An interesting encounter:
Michael Hoenig (born 4 January 1952) is a German composer who has composed music for several films and games, in addition to two solo albums, including the highly acclaimed 1978 album Departure from the Northern Wasteland. In 1997, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music for composing the theme to the science fiction series Dark Skies.
As the editor of the underground magazine LOVE in the late sixties, Hoenig was part of the burgeoning progressive rock scene in Berlin, which fostered bands like Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel and Agitation Free.
His interest in avant-garde music, sound generators and prepared tapes caught the eye of Michael Günther, the bassist of Agitation Free, and he joined the band in February 1971. In March 1975, Hoenig was hired to replace Peter Baumann in Tangerine Dream for an Australian tour and a London Royal Albert Hall concert, and subsequently left Agitation Free, which broke up shortly after. Baumann rejoined Tangerine Dream soon after, and Hoenig went on to collaborate with Klaus Schulze on the short-lived project “Timewind” (unrelated to the 1975 Schulze album of the same name). In 1976 he had a brief collaboration with Manuel Göttsching of Ash Ra Tempel; a recording of one of the sessions was released in 1995 under the title “Early Water”. In 1977, he released his first solo album, the highly acclaimed Berlin School classic Departure from the Northern Wasteland, and left for Los Angeles shortly after it was released.
Hoenig owns a recording studio in Los Angeles and through his company Metamusic Productions, he has composed the scores for several movies (see filmography below) and television shows. In addition to this, he has composed music for the extremely popular Baldur’s Gate PC games by BioWare. In 1987, Hoenig released his second solo album, Xcept One. The track Bones on the Beach from the Xcept One album was installed in the roller coaster CHAOS at Opryland in Nashville, making the attraction the first roller coaster to be synced to music. Bones on the Beach has also been used at a similar roller coaster, Revolution, at Bobbejaanland, a family park in Lichtaart, Belgium from 2004 to 2008 and since 2011. (wikipediaI)
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 Krautrock (also known as Kosmische Musik) genre. He also participated in the Cosmic Jokers sessions. His style and technique influenced dozens of artists in the post-Eno ambient and Berlin School of electronic music scenes in the 1980s and 1990s.
As a child, Göttsching was exposed to the music of Verdi and Puccini by his mother, who was a fan of opera. He also listened to radio stations run by American and British allied forces. Too young for early rock and roll, it was not until the 1960s that Göttsching found the music that really inspired him such as Motown music from the United States, as well the Rolling Stones and British blues bands. Originally a classical guitarist, the music he heard inspired him to switch to the electric guitar.
In school, Göttsching played with a cover band. “We played some Rolling Stones, we played some Beatles, we played some Who, some what was the popular music and that was just for fun,” he recalls. However upon hearing Blue Cheer’s proto-metal cover of “Summertime Blues” and learning about the free jazz movement inspired Göttsching and his bandmates to pursue a freer, more improvisatory approach to music.
Göttsching and his bandmates moved from song-based music to free improvisation, forming the musical group Ash Ra Tempel in 1970. “We didn’t play blues,” Göttsching recalls. “We used some elements of it but tried to keep the freestyle of improvisation and using some blues themes.” Along with Göttsching, the group included Klaus Schulze (who had just left Tangerine Dream) and Hartmut Enke. Just after Ash Ra Tempel released its self-titled debut album in 1971, Schulze left to pursue what became a successful solo career.
In 2000, Göttsching and Klaus Schulze released a studio album and a live album as Ash Ra Tempel. The live album was recorded as part of the Cornucopia concerts curated by Julian Cope at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
Göttsching died on 4 December 2022, at the age of 70.
Göttsching’s 1981 album E2-E4 had a major influence on the development of electronica, especially the techno genre. Some suggest that Göttsching’s playing might have had an influence on U2’s The Edge echo-laden guitar style of the early to mid-eighties.
Initially recorded at the end of 1976, “Early Water” is a collaboration between ex-ASHRA RA TEMPEL Manuel Göttsching and ex-AGITATION FREE Michael Hoenig. The result of this session has been restored and entirely remixed by Hoenig in Los Angeles in 1995. The album consists in one single 50 minutes long track, in the pure style of the Berlin electronic school.
To replace things in their context, Göttsching had just recorded “New Age of Earth”, and Hoenig had just collaborated in TANGERINE DREAM and KLAUS SCHULZE live performances. Compared to ASHRA’s first album, the music is colder, hypnotic, sometimes oppressive, but always fluid. The important use of sequencers sounds sometimes futuristic.
Manuel Göttsching’s guitar is simply gorgeous and undulates around Hoenig’s interlacing synthetizer loops. This long piece contains however some lengthy passages, especially the middle part, and therefore maintaining attention is difficult. In terms of ambiance, this has more similarities with a SCHULZE or a TD concert, certainly due to Hoenig’s recent experiences.
Released in 1976 in a shortened version, “Early Water” would have stand up to comparison to other progressive electronic opus at the same time. A bit long, nonetheless recommended to TANGERINE DREAM or SCHULZE fans. (by Modrigue)
Personnel:
Manuel Göttsching (guitar, keyboards, electronics)
Michael Hoenig (keyboards, electronics)
Tracklist:
01. Early Water (Göttsching/Hoenig) 48.23
ManyFantasticColors 