Despite their general lack of recognition, Ash Ra Tempel were pioneers of electronic music, progressive rock, kraut-rock and space-psych. Not that any of those genres wouldn't have been born had this band not existed, but they did help to mold the sound. They, along with their contemporaries (people like Tangerine Dream, Can, Kraftwerk, and Amon Duul) invented music that would inspire countless avant- gardeners to form their own ambient, art-rock bands. Where'd you think post-rock came from? John McEntire didn't just pull it out of his ass, y'know.

Recently, six CDs chronicling Ash Ra Tempel's "Private Tapes" were released. The discs compiled several recordings that were discovered in Ashra frontman Manuel Göttsching's tape files. The music spanned the band's most productive and innovative period (1973-1979). But if you're anything like me, you're probably not prepared to slog through seven hours worth of ambient, experimental prog-rock. So it's for people like us that The Best of the Private Tapes has been released.

Though two discs covering more than 150 minutes worth of music still seems a bit excessive, you won't be complaining when you get this stuff home. The Best of the Private Tapes sends you on a cosmic journey through reverb- drenched, space- guitar noodling, beautifully- sequenced, high- speed electronic nebulae, and aural event horizons. Ash Ra Tempel are the ultimate drug band-- slip on the headphones, take a hit, visit distant worlds. It's that easy.

-Ryan Schreiber