by Ben Hogwood

Yesterday we learned the sad news of the passing of the highly influential German musician Manuel Göttsching. He was the leader of two 1970s groups, Ash Ra Tempel and Ashra, but was best known as a solo artist.

In spite of his solo role he managed to sound like a whole ensemble on the remarkable E2-E4, which remains his calling card today. Written between 1981 and 1984, the epic composition predates dance music as we know it by many years, tapping into the minimalism of composers such as Reich and Glass but taking a different, even more hypnotic approach. Little wonder that this beauty found many fans in Ibiza, becoming one of the key early Balearic successes that the likes of Sueno Latino would draw upon.

Here it is in full:

I was fortunate enough to see a two-part Göttsching concert at the Convergence Festival at the Barbican in 2017, which you can read about here