MANUEL GÖTTSCHING

Manual Gottsching certainly needs no introduction to Krautrock fans out there, being the premier guitarist of that movement. His friendship with Klaus Schulze helped motivate him to dive into electronics, and this live album is an electronic record. The combination of Mount Fuji and Manual Gottsching just sounded epic to my mind. I'm picturing him on stage with his long hair blowing in the wind as his backing band supports. Not quite. He turned 54 in 2006 and he's mostly sitting at a table with keyboards and wires all over it, with his shorter, coloured hair. Expectations are a funny thing.

Recorded live on April 29, 2006 at the Anoyo Prism Festival on Mount Fuji in Japan, this is a fairly ambient recording. Manual also produced, mixed and composed the light and melodic music here. This is a long one at under 73 minutes and over five tracks. He touches on songs from his solo albums at this time, but also a couple of tracks from his ASHRA days, along with a new composition "Trunky Groove" right in the middle(track 3). This recording did come with a edition that had all of these songs on DVD plus an interview but I don't have that one. The cover art seems to connect with the festival's name. The sub-title to that name was "The collective art conscious festival".

This album is for fans of his electronic period, more than his his early guitar led music which I prefer. ASH RA TEMPEL and THE COSMIC JOKERS really showcase this man's guitar skills. 3 stars is all I got for this one.

Back in 1976 Manuel Gottsching the guitarist for ASH RA TEMPEL, along with Michael Hoenig the keyboardist for AGITATION FREE had been practicing together for a few weeks getting ready for their tour of France. This music that would become "Early Water" apparently was the last thing they recorded together before hearing that the tour had been cancelled, so into the vaults it went. It wasn't until 1995 that Gottsching re-discovers this music and promptly sends it to Hoenig who at this time was working at a studio in L.A. Hoenig cleaned it up and remastered it, releasing it that same year of 1995.

We get one long 48 minute piece of electronics where the sequencers rule. Berlin school for sure with Gottsching adding guitar over top at times. He also adds farsisa organ, synths and tape echo. Hoenig hits us with a variety of keyboards, and both are credited with being the composers. The music changes slightly throughout, but honestly this is repetitive and hypnotic to say the least. It moves along fairly quickly for the most part, with again slight changes in that tempo. It works as background music for sure, but man I love driving with this type of music playing. The soundtrack to the scenery up here.

Some compare it to TANGERINE DREAM's "Ricochet", Michael Hoenig's "Departure From The Northern Wasteland", or some of Gottsching's solo stuff like "Inventions For The Electric Guitar" or "E2-E4", his band ASHRA is another example. As daunting as it would seem at 48 minutes, each time I played this I was always into it. There's more going on than it might seem, and I always prefer my electronics with guitar and organ like here on "Early Water". Yes I'll say it, this music flows beautifully and consistently throughout. A solid 4 stars without a doubt.

Though a fairly recent discovery of mine, this wonderful album stands up strong against any of the other Berlin School albums of its era--including the masterpieces of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze. BTW: don't be deceived: this plays out like one continuous rave party dance song; the demarcations and separate song titles are purely artificial!

Line-up / Musicians: - Manuel Göttsching / guitar, electronics, composer & producer

