlöss Vogelod is a dark, tense thriller based around an unresolved murder. A party of aristocrats gather for an annual hunt held by Lord Vögelod but they are confined to his castle as a result of torrential rain. Count Johann Oetsch arrives as an uninvited guest. Baron Safferstätt, who is also at the party is soon joined by his wife, the Baroness. The Baroness’s ex-husband was murdered several years ago and, although it was never proven, many suspect Oetsch of the crime. Count Oetsch is asked to leave and refuses. Instead he embarks on a hunt in the pouring rain. In the meantime the Baroness agrees to wait at the castle, in order meet Father Faramund, a priest, as she has something important to say.

A large source of inspiration for Manuel’s score was the work of another German musician, Willy Sommerfeld. During the 1920s Sommerfeld developed his reputation as a legend whilst working in Braunschweig cinemas, accompanying many of the greatest silent films of the time with his fine improvisational piano and violin work. Göttsching could clearly see a link between this approach and that adopted by Ash Ra Tempel with their daring improvisational live performances of the early 1970s. The original idea was to improvise an electronic score, a sort of contemporary update of Willy Sommerfeld’s methods of working with the piano. Initially Manuel began work on some pieces using drum machines and samples of whispered vocals but it soon became clear that attempting to work improvisationally with electronic equipment would be very difficult, as it would inevitably require some form of pre-programming.

Manuel’s next idea was to incorporate an orchestra. This seemed particularly fitting as the piece was to be performed alongside a screening at The State Theatre of Brunswick, a venue that has an orchestra and choir to accompany musicians. Again, the improvisational format proved to be potentially problematic as large orchestras are accustomed to working with written musical scores. Göttsching also felt that his early ideas to incorporate vocal fragments would be unsuitable for a traditional orchestral and choral format. Working electronically he began to produce pieces using horn sounds to convey the hunt, one of the central themes of the film and a cello sound as a musical device to express the suffering of the Baroness.

Whilst composing music for the planned screening Manuel had been using a demo tape made from a black and white version of the film, which played at 24 f.p.s. (frames per second). Unfortunately, the restored, colorized version of the film, which was delivered in August 2003 had a corrected, much slower speed adding 20 minutes to the running time. This changed the mood of the film and much of the dramatic tension completely, meaning that the music would have to be presented in a totally different way.

Running out of time, Manuel’s classical music training was put to use, as he was able to compose and produce notation for some of chamber pieces. The score now consisted of a number of compositions played on two violins, two horns and cello by musicians from the Staatsorchester Braunschweig. Some of these compositions were unadorned, whilst for others the classical musicians were accompanied by electronic music, which Manuel later added. The three longest pieces written for the performance, which made up about half of the score were performed electronically.

Two concerts for Murnau were performed on 31st October and 1st November at the Staatstheater (National Theatre), Braunschweig, Kleines Haus by Manuel, along with the quintet of musicians from the Staatsorchester Braunschweig. The beautifully packaged CD Concert for Murnau was released by MG Art in 2005 and included 55 minutes of music from the performances. Some of the material from the concerts was not included as it was designed specifically to accompany the images and would not make sense without them. Among these fragments was a rather frantic piece titled Die Nacht. With drum and bass-like rhythms this sounds like a manic precursor to the more sedate rhythms of Trunky Groove, later released exclusively on Manuel’s Live at Mt. Fuji CD.

The released material on the Concert for Murnau CD presents a fascinating blend of electronic pieces, compositions for chamber musicians accompanied by electronics and musical vignettes for chamber orchestra alone. The music is frequently sombre and melancholy, perfectly matching the mood of the film. It is clear that Göttsching is exploring new ground here, keen not to produce music in the same mould as his earlier work. In a typically bold move there is no guitar on this album and the three extended pieces, played electronically, in no way imitate Manuel’s 1970s albums. On first listen the chamber pieces may feel like a stretch to fans of rock (and/or) electronic music but repeated listens reveal these to be highly addictive. Auf zur Jagd is simply gorgeous, whilst Accused is both claustrophobic and compelling. Manuel Göttsching has recently stated that his next studio project may involve an orchestra and on this fine form we can only hope that this is the case.

