E2-E4

Red Bull Music Academy, the Vinyl Factory and ChessBase say it was recorded in one take with no overdubs, edits or EQ afterwards, on a two-track machine, a few weeks after a 16-date tour as Klaus Schulze's guest. Wikipedia lists an ARP Odyssey and sequencer, Minimoog, Prophet-10, EMS Synthi A, a Dynacord rhythm machine and an electric guitar played over the groove from the halfway point. The length is 58:39 per Wikipedia, 59:20 per AllMusic, 58:40 per Loud and Quiet and 59:34 per 15 Questions. The vinyl split it into nine titled sections that follow the arc of a chess game, from "Ruhige Nervosität" to "Remis", and the title is the opening move 1. e2-e4; his father taught him chess.

He said it was not planned as an album, and the story of Richard Branson's Virgin hearing it varies by source. German press was dismissive at first, and one critic wrote that there was no excuse for this record. Larry Levan played it in full at the Paradise Garage, and Sueño Latino (1989) built on it. AllMusic's John Bush gave 5 stars, and Pitchfork gave 9.2 in 2016, per Wikipedia. Carl Craig remade it as Paperclip People in 1994, and Basic Channel reshaped it.