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Manuel Göttsching (born 9 September 1952 in Berlin) is a German musician and composer widely considered to be one of the key figures of the krautrock and kosmiche musik movement of the 70s. Initially trained in classical guitar as a youth, he also developed a passion for British and American music growing up, not limited to just rock and blues but also soul and funk (in multiple interviews he mentions being influenced by the rhythms of African-American music). Switching to the electric guitar as a teenager, Göttsching and his friend Hartmut Enke began playing covers of popular rock bands. To ...read more
Manuel Göttsching (born 9 September 1952 in Berlin) is a German musician and composer widely considered to be one of the key figures of the krautrock and kosmiche musik movement of the 70s. Initially trained in classical guitar as a youth, he also developed a passion for British and American music growing up, not limited to just rock and blues but also soul and funk (in multiple interviews he mentions being influenced by the rhythms of African-American music). Switching to the electric guitar as a teenager, Göttsching and his friend Hartmut Enke began playing covers of popular rock bands. Towards the end of the 60s they would find inspiration in Blue Cheer, the improvisational styles of guitarists Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, as well as free jazz (though he notes it was less jazz music itself and more the idea of music free of structure and limits). In 1970 Göttsching and Enke's band would practice and rehearse at Beat Studio run by avant-garde composer Thomas Kessler, which is where they met the musicians of Tangerine Dream and Agitation Free. Upon drummer Klaus Schulze's departure from Tangerine Dream in 1971 over creative differences with Edgar Froese, Ash Ra Tempel was formed, with Göttsching on guitar and Enke on bass. With their focus on long jam sessions, improvisation and very minimal editing of recordings, Ash Ra would become one of the most well known and influential groups of the krautrock scene, and Göttsching's guitar playing in particular would be regarded as quite innovative. Schulze and Göttsching would also perform alongside Wallenstein musicians Jürgen Dollase and Harald Grosskopf on Walter Wegmuller's Tarot as well as under the name The Cosmic Jokers. In 1977 Göttsching rebranded Ash Ra to simply Ashra, marking a shift towards an increasingly electronic-oriented style that would influence the emerging new age genre. As a solo artist, Göttsching has only released two studio albums. Recorded in 1974 and released in 1975, Inventions for Electric Guitar was heavily inspired by the works of minimalist composers such as Steve Reich, Terry Riley and Philip Glass, featuring a novel approach to the instrument and using no other sound sources at all. In 1981, having finished a tour of Europe with friend and former bandmate Schulze, Göttsching recorded a jam session at home on a two-track machine. It had not been intended as an album, it was just one of many jam sessions and it would not be edited, overdubbed or further produced in any way, but eventually in 1984 this recording would be released on Schulze's Inteam label under the title E2-E4. Critical reception was initially negative in Germany with many failing to understand its artistic vision, but it would eventually have an outsized impact on the techno genre and other electronic music of the late 80s and early 90s, becoming a cult classic that would influence notable acts such as The Orb, Basic Channel, Carl Craig and The Black Dog among others. « hide |
Similar Bands: Klaus Schulze, Kraftwerk, Ash Ra Tempel, Ashra, The Cosmic Jokers, Cluster, Fripp and Eno, Gunter Schickert Contributors: parksungjoon, DikkoZinner, livingisland, MrBobDobbelina, Zig,
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