DIE MULDE

MANUEL GÖTTSCHING's discography by his own is quiet obscure and small, taking into account his starting ignition with Ash Ra Tempel and the Krautrock styling since its beginnings. He is an inventive guitarist who has added some "musts" to the genre, yet as a composer, sometimes he loses himself, in self-indulgent music. "Die Mulde" is somewhat of an example of this (the first 2 tracks), but also his abilities to both, perform and compose very creative songs, with his very distinguishable guitar approach (the rest of the tracks). Therefore been that, the first two tracks seem out-dated in its electronic language, due to the fact that the use of sequencers nowadays require much more "work" than in the past, considering their use and easy access by almost anyone in every field of music. So, these days, you really can not stick to the "simple" use of these devices, you really have to "sweat" a liitle, to come up with something that will not be lost in the masses eventually. In some way these tracks demerit the rest of the creative work of the album, which without those tracks, would have turned out into a more innovative and original project as a whole. The good thing, as I mentioned, is that the rest of the album offers the creativity in compositions and performance, he is well known to deliver, both with the electric and acoustic guitar (the last track). As a result of this, what is worth listening deserves 4 PA stars, what's not 2, so sticking to the parameter, ***3 PA stars.

Manuel Göttsching goes ambient

"Die Mulde" is certainly one of the worst album in the german electronic pioneer's discography, next to ASHRA's "Tropical Heat". Although released in 2005, the first four tracks are in fact a single continuous 40 minutes piece composed in 1997. At this time, ASHRA began touring in Japan and Netherlands. The last track was initially recorded in 1981, and reworked by Göttsching in 2004. Musically, the style of this record is much more ambient than his usual works.

The short experimental opener "Schöpferische Stille" features sonorities reminiscent of TANGERINE DREAM's "Phaedra". The title track is a flat and boring tune, with dated sound effects and not many variations. The synthetizer sequence of "Die Spiegel" is in the style of MOTHER MALLARD'S PORTABLE MASTERPIECE CO., however less inspired. At the end of the nineties, this was not very innovative. "Zerfluss" is more rythmic, but the early 90's cheesy sound effects does not make it interesting either.

Unrelated to the computer company, "HP Little Cry" has a soothing ambiance, more typical of ASHRA, however without sequences. There are a few discrete guitar incursions. Difficult to say what material comes from 1981 or from 2004. But the problem of this composition is its monotony. This track is not bad per se, but it does not justify a 30 minutes duration.

"Die Mulde" shows the german musician venturing into a new musical territory for him. His works are usually much more rythmic and his arrangements, more complex. This album may be appreciated by some ambient music lovers, but not by most Göttsching fans...

As a founding and omnipresent member of Ash Ra Tempel, Manuel Gottsching also created some solo albums in the complex world of progressive electronic music, toghether with Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze. This album is another MG "in the mood",more closer to progressive electronic, than krautrock. It begins with Schopferische stille ( translated Creative silence),a nice sound effect, in a pure space rock style. After 2 minutes, the synth music enters its way with "Die Mulde". Manuel uses here repetitive keyboards themes, similar to Klaus Schulze. "Die Spiegel" is another mesmerising space rock composition, maybe a little bit minimalistic. The sound evolves in a different way towards "Zerfluss", the only rhythmic track with some percussion beats. "HP little cry" (HP- a reference to Hewlett Packard,? I don't know...) can be for many a very boring composition, (for almost 32 minute) because of its hallucinant background sound. The difference is his guitar, in which MG is a master. The guitar sounds very experimental and sublime in the same time, with a little Pink Floydian resemblance. Overall, the album is good, nothing new. Manuel is improvising with new and new mixtures of guitar and synths. A good album for progressive electronic lovers.

3 stars!