CAN

I have a passing interest in Krautrock, but I have to admit I know very little about the entire genre. When I have a chance, I have been taking recommendations from other music heads about their faves.

Using this approach, I have heard some Can, Faust, Gong and I happened across a burn of AR+Machines, which seems to be a Krautrock talisman of some repute, (and non reissued).

I also received via a trade, three full dvds of Krautrock. One of the bands that struck me with both their overt weirdness as well as their ability to rock was Can.

I happened upon a dvd full of live Can recently and this extreme hot weather has put me into an odd mood. Can seems to fit the bill for the 90 degrees and humidity here on the shores of Lake Michigan.

From some cursory internet research, Can was formed as a collective way back in 68. They had their own studio called Inner Space, which seems like a rather non sequitir as their soundscapes that I am hearing are more akin to spacerock, more like a more arty Hawkwind without the preachy scifi baggage of the Hawks. I can also hear elements of the more spacey areas of English artrock, eg. Eno, and possibly 801 without the Manzanera guitar pyrotechnics.

In 1970, Damo Suzuki was discovered on the street performing music and was quickly incorporated into the Can clan as their lead vocalist.

1971 was when Can started gaining some traction with the critics with their release Tago Mago. Ege Bamyasi was put out the next year and contained the track Spoon which oddly enough appears on two of the three of the dvds that I received. Spoon brought them acclaim in a wider arena as it was used as the theme for a film called Das Messer and was Can's first success charting wise.

listening to some of these extended jams, repetition seems to be the modus operandi for the freak factor.

Here is a link to CAN performing Improvisation for the BBC (the BEEB) in 1974. The limited info that I have on the track suggests that this track did not appear on the Peel Sessions CD.



Here is another download link, if the player ain't your bag.

CAN Improvisation