Good morning.
It’s Friday so we’re listening to something more upbeat. Today we’re listening to Manuel Göttsching, a German guitarist and composer. Göttsching was born in West Berlin in 1952, invented a lot of the musical currents that flow through this newsletter, and passed away last December. When he was 17 he formed the group Ash Ra Tempel, a krautrock group that, along with their peers Can and Tangerine Dream, fused psychedelia with free jazz and novel synthesizers.1 As a solo artist, Göttsching recorded Glass- and Reich-inspired minimalist music with guitars and synths, most notably E2-E4 from 1981.2 Recorded in one take, E2-E4 (named after an opening chess move) would later influence early house and techno producers and become anthemic at formative clubs like Paradise Garage.3 We’re also playing Göttsching’s 1974 album, Inventions for Electric Guitar, which plays the same minimalism with just guitar and sequencer.
E2-E4 - Manuel Göttsching (60m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal
Inventions for Electric Guitar - Manuel Göttsching (50m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal
Have an awesome weekend.
Sadly he died recently. I was lucky enough to see him live just a few years ago.