1. "Ruhige Nervositäet / Quiet Nervousness" (13:00) cool groove with treated percussion in the lead positions. As instruments are gradually introduced and molded into the weave, the song just keeps getting stronger. It is truly difficult to discern whether or not these individual tracks woven together are in fact generated by guitars--I would argue that they're not. As the song plays on I'm feeling as if I'm in a big dance party--or Ibiza; some huge dance hall where disco balls, flashing colored lights, and multi-level platforms are disbursed for dancing and losing onesself. The start of trance dancing or house music. Even today, at age 64, I'm compelled to want to get up and dance by this music. Brilliant. I want to demerit this for its sameness but at the same time I want to reward Manuel for producing such a mesmerizing, joy-filled, dance generator. (23.5/25) 2. "Gemäßigter Aufbruch / Moderate Start" (10:00) apparently, at some point in the flow of the first song it became the second song. Even more Tiësto or Oakenfold than before, it is really just a continuation of what he started in the opening 13 minutes. (17.75/20) 3. "...Und Mittelspiel / ...And Central Game" (7:00) the song finally seems as if it's evolving as the percussive elements diminish and dwindle leaving a combo harmonium-accordion-guitar strum sound to dance around the chord chart. The percussives are still there, just at much lower levels, allowing the organ-like combination of pipe sounds to stand out. Cool. Again, I appreciate the happy, upbeat nature of the music. (13.25/15) 4. "Ansatz / Promise" (6:00) Until the soloing guitar comes through well into the second minute of this I'm not quite sure what distinguishes this "song" from the previous one, but, once the guitar is blues-jazz soloing, I get it. (8.5/10) 5. "Damen Eleganza / Queen A Pawn" (5:00) at which point the soloing Bob WELCH-like guitar changes sound and the percussives rise back into greater prominence in the mix. (9/10) 6. "Ehrenvoller Kampf / Glorious Fight" (3:00) the guitar soloing reaches a crescendo in pitch and speed, gradually shifting over to artistically strumming the song's two chords as a different lead instrument enters in the higher pitch ranges. (Sounds like KC's speeded up tapes of his guitar on his big hit, "Get Down Tonight".) (8.75/10) 7." Hoheit Weicht (Nicht Ohne Schwung) / H. R. H. Retreats (With A Swing...)" (9:00) Then the percussive "bent" lead sounds return and the strumming guitar has gotten wild and crazy before it returns to soloing--this time way more jazzy and impressively than before. Fun and, again, so dance-inducing. (18.5/20) 8. "...Und Souveränität / ...And Sovereignty" (3:00) once again the point of demarcation from "before" and "now" is so subtle and arbitrary: The soloing guitar is still going. As a matter of fact, he seems to have gotten a little second wind! All the while, the Tangerine Dream-like dance weave continues, though it begins to thin out, but the party isn't quite over yet. (I am still so in the Zone!) (9/10) 9. "Remis / Draw" (3:00) well, it turns out the guitarist was finally finished, and so the rest of the electronica ensemble begins to slowly withdraw. The crowd gets the idea and begins to leave the dance floor--headed for the bathrooms, bar/waitresses, exits, and/or beach. What a night! What a dance! (8.75/10)

Total time 59:00

Thanks to the stupendous groove and George Benson show, the dance party was a HUGE success!

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of Prog Electronica and a major step forward from the world of Disco to the world of all night raves.

Hoenig gets a bad rap it seems, like he's the red headed stepchild of the Berlin school. I'd argue his admittedly small recorded output is as creative if not more than what Manuel Gottsching and his Ash Ra group were doing. Same with Tangerine Dream. Hoenig's proper studio release Departure from the Northern Wasteland in seventy eight was a left field addition to the burgeoning electronic almost new age music scene and this was recorded prior to that, after Gott released seminal New Age of Earth. This does go on long like Gott seminal E2E4 but is very palatable in small doses or atmospheric window dressing. Plus my kids think it's cool I own a few forty five minute long songs.

As a founding and omnipresent member of Ash Ra Tempel, Manuel Gottsching also created some solo albums in the complex world of progressive electronic music, toghether with Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze. This album is another MG "in the mood",more closer to progressive electronic, than krautrock. It begins with Schopferische stille ( translated Creative silence),a nice sound effect, in a pure space rock style. After 2 minutes, the synth music enters its way with "Die Mulde". Manuel uses here repetitive keyboards themes, similar to Klaus Schulze. "Die Spiegel" is another mesmerising space rock composition, maybe a little bit minimalistic. The sound evolves in a different way towards "Zerfluss", the only rhythmic track with some percussion beats. "HP little cry" (HP- a reference to Hewlett Packard,? I don't know...) can be for many a very boring composition, (for almost 32 minute) because of its hallucinant background sound. The difference is his guitar, in which MG is a master. The guitar sounds very experimental and sublime in the same time, with a little Pink Floydian resemblance. Overall, the album is good, nothing new. Manuel is improvising with new and new mixtures of guitar and synths. A good album for progressive electronic lovers.

