Ash Ra Tempel were one of the more notable German Krautrock groups of the 70s and 80s. They were led by guitarist Manuel Göttsching, and also included former Tangerine Dream drummer Klaus Schulze at various points.

The group was originally founded by Manuel Göttsching and had its first release Ash Ra Tempel in June 1971.

Their music is widely characterized as spacey and psychedelic. The early albums all had one track per side, one more powerful and dramatic, the other of a more atmospheric nature.

Ash Ra Tempel's first release is a classic of the space/cosmic genre but Schwingungen (1972) and Join Inn (1973) are supposed to be the essential works from the band.

Later, after recording the soundtrack Le Berceau de Cristal (1975 unreleased until the 90's) Ash Ra Tempel changed name to Ashra, making a more melodic synthesizer based music. In the year 2000 the band was reborn. Joined by long-time colleague Klaus Schulze, the appropriately titled Friendship was released.

Manuel Göttsching has also recorded several New Age Music albums under the name Ashra including the New Age Music pioneering album, New Age of Earth.

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