E2-E4

I swear I didn't eat the chess pieces!

What is the first EDM record? I think it ought to be a project that incorporates all the hard work of its pioneering predecessors, i.a., Musique Concrète composers, Wendy Carlos, Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, and one that subsequently will give birth to Detroit Techno and Chicago House: the grandparents of contemporary EDM. That project ofc being Manuel Göttsching's E2-E4. No amount of praise I give this album can compare to its impact on music. Together with The Velvet Underground & Nico, this might be the most influential record of the 20th century.

It's not only the most influential record but also the most quintessential. E2-E4, with its many movements, creates a continuously hypnotizing dreamscape. Manuel Göttsching's masterful zigzagging between interlacing layers of guitar riffs, synth tracks, and drum patterns produces one of the most perfect auditory experiences ever. All the instruments sound completely spacey and timeless: ones that will forever linger within you. When you get used to one composition, all the loops will weave into a new musical fabric altogether. E2-E4 will put you under its spell. Your mind-eye will fly in a mesmerizing whirlwind of tomorrow and yesterday, carefully maneuvered by the harmonious sound. It's magical. There is just nothing like it.

Manuel Göttsching, as if spurred by a higher power, improvised the entire composition "in the frame of an hour." That in itself is simply legendary. And I think that's the only way to describe this album: it's simply legendary.