E2-E4

This article is about the album. For the chess opening, see King's Pawn Game.

E2-E4 is a solo recording by German musician and Ash Ra Tempel founder Manuel Göttsching. Released in 1984,

E2-E4
Studio album by Manuel Göttsching
Released	1984
Recorded	December 12, 1981
Genre	Electronic kosmische musik minimalism
Length	58:39
Label	Inteam, MG-Art (2001 reissue)
Producer	Manuel Göttsching
Manuel Göttsching chronology
Inventions for Electric Guitar (1975) E2-E4 (1984) Dream and Desire (1991)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Pitchfork Media	9.2/10[2]

The album is named after the most popular^[3] opening chess move 1. e2-e4 (which is expressed in long algebraic notation).

Music

E2-E4 consists of one minimalistic, hour-long electronic track that Göttsching recorded in one take using a sequencer, with improvised keyboards, metallic percussion, and guitar playing.^[4] As is common within the electronic music genre, the album's instrumentation is repetitious, with the individual parts interplaying with one another. John Bush of AllMusic said: "Simply put, it just sounds like the mainstream house produced during the next two decades. [...] What sets it apart from music that came before is a steadfast refusal to follow the popular notions of development in melody and harmony. Instead, E2-E4 continues working through similar territory for close to an hour with an application to trance-state electronics missing from most of the music that preceded it."^[5]

Legacy

Pitchfork and The Guardian named the album one of the best of the 1980s for its important role in the development of house and techno music of the late 1980s and early 1990s.^[6][4] John Bush of AllMusic said the album "has earned its place as one of the most important, influential electronic records ever released."^[5]

Though inspired in part by New York's Latin club rhythms in addition to minimalists like Steve Reich, Göttsching was surprised when he learned that people danced to the track.^[4]

The song became a hit at New York's Paradise Garage dance club.^[4] Sueño Latino sampled E2-E4 on its 1989 song "Sueño Latino."^[4] The album also would be an early influence on ambient techno works by Carl Craig, the Black Dog, and The Orb.^[7] In 1994, Craig released a remix named "Remake" under his alias of Paperclip People. Basic Channel released a "Basic Reshape" remix of "Remake", which would be included on their compilation album BCD under the name "e2e4 Basic Reshape". In 2019, Detroit-based house and techno producer Scott Grooves released "E2E4 Reframed", which is a 15-minute reinterpretation featuring both electronic and live musical elements.

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.

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Ruhige Nervosität"	13:00
2.	"Gemäßigter Aufbruch"	10:00
3.	"...Und Mittelspiel"	7:00
4.	"Ansatz"	1:00

Side two

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Damen-Eleganza"	5:00
2.	"Ehrenvoller Kampf"	3:00
3.	"Hoheit Weicht (Nicht Ohne Schwung...)"	9:00
4.	"...Und Souveränität"	3:00
5.	"Remis"	3:00

Personnel

• Manuel Göttsching - ARP Odyssey, ARP Sequencer, AKG BX-5, Dynacord DRS-78, EKO Computerhythm, EMS Synthi A, Moog Minimoog, Pearl Syncussion and Sequential Circuits Prophet-10.