Hoenig / Gottsching - Early Water. 1976 Germany (archival)

Early Water sounds exactly what you expect from Michael Hoenig and Manuel Gottsching circa 1976. Somewhat like New Age of Earth meets Departure From the Northern Wasteland, with sequencers raging and Gottsching letting loose on the electric guitar - more so than he did on New Age of Earth. Apparently this recording was made in the studio just before the duo were to embark on a tour of France, which was cancelled at the last minute. Fortunately Gottsching kept the tapes and sent to Hoenig (nearly 20 years later) who was then residing in Los Angeles as a studio producer. So the whole thing sounds magnificent. If all this resonates with you, this CD is a must own. Otherwise, maybe not the best place to start with either artist, as a 48 minute continuous track may be a bit much to open with.

Ownership: CD: 1997 Spalax (France). Purchased new when released. The original CD came out on Bernd Kistenmacher's Musique Intemporelle label in 1995, and was repressed by Spalax in 1997 housed in a digi-pak. Today, either CD is incredibly scarce and expensive. I would expect another issue at some point, especially since it's never been pressed on LP.