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Ash Ra Tempel is the eponymous debut studio album by the Krautrock band Ash Ra
Tempel. It features guitarist Manuel Göttsching with drummer Klaus Schulze and
bassist Hartmut Enke. Engineered by Conny Plank it was recorded in March 1971 and
released in June 1971 on Ohr Records. This 50th Anniversary Album will be Released
in Memoriam of all the musical contributors to this release and on Manuel
Göttsching ́s MG.ART label.
It's the fourth and headlining edition in this series and was finalised, carefully
overseen by Manuel Göttsching himself in the late Autumn of 2022.
Much has been written about the record and band. Having finished a first musical
chapter with their Steeple Chase Blues band and still at the very young age of only 17
and 18 years old Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke met Klaus Schulze. Together
they started to write and and compose what, to many, became one the holy grails of
Psychedelic Rock and early Electronic Music – the German variant which was later
also named “Krautrock”:
“The trio of Klaus Schulze, Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke decided to abandon
conventional composition and songwriting, in favour of free-form improvising and
developing a new musical language. As such, they became notorious for jams that
could exceed 30 minutes.” Says Discogs. “Some of these recordings can be found on
Manuel Göttsching ́s “The Private Tapes” releases”, which will be re-released on
MG.ART as well, following this edition.
“AllMusic called the album "both astonishingly prescient and just flat out good, a
logical extension of the space-jam-freakout ethos into rarefied realms.”
Here we would like the Band to be heard, for what can easily be said as the first [me
in 50+ years, with the exception of some early Journalists for whom the young
Manuel Göttsching wrote a statement of intent (the original text can be found inside
this edition) as following:
“Our musical concept is based on a combination of blues rock and delicate collages of
electronic sound. These two elements should remain inseparable. And in their
complex unity, the different musical philosophies of each musician find a common
sweet spot. Our music is a permanently impulsive experience ley to develop as it will,
star[ng from a common fixed point of departure. This is where the difficulty of the
music begins: No standardized formula[on of our music can and should be possible.
Only the constant reaction within the band can determine the musical result. And
this requires constant listening with full concentration on the part of the creators.
The idea of a particular musician will be – if flexible enough – absorbed by the others,
transposed to their own instrument, and reflected back into the music as an
individual contribution. This reciprocity within the band is then transferred over to
the audience. And this process means that their reaction is not only a contribution to
the end result; it actually makes them jointly responsible for the creation of the final
musical product.
...
On our album, the track “Amboss” represents the first layer. Conventional
instruments communicate familiar music which is in part expanded through
electronic means. In the second track of the album – “Traummaschine” – the actual
basic sound approach is dissolved into an electronic Nirvana which no longer allows
the concrete identification of actual instruments. Innocent, virgin listening, free from
any and every association, can finally begin – and the music can be absorbed and
processed free from the limitations of categorization. That is the purpose of our
music: To convey freedom without any predetermined criteria or traditions.
Thank you for your attention.”
(Taken from the original A-R-T Bio 1970)
Tracklist
A. "Amboss" (19:40)
B."Traummaschine" (25:24)