Manuel GottschingE2-E4

At the turn of Sixties and intensely through the first half of the Seventies, German Rock and Electronica influenced music all over the Western World. CAN, or Kraftwerk or even Ash Ra Tempel-- Gottsching's group--influenced different but important artists here, from Talking Heads to Anthony Kiedis, David Bowie or even Johnny Rotten.Gottsching's second solo album--"E2-E4"--leaves behind the brand of Space Rock he helped invent for a crisp but extremely poetic dialogue between his guitar and Electronica. More human than Kraftwerk, Gottsching travels similar but less paved landscapes than the classic Autobhan.Along with Michael Strother and CAN's Michael Karoli, one of the best guitar players of Rock and Electronica to ever come out from Germany. This album is a classic, a classic that remains adventurous even after almost thirty years.

I received the E2-E4 CD this past weekend. I have the original vinyl I purchased in 1984. I wanted the CD because I figured it would have a clearer sound and I wouldn't have to flip the album over to hear the second side. To my dismay, I received a bootleg version of the original. It has more of a club beat than the original vinyl album I have. If you are looking for the original CD of the vinyl album, make sure it says" Made in Germany" on the CD cover sleeve. Mine didn't. It is by "Spalex Music" located in Paris France. I like this version also because it is a more danceable version of the original album. Just making everyone aware....

Listening to this album makes an hour go by in what seems like minutes. In short E2-E4 is a wonderous work of musical accomplishment. I am glad to have stumbled upon this album (ultimately by reading Amazon lists from various Tangerine Dream fans) I was curious and looking for something new and exciting. The simple but attractive cover design also triggered some curiousity in me I must admit. Something drew me to this album and I am thankful.Do not let the words "electronic" and "avante garde" scare you off. There is melody and bliss to be found in abundance here. The album is worth the ticket price. I feel it is my duty to pass along this torch of greatness. Share this one. It's a keeper!

Sounds excellent. Good deal.

This single long track (over 50mins) demonstrates well the artistry of one Manuel Gottsching (still going strong, still playing out, and with a myspace page to boot).E2-E4 is also available - you'll have to dig a little bit - as a live ACOUSTIC track of about 20 mins. And it's every bit as good, just shorter (sadly).While I prefer some of his more trippy layered guitar solo albums, like Ash Ra Tempel VI, this music is so satisfyingly beautiful that it sooths as well as inspires - it's a chess match, set to music.

Great album , electronic music masterpiece, perfect pressing.

Classic album!

If you like minimalist/space music, this piece from the 70s is a gem. I'm not a frequent Amazon buyer but they are great for finding hard-to-find items like this.

Written, played and produced within the space of one evening, it simply has no right to be this good but it is!This amorphous progression of a theme has reference points to the structured work of Reich and Glass and the early albums of Tangerine dream. This piece will relax and intrigue in equal measure and fans of chill out, Café Del Mar and Balearic will find a treasured album if they don't already own it. Heavily electronic with guitar work flowing over the top, it's had many imitators, covers and samples taken over the years but this is ground zero. Sit back, turn the lights down and make sure you're not disturbed for the next hour... you're in for a treat.

It's just a little over 25 years since this piece was recorded but now it finally gets it's first UK CD release. Trumpeting the release of an obscure electronic record may seem a little unusual but this is a piece of music of not only merit but also surprising importance.Its composer was a founding member of Krautrock band Ash Ra Tempel which, at time of recording in 1981, was not exactly the coolest thing to be. The recording languised on tape until 1984 when it was finally released although it didn't exactly sell by the lorryload. However a little like the first Velvet Underground album it was the people who bought it who mattered.Essentially this is just under an hour of hypnotic rhythms and a very long guitar solo over the top. It has a real trance-like beauty as melody shifts and changes over the constant rhythm. An hour passes gently it is perfect music to sit and listen to but also you can dance to it. Alhough obscure it is actually a piece well known to many.In 1989 it became the backbone of the hit Sueno Latino - not so much a record itself more a remix of the original - and one of the first truly classic Balearic records. The people who had first come across Gottsching's epic included the likes of Derrick May and DFC (the Italian production team behind Sueno).Listening to this record now it's influence seems to reach right across the dance music map. Considering when it was recorded it sounds light years ahead of its time and it has been described as the record that invented techno. It's because of this it has been namechecked many times. Somewhat difficult to obtain before this release it is heartening to think this record can take its place alongside "Planet Rock", "Trans Europe Express", "Strings Of Life", and "I Feel Love" as one of the most important electronic records of the last 30 years.

This is a classic album of the 1980s, even if you're never going to see it in the same list as Thriller, Purple Rain, Graceland, Like A Prayer, Synchronicity, Rapture and so on. This is an antidote to pop mania and a swipe against the instant hit. It consists largely of keyboards, sequencing and guitar. It's meditative, it's ambient yet intrusive, and it can frazzle the nerves in the right circumstance. It's not much anything that MG had done before. Some who hear this against their will might feel insulted. Others will leave the room without even knowing it's on. The rest of us will be transfixed.

Lo más impresionante de este clásico, que dicho sea de paso fue remixeado/sampleado hasta el hartazgo, es que no es sino hasta la segunda mitad que Göttsching empieza a tocar la guitarra: todo un statement viniendo de un guitarrista. Como anécdota rápida, el título es una alusión al primer movimiento de ajedrez, Göttsching nos está diciendo que abrió el juego.

Ottima ristampa di un disco bellissimo.