Open Web Player
![Zach Bryan [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61A1Z5caWZL.__AC_SR166,182___.jpg)
![HARDSTONE PSYCHO [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51sUpJtcluL.__AC_SR166,182___.jpg)
This collection of "lost music" from many hours of unreleased tapes is aimed squarely at fans of CAN, and "...what was distilled presents a secret, psychotropically-charged history of this most legendary of groups...". All the dark, spacey, magical, funk sounds the band is known for run all through this collection. Beginning from the band's early years-both "vocalists" Malcolm Mooney and Damo Suzuki, are here. Mooney shows up on a number of early tracks until he left for the U.S. in late 1969, whereupon Suzuki enters the picture. As usual, their voices are more of another instrument used to help color the band's sound. And these unreleased tapes (taken from 50 hours of recordings) of the band at work (something like intuitive jamming)) show that CAN never lost it's edge.
This set is a combination of unused soundtrack music, live tracks, and rehearsal tapes. And everything has been put together (especially the soundtrack stuff) to create an impact of sound and feeling. This collection of tracks isn't like other box sets from bands from the past, with the usual alternate takes and demos. This is, for all intents and purposes, a "new" release from CAN. Even live tracks "Spoon" and "Mushroom" are different from what we've heard before. And the impact of the music has the feel of something new. The sound is very good-clean and clear from the low end of Czukay's bass to the upper reaches of Schmidt's keyboards-and typically intense when needed, with that deep cosmic funk of the rhythm section underneath almost everything.
The outer, stiff, hinged lidded cardboard box (that looks like an old studio recording tape box) measures 10"X 10" and lists the tracks and recording dates on the back of the box. The 26 page booklet is just a bit smaller than the box. Each disc sits (unprotected) in a cutout underneath the booklet. But at least there's a "fingerhold" to help get the discs out of the individual cutouts. The liner notes are by Irmin Schmidt, and are in both English and German, and have the look of an old typewriter style font-helping to create an atmospheric whole-along with the outer box graphics. There's also an essay by Ian Harrison on the "lost tapes". Of great interest is an analysis (usually just a few sentences) of the music by Schmidt, which adds to the understanding of the various tracks. One page is devoted to "Recording Information", which is helpful if you're so inclined. The graphics in the booklet are very similar to the outer box, but include photographs of the band and parts of their studio. For whatever it means (if anything) there's a sticker that says "Limited Edition" on the front of the box.
The 30 tracks (from 1968 through 1977) begin from the band's early days ("Millionenspiel"), and show the band (still named INNER SPACE) even then had that deep, throbbing, rhythmic sound. The free jazz style drumming of Liebezeit, and the deep bass sounds of Czukay are already in place, and you can almost feel their combined sound. Helped along with some saxophone playing from Gerd Dudek (from the avant garde band of Manfred Schoof), this is "CAN music" as fans know it before Mooney joined the band. Early CAN member David Johnson is on flute.
And listen to the "spontaneous live composition", "Waiting For The Streetcar", which is an extended, almost brutal track with the spontaneous vocals leading the way into the band's intuitive style of playing. Likewise "Deadly Doris", another "spontaneous composition" that shows CAN in their element-playing almost intuitively. "Obscura Primavera" proves the band could play delicately ("we were just plain nice") with the band using Schmidt's keyboards and Karoli's guitar in a more ethereal style. But there are many examples throughout this set of their "magical" playing abilities.
Personally I was hoping for more live tracks (as opposed to live in the studio), but they're great examples of the live CAN experience. "Spoon" is here, along with another well known composition, "Mushroom". And from 1973, "One More Saturday Night" is also heard live. As the band often does, they take a familiar composition like "Spoon", and reconfigure it ("themes, riffs, and melodies were barely recognizable") in the moment. "Mushroom" finds the band in typically fine form, playing in and around this CAN highlight. But equally visceral is "Abra Cada Braxas" (among other tracks), with the band upping the intensity with their intuitive way of working spontaneously. With "A Swan Is Born" ("a fragment of the work on Sing Swan Song" with Suzuki) the group turns down the intensity, and uses (once again) Czukay's bass and Schmidt's keyboards to weave a melodic pattern of sounds that has a certain, gentle beauty to it. This is where CAN proves that their music isn't all about intensity, but using a gentle melody (with Suzuki's voice as an another instrument) to deliver something of great beauty.
"Dead Pigeon Suite" is an edited (and satisfying) fragment of a track from the band's soundtrack work, with ethereal flute and a typical funky rhythm pattern from Czukay and Liebezeit. "On The Way To Mother Sky" (another fragment), which fans have heard previously on the album "Soundtracks" (as the 14 minute "Mothersky" from the movie "Deep End"), makes good use of Karoli's guitar and Liebzeit's drumming. "Messers Scissors, Fork, And Light", another piece of soundtrack work, makes good use of Schmidt's lighter keyboard sound. The soundtrack pieces have more of an impact collectively rather than as stand alone pieces, and this track has several pieces combined into a suite. Like other tracks here, these soundtrack pieces are taken from longer jamming pieces-which is how much of this collection was put together-aimed at maximum impact and a kind of cohesiveness. In some respects the soundtrack pieces work better than other stand alone tracks with the band showing their use of space and an aggressiveness that's very satisfying.
Apparently this is the last release of period CAN music. Even when rehearsing/jamming, the band would take out portions of their recordings that they felt had worth, and disregard the rest. And that's what they've done here. Out of many hours of music, these pieces have been shaped into a good representation of the band's sound. If this is to be the last we hear from CAN, they've left us with some of their best, deepest, throbbing, visceral yet sometimes gentle music. Listening to all three discs in one sitting can be quite an experience-especially the first time through. That their music is still contemporary, still exciting and important shows that they were indeed ahead of their time. And playing "catch-up" with these lost tapes, makes for an exciting, satisfying trip deep into someplace only CAN would go. Longtime fans buy with confidence.
Additional Details
Small Business
Shop products from small business brands sold in Amazon’s store. Discover more about the small businesses partnering with Amazon and Amazon’s commitment to empowering them.
Small Business
This product is from a small business brand. Support small.
Customers who bought this item also bought
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Top reviews from other countries
Dr. Disch
Des inédits aussi bons que les albums officiels
Reviewed in France on August 24, 2015
