Category: CAN

The last installment in the Can live archival series continues to explore the unfairly maligned late period of the pioneering German band. Recorded at Keele University in 1977, it finds former bassist Holger Czukay settling into his new role as effects wizard, with replacement bassist Rosko Gee, also of Traffic, upping the funk quotient for long, elaborate improvisations and sometimes surprisingly industrial pieces. As with the other entries in the series, it shows a group committed to exploding their sound, exploring the outer limits and creating new worlds, for as long and as far as they could go.

Farewell to Damo Suzuki, an indomitable spirit, an outrageous performer, a force of nature. During his time with Can in the 1970s, he offered an authentic, thrilling alternative to the rock frontman role, embracing the wild, all gates open approach of his bandmates’ music — and doubling down on it fearlessly.

For some real live evil, dig into this absolutely killer audience recording of Can in 1971 from the Tago Mago era, with Damo effortlessly surfing the waves of this still-radical sound, shrieking, whispering, conjuring, celebrating. Schmidt called Can’s onstage high points “Glücksgefühl, the ecstasy.” You’ll find plenty of Glücksgefühl here.

Soon Over Babaluma is a satellite moon in CAN’s oeuvre, perpetually orbiting the seismic mass of the music they created between 1969-1973, one last psychedelic excursion before transitioning into the tighter arrangements and slicker production of the mid-late 70s. CAN was floating ever deeper into space, fresh off the gravitational break achieved on Future Days. Recorded on the heels of Damo Suzuki’s departure, Soon Over Babaluma marked both the end of era and a reinvention of everything the CAN had been working toward— the deepening of a sound that was still hurtling toward the outer reaches.

Over the course of Live in Stuttgart 1975‘s 91 unbelievable minutes, Can emerges as the ultimate jam band—forget whatever negative connotations you may have with the term. Here, jamming isn’t about technical flash or aimless noodling; rather, it’s about the quest for collective ecstasy, for both the musicians and the audience.

Can’s influence cannot be overstated. Highly impacted by the improvisational side of The Velvet Underground, Frank Zappa’s Mothers and Sly Stone, the group incorporated repetitive grooves that brought to mind African […]

1968 free-jazz, psychedelic, art rock-funk. Sure, and from who else but Can. Culled from the still vital Lost Tapes compilation, “Midnight Sky” is one of the group’s earliest rarities, featuring […]