From the vault - The Best of the Private Tapes

2009-02-26T14:00:00.000-08:00

In 1996 Manuel Göttsching released The Private Tapes, a 6 CD compilation of Ash Ra Tempel, Ashra and solo recordings from the vault. This was released as a strictly limited edition of 1000 copies and sold out very quickly. Copies have been known to change hands on eBay for hundreds of euros. This short review focuses on The Best of the Private Tapes, a 2 CD set released in 1998.

The Best of the Private Tapes is book ended by two beautiful guitar pieces, Bois de Soleil and Bois de la Lune. These essentially use keyboards to create an atmospheric, almost ambient backdrop for some highly emotional lead guitar work. The former is the shorter and features a light guitar sound, the latter, heavier and moodier but the two pieces perfectly evoke the moods of sunrise and sunset. Halensee (excerpted here), Der Lauf der Giraffen and Whoopee are all low on fidelity but high on ideas. This trio of home demo quality sketches were experiments, recorded prior to the Starring Rosi album and present some fine guitar music. The first of these tracks is introspective, pensive and floaty, the second playful and the third is a slightly tense blues workout. In a similar vein, Ivresse de Soleil recorded in 1973 for a radio play is a warm, gentle guitar piece with folk elements.

Deep Distance and Lotus (both included in shortened form here) date from the Göttsching solo tour of late 1976 and are spacey workouts, using sequencer and the EKO Computerhythm, an early drum machine to accompany some light keyboards and intense guitar work. It is very interesting to hear a pre-album version of the latter.

Ain’t No Time for Tears, Ice Train, Phantasus and Club Cannibal are all recordings from a 1979 Ashra concert in Berlin and show Göttsching, accompanied by Lutz Ulbrich, Harald Grosskopf and Mickie Westphal in rocking mode. The first of these four tracks, (which never featured on a studio album) is a blistering latin rock workout and it is fascinating to hear the last three tracks (originally featured on the Correlations album) stripped of their meticulous, multi-layered studio production. Phantasus is noticeably different from the studio version with a harder edge and an ultra-tight, furiously funky version of Club Cannibal clocks in at almost fifteen minutes in length.

Fans of Ash Ra Tempel are bound to enjoy two extracts from Begleitmusik zu einem Hörspiel (Incidental Music for a Radio Play), recorded in 1974. Part five is reminiscent of Suche & Liebe from the Schwingungen album, featuring spacey vibraphones, amongst other instruments whilst part two charts deep space. A full 25 minute version of Begleitmusik can be found on part one of the full 6 CD Private Tapes set.

The Ash Ra Tempel track Gedanken (Thoughts) is exclusive to this 2 CD release and did not feature as a part of the full 6 CD collection. Recorded in 1972 this piece is haunting and dissonant with scratchy guitar sounds and shimmering cymbals.

One of the most striking things about The Best of the Private Tapes is the wealth of (then) unreleased material that Manuel recorded during 1978 and 1979. In addition to the two fine tracks that bookend this double CD collection, Ultramarine (excerpted) (1978) is a lovely, serene extended piece, largely based around two keyboard chords, distorted, yet melodic lead guitar and an oriental musical flavour. Whilst Hausaufgabe, recorded with Lutz Ulbrich in 1978 rumbles along satisfyingly with majestic, lead guitar on a bed of sequencer and EKO Computerhythm, Wall of Sound and Niemand lacht rückwarts (Nobody Laughs Backwards), two solo pieces recorded in 1979, are among the jewels in the crown of all of the Private Tapes recordings. The former uses a simple, delicate sequencer pattern as an ethereal base on which to layer multiple, echoing lead guitar parts with stunning results. The latter, (which was re-worked and resurrected for the 1997 Ashra tour dates) is a strong contender for the finest Private Tapes track of all. E2-E4 was just around the corner and this twelve-minute masterwork pre-dates techno just as much as that classic album with multiple sequencer patterns building up and weaving around one another to utterly mesmerizing, almost incandescent effect.