3 stars!

This album could be called as one of textbooks for Krautrockers who try to represent an ambient minimalistic portfolio through an electric guitar. Exactly we can say Manuel came into his own line of Krautrock. Pretty impressive he constructed unique, theatrical view of sound effectively with simple, monotonous phrases. Each phrase is not so innovative nor excessive but the combination sounds like massive excitement of the audience, amazingly ... regardless of controversy if such a strategy be novel in mid 1970s or not.

Manuel's guitar launches mysterious and acceptable ambience especially in the second track upon A Side "Quasarsphere", where are a mass of dramatic lunatic tonic initiative. His spherical sound organization must drive the audience into his Tempel. No difficulty for us to get into such a transcendental meditation via his electro world. The format is not so special enough to give us the first blow but the more we listen to this stuff, the deeper we should sink his dark inner world.

Of all the environmental minimalism, we could mention that the longest (over 20 minute) track "Pluralis" go forward with enthusiasm gradually increasing as if it dance over the whole B Side Turf. No complicated melody line but intelligent superposition of the lines would give us fine palpitation. On the contrary in the first shot "Echo Waves" monotonous para-musical phrases appear in front of us with frequent microscopic alteration step by step. What an impression it is there are lots of minimal melodic changes from each other.

Non-colourful but sensitive creation methods can be well estimated eternally, at least for me ... yeah, whether this is the real authenticity or not is quite different from the fact I love this creation, though.

First solo live release by Manuel Göttsching, "Live at Mt. Fuji" features two tracks from the first 70's ASHRA albums, two tracks from his 2000's recent albums and a new composition of 15 minutes.

"Sunrain" (from ASHRA's "New Age of Earth") is a bit deceiving. This interpretation sounds more cold and plastic, as if it was played in MIDI, whereas the original studio track possessed its own warm and human feel. The sonorities are not very adapted to the soothing ambiance of this classic electronic tune. Furthermore, this extended version is a bit too long. The slow "Saint & Sinner" (from Göttsching's "Concert for Murnau") is a curious choice for this live album. The languorous ambiance is however reinforced by Manuel's pretty cool guitar play.

"Trunky Groove" is a new piece composed for this concert. This previously unreleased track features more modern percussions and some nice sound effects. An enjoyable ambient tune, that sometimes reminds early THE ORB. "Die Mulde/Zerfluss" (from Göttsching's "Die Mulde") is a little more interesting this its studio version. First, it has fortunately been shortened to 20 minutes. Second, there are more variations than on the original, although the 90's cheesy sound effects remain. The rendition of "Shuttlecock" (from ASHRA's "Blackouts") is average as the electronic sequence is too present and thus tends to become slightly repetitive near the end.

As a live release from Manuel Göttsching, it is surprising not to hear any extract from his groundbreaking albums "Inventions for Electric Guitar" or "E2-E4". The chosen sonorities are sometimes cheap, which is a bit curious for such an electronic pionieer artist. To sum up, "Live at Mt. Fuji" is half ambient, half Göttsching-esque, not bad, but not great either.

Manuel Göttsching goes ambient

"Die Mulde" is certainly one of the worst album in the german electronic pioneer's discography, next to ASHRA's "Tropical Heat". Although released in 2005, the first four tracks are in fact a single continuous 40 minutes piece composed in 1997. At this time, ASHRA began touring in Japan and Netherlands. The last track was initially recorded in 1981, and reworked by Göttsching in 2004. Musically, the style of this record is much more ambient than his usual works.

