Manuel Göttsching

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.

1. NPR

2. The Guardian

3. Wikipedia