I did a Manuel Göttsching show three years ago, February 26 2015, but it's no longer available on demand, so here is a new version which is a bit more comprehensive.
| We'll start at the start, with the first side of the first Ash Ra Tempel album. This was a legendary German Krautrock/Kosmische band with Göttsching's guitar as the most important element. Psychedelic, drugged out, and instrumental, Ash Ra Tempel produced five albums through 1973. On the first album Göttsching is joined by Klaus Schulze on drums and Hartmut Enke on bass. |
| Amboss Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel - Spalax |
| On the second album, Göttsching and Enke are joined by John L. on vocals and Wolfgang Müller on drums. This song is a denunciation of the materialistic popular culture (as you do) followed by wicked jamming (as they do). |
| Flowers Must Die Ash Ra Tempel - Schwingungen - MG Art |
| On the fourth album, Göttsching and Enke are joined by Göttsching's girlfriend Rosi on vocals, and a returning Klaus Schulze on drums and synths. The early Ash Ra Tempel albums tended to alternate an aggressive side and a spacey side. I've played from the aggressive sides so far, so this time I'll play one of the more atmospheric tracks, which shows the kind of magic Göttsching and Schulze could do together. |
| Jenseits Ash Ra Tempel - Join Inn - Spalax |
| Le Berceau de Cristal is a soundtrack that was recorded in 1975 and not released until 1994. It's a bit misnamed as an Ash Ra Tempel album in my opinion, since it was a duo between Manuel Göttsching and fellow guitarist Lutz Ulbrich of Agitation Free. The music's still pretty good though. |
| Deux enfants sous la lune Ash Ra Tempel - Le Berceau de Cristal - MG Art |
| The "sixth" Ash Ra Tempel album is often credited only to Göttsching, which makes sense, since he recorded the entire album using a TEAC 4-track, using only the sounds of the electric guitar. It is an astounding piece of work. |
| Echo Waves Manuel Göttsching / Ash Ra Tempel - Inventions for Electric Guitar - Spalax |
| After this album Göttsching signed with Virgin and start releasing albums under the name Ashra. The first two Ashra albums are Manuel Göttsching solo, marrying together guitar and electronics.
On Correlations, Ashra is now a trio, with Göttsching joined by Ulbrich and drummer Harald Grosskopf (who I have done a previous show on that you can check out on demand). Grosskopf had previously played with Ash Ra Tempel on their fifth album, "Starring Rosi", and has also drummed on Klaus Schulze's solo albums. |
| Sunrain Ashra - New Age of Earth - Virgin |
| Shuttlecock Ashra - Blackouts - Virgin |
| Pas de Trois Ashra - Correlations - Virgin |
| For the final piece we move into the 80s, with Göttsching's first "official" solo album, which is widely considered his best. It is an hour-long piece of electronic music that sounds very predictive of the future techno genre, while giving Göttsching's guitar a lot of room to shine. |
| excerpt Manuel Göttsching - E2-E4 - MG Art |
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Thanks for the overview. Not that familiar with him/ashra temple but totally accept the crucial importance. Good listens.
1:15 AM, March 1st, 2018