Saw Delight

Performer: Can
Engineer: Rene Tinner
Producer: Can; Rebop Kwaku Baah
Distributor: Caroline Distribution

Notes: Can: Michael Karoli (vocals, guitar, electric violin); Irmin Scmidt (vocals, keyboards); Holger Czukay (vocals, synthesizer); Rosko Gee (vocals, bass); Jaki Liebezeit (vocals, drums); Reebop Kwaku Baah (vocals, percussion). Recorded at Inner Space Studio, Weilerswist, Germany in 1977. This is a Super Audio CD playable only on Super Audio CD players. Bearing bar none the worst title pun of any Can album -- and with titles like Cannibalism, that's saying something -- 1977's Saw Delight was the German progressive group's farewell. Clearly, the core quartet had found themselves in a rut by the recording of this album, bringing in percussionist Reebop Kwaku Baah and bassist Rosko Gee from a late-era lineup of Traffic to add a sort of Afro-Cuban jazz feel to their sound. What's frustrating is that this idea could have worked brilliantly, but the execution is all wrong. Instead of the polyrhythmic fireworks expected from a drum duel between Baah and the African-influenced Jaki Liebezeit, Can's senior drummer basically rolls over, keeping time with simple beats while the percussionist takes on the hard work. Similarly, Rosko Gee's handling of the bass duties (which he performs superbly throughout, adding an almost Mingus-like rhythmic intensity to even the loosest songs) frees Holger Czukay to add electronics and sound effects to the proceedings, an opportunity he doesn't make much of. On the up side, the opening "Don't Say No" recalls the controlled fury of earlier tunes like "Moonshake," and side two, consisting of Gee's lengthy, jazz-based composition "Animal Waves" and the lovely instrumental "Fly by Night," is largely excellent, but the two lengthy tracks that close side one are melodically and rhythmically pale in comparison, and there's a tired, somewhat dispirited vibe to the whole album that makes it an unsatisfying send-off to Can's career. ~ Stewart Mason This effort is a nice mix of trance/groove instrumentals, ethnic sampling, and silly vocals in English. ~ Myles Boisen Can's final album to feature Holger Czukay; the remaining members would make two more, OUT OF REACH and CAN, before splitting in 1979. 1977's SAW DELIGHT is also the album which introduces bassist Rosko Gee and percussionist Reebop Kwaku Baah, two ex-members of Traffic whose backgrounds in jazz and African music fundamentally changed Can's sound. While the group was always attuned to the nuances of rhythm, the entrance of Gee and Kwaku Baah took this interest to new and intoxicating heights. These songs, especially the cut-up electronics of "Animal Waves," benefit greatly from the heightened fluidity and rhythmic tension of the new, more powerful rhythm section. It's hard to say what's truly the greatest Can record, but SAW DELIGHT--bad title pun and all--is clearly a strong contender.

The Wire (p.53) - "The album was certainly funky, with 'Sunshine Day And Night' displaying highlife influences..."

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.

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