Ashra / Manuel Göttsching - New Age of Earth (Mega Blowout Sale) CD
SKU
31-Carol 1667-2
This album, recorded in Berlin, and originally released in 1977 on Virgin, marks the first time Manuel Gottsching used the name Ashra (as opposed to Ash Ra Tempel). This was also possibly the first time that the term "new age" was used on a record!
It's another completely wonderful, flowing, spacey album, featuring just Manuel performing on sequencer, keyboards and a lot of guitar. He did one more great one after this, Blackouts, then took some time off and returned to utter greatness and glory with E2-E4 in the mid 80s.
I totally love Manuel's work; when he's on, he is my absolute favorite of the Berlin scenesters. Highly recommended if you dig this stuff.
“This is great electronica released in 1977 by former Ash Ra Temple/Cosmic Jokers guitarist Manuel Gottsching. The four pieces on the album range from the 5'46 Deep Distance to the epic, 21'50 Nightdust and are stylistically very similar to works by electronica giants Tangerine Dream, German composer Klaus Schulze, and French composer Jean Michel Jarre. Instrumentation consists predominantly of layers of analog synthesizers in addition to soft, electric guitar (Manuel uses clean tones exclusively). Percussion is not used on this album at all. Although a listing of synthesizers used was not provided with the CD, I (think) I hear an ARP Pro Soloist, the VCS 3, and various Moog synthesizers, along with a string synthesizer.
The music on New Age of Earth is generally very sedate and reflective, with subtle melodies and rhythms surfacing from time to time. The compositions are structured such that a larger, more complex ensemble is intimated, with a throbbing, sequenced bass part underlying melodies and harmonies played on synthesizers with widely varying "tone colors". This combination of timbre and rhythm provides a great deal of interest. Overall, this is a wonderful recording and is highly recommended to all electronica fans.”-J Park
- LabelVirgin
- UPC017046166720