E2-E4

After leading Ash Ra Tempel through several albums worth of cosmic krautrock German multi-instrumentalist Manuel Gottsching pursued a highly-experimental solo career that produced, amongst others, this proto-techno marathon from 1984. Essentially one enormous fifty-eight minute long electronic composition spread over nine different 'sections', 'E2 - E4' seems to be the missing link between Klaus Schulze-style synthesized psychedelia and modern, beat-based dance music. Its a whole world away from Gottsching's early-seventies work with Ash Ra Tempel, yet for those with an interest in the Berlin School sound, Schulze's solo material and the classic krautrock of both Neu! and Kraftwerk 'E2 - E4' should prove a real treat. Repetition is the order of day here, as Gottsching navigates a course through what can be best described as psych-techno, the bouncy, synth-dusted melodies pinned to a cyclical groove that maintains its constant rhythm throughout the album,whilst the latter stages find electric guitars and silky keyboard washes added to the equation. If you can take the head-nodding groove and deliberate lack of variation, this epic electro-mix should find you tapping your toes deep into the night. But is krautrock? Is it dance? That's for you to decide... STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012