Like most old ravers, I guess, my introduction to the music of Manuel Göttsching was via Italian house “super group” Sueño Latino. The assembled DJs and musicians sampled large sections of Manuel`s E2-E4. The piano-led Paradise Mix of their debut release was played, hammered, rinsed, absolutely everywhere. There was no escaping it in `89… and you didn’t want to. Manuel must have been cool with this “tribute” though, `cos on the Winter Version he himself adds, shreds, a couple of scorching, passionate near-metal solos.  

My next dance-floor dalliance with the magic of Mr. Göttsching was in 1993, and came care of Mark Ernestus and Moritz von Oswald, aka Maurizio. The key lift / bite in their seminal dub techno side, Domina, being made more overt in a mind-blowing remix by an at-the-peak-of-his-powers Carl Craig*.

It was a decade before a notorious series of anonymous / mysterious Music Box bootlegs – documenting DJ Ron Hardy`s more off the wall favs – led me to discover that the source material was actually Die Dominas` Die Wespendomina, and the product of a brief collaboration between Manuel, Rosi Müller, and fashion designer, Claudia Skoda. 

Domina was often part of the pummeling, “panel-beating”, soundtrack at Andrew Weatherall`s storied Sabresonic soirées, held in the dungeon-like Happy Jax, on Crucifix Lane, in the Dickensian arches beneath London Bridge. Many of the other Teutonic tracks – by artists such as 4Voice, Visions Of Shiva, and Cosmic Baby – then occupying Andrew`s record box could be found on a dodgy-looking comp called Trancemaster IIII: Tribal Chill Out. This klarting collection culminates in the significantly more chilled Druck – a Jose Padilla Cafe del Mar favourite which was the result of a reunion between Manuel and his old Ash Ra Tempel spar, Klaus Schulze.  

An Ashra track, Shuttlecock, started to appear in DJ Harvey`s sets, around the time of his scene-shaking Sarcastic Study Masters Volume 2 mix. It turned out that the tune had been a regular drop of Daniele Baldelli`s, at his Cosmic Club, too. 

Iconic New York DJ, FK, championed the album, Inventions For Electric Guitar, using it to put the state-of-the-art Cielo sound system through its paces. It arguably also influenced a few of Francois` own productions. 

By this time, of course, anything I spotted in second-hand shops with Manuel`s name on it went straight in my bag. Which is how I ended up with 1979`s Correlations and 1973`s Starring Rosi. 

On my first trip to Japan, to meet my in-laws, prior to living here, my pockets were packed with friends` “Wants” Lists. Promising to make purchases on their behalf I popped into Shibuya`s Cisco Records, and popped out with multiple copies of Joe Claussell`s Sacred Rhythm mixes of Deep Distance and Ain`t No Time For Tears. 

Aficionado`s Richard Moonboots sent me Dream in return. 

In later years, encouraged in part by the esoteric, psychedelic, eclecticism that Weatherall employed on his NTS radio show, Music’s Not For Everyone, I’ve been amassing artifacts from kosmische`s further reaches. 2022 marked the 50th anniversary of Manuel and Ash Ra Tempel`s sophomore recording, the stoned, ceremonial, Schwingungen, bringing me almost back to the beginning. 

Manuel Göttsching, thank you for the music, and the journey. Rest In Peace. 

 *Carl, Mark and Moritz would all go on to rework Manuel’s E2-E4.