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| Manuel Göttsching - E2-E4 Live |
 Released: 2005 Label: MGART Cat. No.: MG.ART 303 Total Time: 21:11 | |
Reviewed by: Marcelo Silveyra, May 2006 In the twenty-first century, ethereal music based on the expansion, development, and repetition of a short electronic loop has become the staple of myriad aspects of daily life. Television commercials, background music for clothing stores, raves, social gatherings, films, and an endless number of other facets of our time on this globe have more than just embraced the style. They have absorbed it and converted it into a synapse of our subconscious; a flaring of neurons waiting to be triggered by slow and gradual evolution, or simply by continuing repetition. It wasn't always that way. Especially not at the time that Manuel Göttsching released the original E2-E4, that being the first half of the cocaine-laden eighties. Although electronic music of the style had already undergone quite some exploration and exploitation, the world was still worlds away from the sleek iPod days. Perhaps that is why the piece still holds up today, and why Göttsching's work has always been able to soar far above the electronica mediocrity that has become the setting for our days. With the chamber Zeitkratzer Ensemble and his usual sparse but ineffably warm guitar style in tow, Göttsching performed "E2-E4" in Berlin slightly more than a year ago and slightly more than two decades after the original was released. It is highly likely that a number of people at the show had never heard the original, and I must confess that I had never done so either, so that nostalgia cannot be a part of the music's cocoon-like effect. Beginning with a deceivingly innocent short loop, "E2-E4" is a dazzling festival of slow build-up and of subtly changing tone colors above an unending motif; a display of the gorgeous potential of electronic-based music; and unerring proof that Göttsching is not one to fail his followers. The first musical developments send shivers down the listener's spine, and the moments at which brass is synchronized with the underlying building block motif are simply a marvel to hear. In fact, little is to be questioned in the way that this live event transpired, save for a few insignificant instants that seem to blunder just ever so slightly, and which disappear like nothingness in the caressing webbing of "E2-E4." Manuel Göttsching is an unquestionable master of his style; an original creator in an era that has quickly fallen to imitation and streamlining; an artist to whom the work remains more important than anything else. And if one is to let one's consciousness vanish into the nebular realms of electronic music and be enveloped by a gentle and delightful warmth, there is no better way to do it than with his music. E2-E4 Live is such a portal: a mirror of ethereal bliss to be unlocked and cherished and a testament to the prowess and significance of an artist that simply cannot be missed by those interested in this genre of music. Similar artists: Klaus Schulze, Tim Blake, Tangerine Dream Rating: 4.5/5 More about E2-E4 Live: Track Listing: E2-E4 (21:11) Musicians: Contact: Website: www.ashra.com Discography
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