Soundtracks [11/24]

Performer: Can
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: SOUNDTRACKS contains songs Can recorded for various film soundtracks. Malcolm Mooney passes the baton to Damo Suzuki for Soundtracks, a collection of film music featuring contributions from both vocalists. The dichotomy between the two singers is readily apparent: Suzuki's odd, strangulated vocals fit far more comfortably into the group's increasingly intricate and subtle sound, allowing for greater variation than that allowed by Mooney's stream-of-consciousness discourse. ~ Jason Ankeny As Can rose to prominence in the '70s in Germany, keyboardist and co-founder Irmin Schmidt sought film-related projects for the band. SOUNDTRACKS collects exclusive material culled from Can's cinematic contributions. The album features vocals from both original vocalist Malcolm Mooney and from his mid-period replacement, Kenji "Damo" Suzuki, making it unique in Can's discography. And, with such crowd-pleasers as "She Brings the Rain" and the titanic "Mother Sky," SOUNDTRACKS remains another testament to Can's genius. Suzuki's moaning, half-mad vocals and a slow-motion arc of Michael Karoli's splendidly psychedelic guitar work dominate "Deadlock." Suzuki croons through one of Can's most luscious melodies on "Tango Whiskeyman," another glistening Karoli workout that also showcases the matchless rhythmic duo of Holger Czukay (bass) and Jaki Liebezeit (drums). Mooney delivers a memorable mood swing with the gut-wrenching funk of "Soul Desert" and "She Brings the Rain," a coffeehouse-quiet charmer. But it is "Mother Sky," the incomparable, 14:30 acid rock colossus with the swaying, trance-inducing Suzuki mumble, Karoli fireworks, seething Schmidt psychedelics, and brain-bending Czukay/Liebezeit groove, that is SOUNTRACKS' towering achievement.

The Wire (p.62) - "'Soul Desert' and 'Mother Sky' are immortal Can moments given added boost with the new treatment." Mojo (Publisher) (p.126) - 4 stars out of 5 - "SOUNDTRACKS' monstrous, metronomic centerpiece is 'Mother Sky'....It could be their greatest song."

Though they were one of the key bands of the 1970s Krautrock movement, Can always saw themselves as individualists. They were influenced more by composers like Stockhausen than by psychedelic rock, but this seminal German band combined their avant-garde tendencies with rock trappings and funk-inflected rhythms in an amazingly natural way, influencing subsequent generations of iconoclasts.

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.5