Gibraltar: Ashra was Manuel Göttsching's continuation of Ash Ra Tempel, moving from the outerspace psychedic realms of the temple to the electronic domain of Berlin. Essentially a solo vehicle, Blackouts consists of Göttsching's guitar solos over sequenced patterns of synthesizer, ala Tangerine Dream. Some of Göttsching's solos are variations on short patterns similar to the sequencer motifs. Others are fully developed solos, played fluidly and with a steady hand which is in contrast to the wild excursions of the acid-drenched Ash Ra Tempel. Often the guitar is run through a delay to double the sound or make it spacier. The 17 minute "Lotus" comes closest to the original Ash Ra Tempel, at least in concept if not execution. Here Manuel uses his abilities to captain your brain through celestial atmospheres of cosmic proportions. Overall, Blackouts is very relaxing and a great way to unwind after a difficult day. Correlations adds Harald Großkopf on drums and percussion, and Lutz Ulbrich on piano, Mellotron, more guitar, and string synth, in addition to Göttschings guitar and sequencers. As you'd expect, the sound has more depth relative to the previous offering; however, I'd say that overall the sound is similar to Blackouts despite the added dimension and more rhythmic variety. If you like late '70s Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, etc., you will want to check out Ashra. -- Mike Taylor
Apparently when Manuel Göttsching signed up with Virgin Records, he was no longer allowed to use the Ash Ra Tempel name. So he concatenated it to Ashra, and continued making albums. New Age of Earth is very synth-orientated, but uses enough guitar so that you'll know who this is. Of the post-Ohr/Cosmic Couriers releases, this is probably the best, though I haven't heard the next one Blackouts. It's supposed to be good as well. Correlation finds Ashra a band again, Göttsching is joined by Harald Großkopf (ex-Wallenstein) and Lutz Ulbrich (ex-Agitation Free). They start getting more commercial, even resorting to disco (blech!) on "Club Cannibal," but there's enough good stuff to keep you interested. The beautiful "Oasis" and the hypnotic "Pas De Trois" are two of the better tracks. Belle Alliance is half short songs, half long pieces. The lengthy "Code Blue" sounds as though it could have been recorded at the same time as the first Ash Ra Tempel album, while the lovely "Mistral" resembles something from New Age Of Earth. -- Mike Ohman
01 - Ice Train 7:42 02 - Club Cannibal 5:25 03 - Oasis 3:46 04 - Bamboo Sands 5:42 05 - Morgana Da Capo 5:30 06 - Pas De Trois 8:58 07 - Phantasus 5:11
Manuel Gцttsching (guitar, synthesizer, sequencer) Lutz Ulbrich (guitar, synthesizer, piano, mellotron) Harald Grosskopf (drums, percussion, synthesizer)
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