Ashra - Blackouts

"Ashra" was Manuel Göttsching's continuation of Ash Ra Tempel, moving from the outerspace psychedelic realms of the temple to the electronic domain of Berlin characterized by Tangerine Dream. It's this aspect which leads to the "New Age", which has since been quite successful. The spiralling guitars and electronic layers create calm ambiences which are the basis of this style. There were four excellent albums in the late 70's/early 80's: "New Age of Earth", "Blackouts", "Correlations" and "Belle Alliance". "New Age of Earth" (mainly synth but with some guitar) was the result of his new direction. This is a beautiful, lyrical release, with solo guitar against tapestries of electronics, which has a much more 'human' feel than other similar 'Berlin school' works of the same period. "Blackouts" is very relaxing and a great way to unwind after a difficult day.