E2-E4

Perhaps because he already had an ample musical outlet in the form of Ash Ra Tempel/Ashra, Manuel Göttsching didn't really put out many solo albums early on in his career - he only managed one in the 1970s, and this is his sole effort of the 1980s. It's a decent enough effort, Göttsching adapting gracefully to the incorporation of 1980s synthesisers into his music and producing a nearly hour-long composition that feels like the missing link between sprawling Krautrock electronic visions of the 1970s and sleek ambient and dance efforts of subsequent decades, though the extra shine and polish makes it feel soulless compared to the psychedelic space trips of Gottsching's earlier work. If you're only going to put out one album in the 1980s, it might as well be a good one; this one is decent enough not to be an embarrassment, whilst also standing as a reminder why Gottsching doesn't put out more solo work.