E2-E4

Untitled

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

E2-E4, released in 1984, is the first solo recording album by Ash Ra Tempel / Ashra guitarist, Manuel Göttsching. The album consists of a minimalistic hour-long progressive electronic track that is subdivided into single tracks according to the stage of the song. The second half of the record is notable for Göttsching's guitar playing. The album is named after the most popular opening chess move, 1. e2-e4 (expressed in long algebraic notation). A noteworthy pun on 'E2-E4' exists because the guitar is tuned from E2 (the low string) to E4 (the high string).

Track listing

• all songs written by Manuel Göttsching

1. "Quiet Nervousness" - 13:00
2. "Moderate Start" - 10:00
3. "And Central Game" - 7:00
4. "Promise" - 6:00
5. "Queen a Pawn" - 5:00
6. "Glorious Fight" - 3:00
7. "H.R.H. Retreats (With a Swing)" - 9:00
8. "And Sovereignty" - 3:00
9. "Draw" - 3:00

Influence

It has been named as one of the best '80s albums for its important role on the development of late '80s and early '90s house music and techno genres. Sueño Latino sampled E2-E4 on their 1989 song, "Sueño Latino". In 1995 the German electronic music duo (and label) Basic Channel (Mark Ernestus and Moritz von Oswald) released a remix of E2-E4 titled "e2e4 Basic Reshape" on the BCD compilation CD.

LCD Soundsystem's "45:33" recording from 2006 was inspired conceptually by E2-E4 as indicated by the accompanying artwork and the lengthy duration of the piece.