The short experimental opener "Schöpferische Stille" features sonorities reminiscent of TANGERINE DREAM's "Phaedra". The title track is a flat and boring tune, with dated sound effects and not many variations. The synthetizer sequence of "Die Spiegel" is in the style of MOTHER MALLARD'S PORTABLE MASTERPIECE CO., however less inspired. At the end of the nineties, this was not very innovative. "Zerfluss" is more rythmic, but the early 90's cheesy sound effects does not make it interesting either.

Unrelated to the computer company, "HP Little Cry" has a soothing ambiance, more typical of ASHRA, however without sequences. There are a few discrete guitar incursions. Difficult to say what material comes from 1981 or from 2004. But the problem of this composition is its monotony. This track is not bad per se, but it does not justify a 30 minutes duration.

"Die Mulde" shows the german musician venturing into a new musical territory for him. His works are usually much more rythmic and his arrangements, more complex. This album may be appreciated by some ambient music lovers, but not by most Göttsching fans...

Manuel Göttsching goes classical

"Concert For Murnau" is in fact a film score for "The Haunted Castle", a dark 1921 silent movie by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, who will direct the famous classic "Nosferatu" one year later. Recorded live on October 31st and November 1st 2003 at the Staatstheater Braunschweig in Kleines Haus, the music was be performed while the film was projected.

The record is composed of 12 acoustic classical pieces, sometimes mixed with electronics, of various durations. Completely different from all his other works, even from ASHRA's "Walkin' the Desert", "Concert For Murnau" does not feature the warm and soothing ambiance typical of the german artist either. This time, the atmosphere is dark and melancholic, Göttsching is exploring new ideas.

The first three tracks, "Overtüre", "The Party" and "Auf zur Jagd" sets the tone. You are arriving the mysterious castle. A bit long and repetitive, but enjoyable. "Der Abend" is a pleasant electro-classical ambient piece. The slow "Die Beichte" and "Double Or Quits" are more somber and melancholic. The oddest surprise of the record is "High Noon" and its pulsing electronic percussion. Is this tune adapted to the movie? I don't know. Although sounding a little messy and out of place, this track is nonetheless quite good.

Back to a dark ambiance with "Accused", to then continue with the slow languorous "Saint And Sinner". In contrast, the sweet "Demaskierung" is an aerial electronic passage. An average composition, a little cheesy and lengthy. "Leitmotiv" is more rythmic and contains some musical variations. The record finishes with "Zirkus", a very short piece dominated by the horn, and a curious ending.

As its first incursion into classical music territories, "Concert For Murnau" is singular in Göttsching's discography. A bit unequal, it maybe requires watching the movie simultaneously to be fully appreciated. Obviously not the album to start with for newcomers, "Concert For Murnau" is nonetheless overall a pleasant listen for those who dare venture into the haunted castle...

Crystalline waters

Initially recorded at the end of 1976, "Early Water" is a collaboration between ex-ASHRA RA TEMPEL Manuel Göttsching and ex-AGITATION FREE Michael Hoenig. The result of this session has been restored and entirely remixed by Hoenig in Los Angeles in 1995. The album consists in one single 50 minutes long track, in the pure style of the Berlin electronic school.

To replace things in their context, Göttsching had just recorded "New Age of Earth", and Hoenig had just collaborated in TANGERINE DREAM and KLAUS SCHULZE live performances. Compared to ASHRA's first album, the music is colder, hypnotic, sometimes oppressive, but always fluid. The important use of sequencers sounds sometimes futuristic. Manuel Göttsching's guitar is simply gorgeous and undulates around Hoenig's interlacing synthetizer loops. This long piece contains however some lengthy passages, especially the middle part, and therefore maintaining attention is difficult. In terms of ambiance, this has more similarities with a SCHULZE or a TD concert, certainly due to Hoenig's recent experiences.

Released in 1976 in a shortened version, "Early Water" would have stand up to comparison to other progressive electronic opus at the same time. A bit long, nonetheless recommended to TANGERINE DREAM or SCHULZE fans.