It is interesting to think that whilst Manuel was working on an eclectic mix of music with Ashra in the late ‘70s he could quite easily have released a classic solo album, predominantly featuring electronics and guitars. Having heard the Private Tapes, not to mention many of Manuel’s other archival releases fans could be forgiven for asking what other treasures are sat in his cupboard and when we will get a chance to hear them.

E2-E4: Approaching a work of genius

2009-02-20T02:33:00.000-08:00

I’ve been putting it off for a while but soon I’m going to have to write a review of E2-E4 for the book. Why have I been putting it off? Well perhaps it’s a result of being overawed by the subject matter. How do you approach a work with this complexity/reputation/genius? The first step is probably to listen to the record again at least three or four times making notes…lots of notes. Before I begin writing the review I can offer an early observation as to a part of why the album has been and continues to be so successful. Perhaps an element of this is because it has soul. E2-E4 undoubtedly had a massive influence on techno; a genre, which at it’s best, can be incredibly euphoric and at its worst can involve a series of machines set to boredom. Although E2-E4 was recorded in just one hour and without any premeditation it always feels very human. The complexity and feel of the recording mean that the machines never control the man. Quite the reverse. Anyway: more later….

77 Slightly Delayed

2009-02-17T10:20:00.000-08:00

Today I’ve been listening to the Blackouts album and wondering why 77 Slightly Delayed, one of my personal favourites in the Manuel Göttsching catalogue is particularly challenging to write about. After a while the penny dropped: this is because in just under seven minutes there are more musical ideas than you will find on a lot of albums. The track is particularly dense with layer upon layer of cyclical note patterns, played both on guitars and keyboards. There is a fantastic guitar solo in a sort of Greek bouzouki style and a keyboard swoops, rises and circles in the mix with all the drama of Maurice Ravel’s Boléro. All the while the note cycles continue relentlessly, underpinning yet more fine lead guitar work. There is a palpable sense of excitement here, both at the fusing of rock and minimalist sensibilities and the harnessing of new technology. For me 77 Slightly Delayed is right up there with Manuel’s best music.

Manuel Göttsching: A very short biography (indeed)

2009-02-14T04:57:00.000-08:00

Manuel Göttsching was born on 9th September 1952. As a child he studied classical guitar and later studied with Swiss avant-garde composer Thomas Kessler.

In the late 1960s Manuel listened to Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Peter Green and took their work to another place with his intense freeform jamming as part of the awesome three piece band Ash Ra Tempel who released their self-titled debut album in 1971. A.R.T. were joined by icon Timothy Leary for their third album, Seven Up (1972). Göttsching went on to play in the jam sessions that would be released under the band name Cosmic Jokers. Their albums, all released in 1974, represent some of the greatest space rock ever committed to tape.

Absorbing the sounds of the minimalist composers Terry Riley and Steve Reich and then incorporating this into his own style, Göttsching made a series of masterful records. Inventions for Electric Guitar (1975) deserves a place alongside the most innovative LPs in the history of rock music. Everything was played with guitar and tape effects but many think that sequencers and synthesizers were used. New Age of Earth (1976) was another masterpiece but this time keyboards were the focus. Sunrain is quite simply one of the most stunning instrumentals of all time. Blackouts (1977) fused the sounds of the previous couple of albums and is in many ways the quintessential Manuel Göttsching record, as it incorporated cutting edge electronics, rock guitar and hypnotic patterns of notes in a style favoured by the minimalists. Although the previous two long players had been released using the name Ashra they were essentially Göttsching solo efforts. Joined by Lutz Ulbrich and Harald Grosskopf, Ashra became a band for the next two albums: the meticulously crafted Correlations (1979) and the eclectic and rewarding Belle Alliance (1980).

