''E2-E4'', released in 1984, is a solo recording by German musician and

Ash Ra Tempel Ash Ra Tempel was a West German krautrock group led by guitarist Manuel Göttsching that was active from 1970 to 1976. Their debut album '' Ash Ra Tempel'' was released in 1971. Following the band's demise, Göttsching released music under the nam ...

founder

Manuel Göttsching Manuel Göttsching (9 September 1952 – 4 December 2022) was a German musician and composer. As the leader of the groups Ash Ra Tempel and Ashra in the 1970s and 80s, as well as a solo artist, he was one of the most influential guitarists of ...

. The album consists of one minimalistic, hour-long

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

track that Göttsching recorded in one take using a

sequencer Sequencer may refer to: Technology * Drum sequencer (controller), an electromechanical system for controlling a sequence of events automatically * DNA sequencer, a machine used to automatically produce a sequence readout from a biological DNA sam ...

, with improvised keyboards, metallic percussion, and guitar playing. The album is named after the most popular opening chess move 1. e2-e4 (which is expressed in long algebraic notation). A noteworthy pun on ''E2-E4'' exists—when expressed in standard

scientific pitch notation Scientific pitch notation (SPN), also known as American standard pitch notation (ASPN) and international pitch notation (IPN), is a method of specifying musical Pitch (music), pitch by combining a musical Note (music), note name (with accidental ...

, the harmonic range of a guitar's strings extends from E₂ (82.407 Hz) to E₄ (329.63 Hz).

Influence

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' named the album one of the best of the 1980s for its important role in the development of

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

and

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

music of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Though inspired in part by New York's Latin club rhythms in addition to minimalists like

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, a ...

, Göttsching was surprised when he learned that people danced to the track. The song became a hit at New York's

Paradise Garage Paradise Garage, also known as "the Garage" or the "Gay-rage", was a New York City discotheque notable in the history of dance and pop music, as well as LGBT and nightclub cultures. The club was founded by sole proprietor Michael Brody, and o ...

dance club.

Sueño Latino Sueño Latino is an Italo house band from Italy: Andrea Gemolotto, Claudio Collino, Davide Rizzatti, Riccardo Persi. In 1989, the group released the ambient house classic "Sueño Latino." The track is based on Manuel Göttsching's album-length ''E2 ...

sampled ''E2-E4'' on its 1989 song "Sueño Latino." The album also would be an early influence on

ambient techno Ambient techno is a subgenre of techno that incorporates the atmospheric textures of ambient music with the rhythmic elements and production of techno. It was pioneered by 1990s electronic artists such as Aphex Twin, Carl Craig, the Black Dog, Pe ...

works by

Carl Craig Carl Craig (born May 22, 1969) is an American electronic music producer, DJ, and founder of the record label Planet E Communications. He is known as a leading figure and pioneer in the second wave of Detroit techno artists during the late 1980s ...

, the Black Dog, and

The Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 19 ...

. In 1994, Craig released a remix named "Remake" under his alias of Paperclip People.

Basic Channel Basic Channel is a German music duo and record label, composed of Moritz von Oswald and Mark Ernestus, that originated in Berlin in 1993. The duo have also worked under other names, including Rhythm & Sound and Maurizio, and have founded offshoot ...

released a "Basic Reshape" remix of "Remake", which would be included on their compilation album ''BCD'' under the name of "e2e4 Basic Reshape."

Track sections

Original vinyl presses of the album gave the following titles and approximate times on the cover. Original presses (and various reissues) sectioned the album into two halves, giving Side 1 and 2 durations of 31:38 and 23:00 respectively. Later digital editions simply have one track with a 58:39 running time.

Personnel

* Manuel Göttsching -

ARP Odyssey The ARP Odyssey is an analog synthesizer introduced by ARP Instruments in 1972. History ARP developed the Odyssey as a direct competitor to the Moog Minimoog and an answer to the demand for more affordable, portable, and less complicated "perf ...

, ARP Sequencer, AKG BX-5, Dynacord DRS-78, Dynacord TAM-19, EKO Computerhythm,

EMS Synthi A The VCS 3 (or VCS3; an initialism for ''Voltage Controlled Studio, version #3'') is a portable analog synthesizer with a flexible modular voice architecture introduced by Electronic Music Studios (London) Limited (EMS) in 1969. EMS release ...

, Farfisa Syntorchestra,

Korg Polysix The Korg Polysix (PS-6) is a six-voice programmable polyphonic analog synthesizer released by Korg in 1981. Features The synthesizer's main features are six-voice polyphony (with unison and chord memory voice assignment modes), 32 memory slo ...

Moog Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popula ...

, Pearl Syncussion, Publison DHM-89B2 and Sequential Circuits Prophet-10.

References

1984 albums Chess in music {{1980s-electronic-album-stub