Manuel Göttsching: E2-E4 (35th anniversary edition) [MG.ART]

Why you'll love it

This 35th anniversary edition comes in an embossed cover with a printed inner sleeve, pressed in France. AllMusic gave the album five stars, and Pitchfork and The Guardian both named it one of the best of the 1980s.

This edition

• 35th anniversary edition
• Embossed cover
• Printed inner sleeve
• Pressed in France
• Lyrics included
• Stereo mix

About the album

Named after the most popular opening move in chess, E2-E4 began as a single evening's work. On December 12, 1981, at Studio Roma in Berlin, Manuel Göttsching set an ARP Odyssey running through a sequencer, improvised over it on keyboards, metallic percussion and guitar, and played for the best part of an hour in one take. It came out in 1984 on Klaus Schulze's Inteam label.

There's no verse or chorus, just interlocking patterns that shift by small degrees, with Göttsching's guitar gradually moving to the front. Side one runs over 31 minutes and side two 23, and the sections carry chess-game names, from "Ruhige Nervosität" through "Damen-Eleganza" to the closing "Remis," a draw. Listeners have compared it to the minimalism of Steve Reich, and it later fed into ambient techno, from The Orb to Aphex Twin and Basic Channel.

New York's Paradise Garage played it hard, Sueño Latino sampled it in 1989, and Carl Craig remixed it as Paperclip People. Göttsching admitted to being surprised by all of this; it's the rare chess game that ends with everyone dancing.

Also at Kops: more Manuel Göttsching on vinyl · browse Electronic

Tracklist

Listen

On MG.ART (cat# MG.ART 904), a reissue of the 1984 album.