Off the back of touring with Klaus Schulze in 1981, Manuel recorded an improvisational piece for guitar and electronics lasting one hour. Unsure of what to do with this unusual and seemingly perfect piece of music he stored it for three years before its eventual release in 1984 as E2-E4. Whilst Manuel was recording Tropical Heat, a sunny musical travelogue with Ashra in 1985/86 (released in 1991) and Walkin’ the Desert, another Ashra recording to accompany a performance at the Berlin Planetarium in 1989, E2-E4 was gaining a reputation as a New York club classic. The dance music community was also embracing the record in Ibiza and across Europe. Suddenly an improvised piece for electronics and guitar was being hailed as the beginning of contemporary dance music. E2-E4 certainly sounded closer to techno than anything recorded by Kraftwerk or any of Göttsching’s early musical contemporaries. The belated success of the record was well deserved as it was both startling futuristic for its time and a true classic.

In 1997 Ashra reunited for a series of concerts that were later documented by the albums @shra and @shra vol. 2 (both recorded live in Japan). With younger musician and DJ Steve Baltes on board Ashra’s music was imaginatively and stylishly reinvented for the techno generation. 1997 also saw Göttsching compose and record music for an installation of 34 mirrors by artist Mercedes Engelhardt, titled R.S.V.P. This smooth, electronic, pastoral piece was later released in 2005 as Die Mulde.

The Ash Ra Tempel duo of Manuel Göttsching and Klaus Schulze reunited to record new studio material in 1998, which would later be released in 2000 as Friendship. When asked by Julian Cope to play at the Royal Festival Hall in 2000 as part of the Cornucopia festival, Manuel in turn invited Schulze and their performance was released as Gin Rosé. The new Ash Ra Tempel recordings showed musical maturity, with slow burning, atmospheric pieces, a far cry from the molten intensity of the debut album.

In late 2002 Manuel was commissioned to write and perform music for the filmfest Braunschweig. The following year he delivered a series of compositions to accompany F.W. Murnau’s 1921 silent film Schloss Vogelöd (Haunted Castle). The result was a suitably sombre, yet addictive mixture of electronic pieces, compositions for chamber musicians accompanied by electronics and musical vignettes for chamber orchestra alone. First performed in 2003, much of the music was released in 2005 under the title Concert for Murnau.

In 2007 Göttsching released his first live album Live at Mount Fuji, a satisfying collection of reworked music, also featuring the new and exclusive track Trunky Groove. As an appealingly unpredictable musical career continues we can only wait and guess at what may come next. Manuel: your move……

My biography and how you can contribute

2009-02-14T04:00:00.000-08:00

The story of this musical legend is long overdue, which is why I have been busy writing a biography for the last 12 months. I am currently finishing an early draft and writing reviews of the albums. Be sure to watch this blog because the content will be expanding, as I chronicle the writing process and post reviews and opinions here and there.

I need your contributions too. Have you seen Manuel Göttsching live recently or in the early days? Perhaps you saw Ash Ra Tempel in the early ‘70s? Maybe you saw the 1977 Ashra show at Regent’s Park in London? Were you at the Sheffield UK Electronica show in 1985 or the Berlin Planetarium in 1988? Wherever you have seen Manuel playing live I’d like your recollections. Please get in touch and if I use your story you will be credited.

Who is Manuel Göttsching?

2009-02-12T14:51:00.000-08:00

For those of you who haven’t chanced across his music before Manuel Göttsching is a highly gifted, classically trained rock musician who has always followed his heart, rather than any weight of musical expectation. In the beginning he was influenced by the guitar heroes and with his red-hot jamming on the Ash Ra Tempel albums became one himself. He was one of the electronic music pioneers, taking on board the influence of the minimalist composers to make a hypnotic pattern based music, incorporating strong rock elements. Inventions for Electric Guitar (1975) is one of the most innovative albums in the history of rock music and with E2-E4 (1981) he took the language of the minimalists and left it at the door of the techno generation. It would take almost a decade for other electronic musicians to catch up with his vision. He has written and performed music for fashion shows, art installations and, with classical musicians, for silent film. If you want to know where Manuel is heading the next time he is in the studio then his past achievements will probably offer few clues, as he is an explorer, always searching for the new. In short Manuel Göttsching is a musical legend.